Job Discussion Forums

[CWanders]

So, I've been offered a contract with Hess in a location I like, but it's only contract A (20 hours/week).

Using their budget calculator (and my own calculations), this would put me a little too close to the edge of barely breaking even between salary and living expenses + $300/month USD student loan payments.

Should I go with the location I want and assume I can pick up private turoring on the side or should I go for a different location with more guaranteed hours?

[Toe Save]

[StayingPower]

[lou_la]

Well, Staying Power's view is one side of it. I think saying 'Beware of HESS' is rather unreasonable. I work for Hess too (But I'm contract C, I don't do buxiban which makes me a little odd).

I'd say take the job - location is definetly the thing to go for. I went for contract over location, and I'm regretting my choice a bit.
As Staying Power said, there's a lot of unpaid work - preparing, grading etc. This will take a lot of your time at the start, but it really cuts down rapidly. I was spending about an hour and a half preparing for a two hour class when I started, now it's half and hour tops, and my colleaugues can do it in about 10 or 15 min. However, this extra time is true of the great majority of schools.

Also, it doesn't seem to difficult to be able to pick up a kindy class in the morning - that's an extra hours a week, and it's much less effort than buxiban. And there'll always be subbing/privates etc available.

I'd say take the job, get here and see what you think.

[blateson]

on whether or not to take the job I won't give any advice for the time being, but i have to agree on a thing or two with Staying Power and disagree a little with the last comments -- lesson planning hasn't decreased much at all for me even as the weeks and months roll on, at least the stress of it hasn't. Just as well that leaves out something just as equally important -- homework grading, and the other stuff (occasional presentations, what not). With the youngest kids the HW checking is the shortest, but in the general levels I average 45 mins grading time per class. But realistically, it SEEMS like even more, and I've had a few that spanned an hour and fifteen depending on how badly the students did and number of corrections. With class preparation and HW grading (and the focus on perfect grading, parents complain if it isn't) I simply think it's truely too much. (However unlike what Staying said, I have never had to do any tele-tests - just HW check, lesson prep, and a few presentations). On the potential upside however, I think there may be a slight variation with different branches, not alot, but some. Some locations may not stress about perfection as much as others, like mine.

I'm currently not doing any morning kindy classes and frankly I'm sort of glad I am not.

Otherwise, generally good points made by all.

[CWanders]

Hi Stayingpower. I've already asked this in response to one of your previous posts, but I'll try again. What exactly went wrong between you and Hess? If you don't feel comfortable disclosing it on the board, please PM me.

[StayingPower]

[BobbyDigital]

there are some interesting posts in this thread. from what i can make of it, hess experiences vary from city to city and branch to branch. what city would you be placed in? i can tell you that it is deinitely possible to live fairly well on the contract a salary. things may be a little tighter if you don't live with a roommate and live on your own, but still it is possible to save money. finding private tutoring to add to what you're making is also quite easy to do from what i've seen, though i haven't attempted it yet. i'm not sure how it is at branches in other cities, but here contract a teachers are given the option to pickup kindergarten fulltime or at least sub a little bit. as well, there is possibilities here with hess to work at outside elementary schools in the morning.
as far as the points staying power has been making, homework is a fact of life at hess, but that shouldn't be surprising. in the beginning it takes awhile to mark homework, but i've been teaching for almost two months now and at most it takes me a half hour to mark for each class and that is for high level classes. homework can easily be marked if you either come in a little before class or stay a little late or mark during your break. it's not that big of a deal. as far as telephone tests go, unless you were teaching the express level, staying power, you shouldn't have had to do them. that's the ct's job. well, i've been rambling on for awhile now, but hess has been a positive experience for me so far and i would recommend it.

[Ferfichkin]

If you want to make any real money at HESS you're going to have to teach kindergarten. 20 hours per week will put you around 45000NT per month, kindy should put you slightly over 60000NT. If your expenses are low you should be able to save $300US per month on contract A, but kindy would open things up for you a lot. With only 20 hours per week and student loans, the bars and vacations and other fun things will become a lot more difficult to do. Privates are a good source of extra income for sure, but they're not always a sure thing like your wage at HESS. I guess taking or not taking the contract is up to you, but, in my opinion, kindergarten would make things a lot easier for you.

Good Luck,

fich

[123Loto]

I've said this before, but I've worked for Hess for a long time; it's been great and now I'm on $750NTD per hour, with 35 hours a week of teaching, that's like $95,000 a month... I reckon it's worth hanging around for a while!

[StayingPower]

[123Loto]

I do LOTS of extra work, it goes way beyond the hours I teach - but in the end, my students are happy and I get paid very well. I don't want to defend Hess one way or the other btw, just want to lend my contribution to the "debate" regarding Hess... I've had a good experiecne with them and with Taiwan in general

Anyway, I hear your pain StayingPower; I guess living here isn't for everyone!