Job Discussion Forums

[Aristotle]

[kuberkat]

Jason, thank you for your insights that are are perspicuous as ever. (Let me not misplace my good Chinese manners here.) In case any other users should misunderstand my post, please allow me to clarify.

I do not wish to defend the many crimes against good taste and educational ethics perpetrated by Hess. Thing is, they are no worse than any other Taiwanese language school in this regard- just bigger. Being bigger does make it possible to offer newcomers- newcomers, note- more in their settling-in period. My main point is that Hess is a good place to learn the ropes before branching out to a more rewarding environment.

The post was intended purely to set the record straight for the sake of newcomers who are bound to have the same problems- without the benefits- wherever they teach. A thorough and lucid reading of the post will show that in no way did I intend to imply that working for Hess would replace higher learning or guarantee future employment.

(Was I out of line in explaining where working at Hess led me? It was not intended as a shot in a spitting contest, boys. If anything, it was to express my gratitude and relief that, after doing my time in Taiwan, I can now live a sane and healthy life devoid of The Wheels On The Bus, fortnightly throat infections and indelible betelnut splotches. This is not the result of mindless experience at a franchise school but also of further training (as mentioned in the post), good old-fashioned hard work, building strong relationships with coworkers and, I admit, being at the right place at the right time. So please do read the fine print here, folks. And like I said very clearly, I will only ever consider this a day job, albeit an enjoyable and lucrative one that makes my personal priorities possible.)

The brutal truth obscured by the din is that quality employers want quality employees. As saturated as the McEnglish industry (and even professionalized TESOL in general) has become with both experienced teachers and MAs, there is still a severe shortage of quality people. People who enjoy doing their job well. People who can play nice. (Jason, are you paying attention?) If you had an English school, where would you find people who would make your school thrive? How many English teachers that you know would you actually be willing to hire? Experience and qualifications are only part of the sifting process, but ultimately, personal quality is more important.

The sad and embarrassing fact is the we are part of an industry notorious for employing the barely employable. People who would find something to complain about and little to contribute, no matter where they worked. (Just read the content of these forums for proof.) We can't blame employers for wanting to separate the chaff from the wheat, and for using education and experience as yardsticks. But that is all they are. Whether an emplyee does the job well is a different matter entirely.

To return to the topic of the thread, I do have a great many objections to Hess, but for an unconnected newcomer it is probably the most beneficial option.

[Frankie Knuckles]

Someone mentioned a NOVA school from Japan opening in Taiwan recently. I have actually worked for NOVA in Japan and also HESS in Taiwan and my experience at NOVA was a hundred times more positive than my experience with HESS.

At NOVA I taught teenagers and adults in small classes with only 1-3 students. Generally the students were very well behaved and discipline was very rarely an issue. There was very little class preparation required and there was no homework to mark. In Japan I had so much more free time than I did while working at HESS in Taiwan. At HESS I had to teach classes with 25 plus little shits and then had spend more than 2 hours marking their homework every night. There were students at HESS that I did enjoy teaching but on the whole I found my experience at NOVA much more rewarding. I became good friends with a number of Japanese students I taught and a few of them have actually come to Australia to visit and we still stay in touch even though I left Japan 6 years ago.

NOVA also doesn't have the ridiculous fine of 30,000NT for breaking the contract that HESS does. I actually left NOVA before my contract ended because I had to return to Australia to finish university studies. I gave them proper notice and everything was fine and they didn't require me to pay any fine. Both of these companies have lots of rules but at the end of the day my experience at NOVA was so much better than my experience with HESS.

[harrietthespy]

[kuberkat]

Harrietthespy, outside Taiwan, China, Thailand and South Korea the Hess TEFL cert may not be worth much besides as a CV filler. It's just a piece of paper, after all. But IMHO the training offered to Hess teachers when I arrived there 6 years ago was the best available on the island, and it certainly made Hess newbs way, way better than many other new arrivals (and even old hands) one comes across. Once again, I certainly do not want to defend Hess, but this is more than most cram schools do for their FT's not so?

[atiff]

[teacherwilltravel]

I read in someones post that there if a person breaks their contreact with hess they must pay 30000 NT.

Even though i'll never work for HESS i was curious can this be enforced -if a person leaves their job and country what can they do. This penalty sounds stupid because if a person wants to or needs to leave but is threatened with this penalty what kind of attitude to their work would they have?

[Ki]

This is generally the view I represent. When schools have these ridiculous clauses in their contracts it presents a very distorted message to the teacher. It says 'I don't trust you', among other things. So teachers will do things such as view work as a necessary evil and their managers and prison guards. It encourages teachers to do runners straight after their last pay checks and compromise their own ethical grounds. Fining teachers for being one minute late makes teachers think that there is a definite line between work time and personal time. So why would I want to be working in my personal time? I have no sympathy for such schools. They not only encourage but demand such behaviour from their teachers.

I do understand the flip side to the argument. Some teachers, no matter how good you are to them, will do bad things. Like not show up to work without calling in sick. So schools add these clauses in to thwart such behaviour. And the whole situation spirals downward in one big plane crash.

So what is it about the school that would want teachers to leave early in the first place? Why would the school need to force their teachers to stay through monetary and other penalties?

[kuberkat]

Ki, you are quite right that the sense of mutual distrust starts the moment one sees a contract. On the same count, it doesn't take a very long time in Taiwan to see why foreigners are distrusted. Perhaps if schools invested a bit more time and attention to quality recruitment, training and staff support, they would find more foreign staff who are literally trustworthy.

The pressures of teaching that are aggravated in Taiwan have been known to reduce even some very trustworthy people to unethical dweebs: it's happened to me, and I think it could have been avoided with some proper staff support. I didn't want to let people down, but they were squeezing blood from a stone by that point.

[Ki]

The last time I saw a contract I refused to sign it. I wanted to work for the school. Everything else looked very good. But the clauses in this contract were just so morally and legally questionable. My would be boss got quite angry at me at my refusal. It was me who was being difficult and unreasonable. The other teachers signed it so why shouldn't I?

The pressures of teaching are quite minimal. By far the greatest pressure I have found here is from management. And these are the people who should be helping me.

[Taylor]

Dear Ki and others,

Here is a possibility: Without a strict boss (who has high expectations), it is possible that the school would be extremely disorganized---this would eventually mean no students and no jobs.

Taylor
Kaohsiung

[jonks]

[Pop Fly]

[Ki]

Well I guess anything is possible. And different teachers work best at different schools. My current school is very disorganised as far a curriculum and lessons go. The other foreign teacher there loves the freedom given to him to teach what he wants how he wants but I hate the disorganisation and lack of structure.

I do however love the lack of rules and penalties imposed on me. I have never taken advantage of them though my friend sometimes has. IE. Not called to say he was sick. So I do understand the need for schools to impose restrictions. I just don't like it.

[Miyazaki]