Job Discussion Forums

[Jamer]

Well I've decided to teach again in Taiwan seeing as how I figure I am pretty talented at it based on the reaction of my past employer and students. I also have many good friends here and really is a second home for me. But returning to Taiwan and finding a job is turning into a very frustrating experience.

I've been back almost two weeks and I have had a total of 7 interviews and still no job. Additionally, I've sent my resume and/or applied to numerous schools and recieved responses back stating I am not qualified enough to teach at their school. This has all occured in spite of my background which holds one year hard working experience teaching in Taiwan (including designing curriculum and marketing strategies), a BA in East Asian studies which including three years of Chinese study and I am a US citizen.

Am I doing something wrong in interviews or on my resume? To be specific, I show up to interviews wearing pretty formal clothes as if I was working at a professional office gig-something like that. I put on demos where I confidently got all the students active in games and in properly learning various elements of English (irregular verbs, breakfast foods, sentence structure). Finally, I am straight to the point and specifically answer questions pertaining to handling out of control students and ways of teaching different subjects-as I am well experienced in this area at least IMO.

I know I'm not doing something right or else I would have a job and wouldn't be posting this. So can anybody give some advice on what is the ideal English teacher for Taiwanese employers?

I am also in Taipei county

[Jamer]

Whoops, topic should say "What do Taiwan employers want in an English teacher?"

[SanChong]

That's an interesting post. It sounds like you are doing things correctly, in a general sense.

I think this goes back to something we've discussed on these boards for awhile: It's just not as easy as it used to be to just arrive in Taiwan and look for a job. This is PARTICULARLY true if you want to teach in Taipei city or Taipei county.
That's not to say there aren't still jobs. However, good schools are planning ahead, more and more, to have confirmed teachers months ahead of time.

Just showing up, even with minimum qualifications, just doesn't cut it as much anymore. Planning ahead is a much better approach.

[Jamer]

[matchstick_man]

Put an ad on tealit. Make the employers come to you but don't stop looking on your own.

Timing may also be the key. Many Taiwanese laobans consider it bad luck to hire a new teacher close to Chinese New Year.

[mizzo]

This doesn't help the OP, sorry for that, but I find it interesting that everyone's saying it's better to plan ahead than to show up jobless and find one here. This is the first time I've seen this advice on this board. It's always been the complete opposite prior to this thread.

[StayingPower]

Jamer,

I've had exactly the same experiences, and what I can glean from this is that the more professional and suited for the job you are, the less you're apt to find a job here.

I think it has a lot to do with many ways of thinking in Taiwan. They may think we're being show-offs, or arrogant. They might feel you're disproving their status quo mentality. Maybe they think you're not as decadent as most, perhaps too moral, so as to prevent them from duping you. They might even think that you're smart, whereas I've found a lot of schools actually like teachers who're rather unintelligent, so as to make sure you don't scare off students or make them look stupid.

There's probably more to this though. I, too, went on six interviews in the past few weeks, gave great demos, have had good remarks from students and employers back in Korea. Upon asking the same question you did, however, all I got was a reply from someone on this board saying my lack of finding a job was ". . .a reflection on my character."

And to think, nobody reflected on the Taiwanese character to be tight-fisted when it comes to CNYrs, and that most jobs aren't hiring 'til March.

So take it with a grain of salt and figure, the jobs you interviewed at wouldn't have suited your character anyways.

[Miyazaki]

I agree, take it with a grain of salt.

It could be anything.

[demaratus]

I think it varies a lot. At my old job a lot was expected. We worked 1:30-9:15 every day but had to be at work 45 minutes early and couldn't leave as soon as the bell rang either. We put in serious vollunteer time for extracurriculars year round (I would say over 30+ hours during halloween and christmas), and we we expected to produce results in the classroom (not just keeping the students in the classes either). We also had to work half of the saturday mornings every month. But our bosses treated us like gold if they liked you (the liked me because I put in the work), and rewarded us financially quite well in the form of bonuses here and there mostly at CNY.

At any good job in Taiwan, I think most laobans expect professionalism at work, a good attitude and hard work (yes sometimes teaching esl can be hard work!) from their employees. of course being young and attractive always helps too. Some places just want a white clown who will keep student numbers up, but a good job in Taiwan does actually require professionalism.

[Aristotle]

My best guess is you are the wrong color, either of dark complexion or overseas Chinese. Unfortunately for all of us here, the Chinese on Taiwan continue to be incredibly ignorant and racist. Also the Chinese on Taiwan despise honest people with integrity, particularly in the work environment. Brown nosers and blatant liars who know how to act like idiots and never question their employers are preferred. Another alarminmg trend is unpaid overtime. I do not understand why teachers put up with this but it is the major reason I am off to a real pay check in Korea.
Teaching in Taiwan entails allowing for illicit behavior by employers including tax and immigration fraud and other deceptive practices. Ignorance and the ability to work within a corrupt and unprofessional environment are prerequisites for any occupation on occupied Taiwan. That is the Chinese cuture on occupied Taiwan.
This is East Asia, if you want to work in a real country go to Japan, if you want to get a real pay check, go top Korea and if you want to get paid for doing poor job that allows you to live an " alternative" lifestyle come to Taiwan.

[Jamer]

Well your guess is wrong, I am a white american male. I mean I always hear that Taiwan employers can be racist but my old co-worker was black and I have numerous friends who teach or have taught in Taiwan who are black or even Asian. In fact, two of the jobs I got turned down on each had black workers.

Anyways, I got two interviews in the next two days-hopefully, I'll have a job. Thanks for the advice everyone and the morale booster. And I guess from my experience of teaching in Taiwan the best advice in terms of surviving work is not to get involved. Teach your classes, impress your students, do what the employers ask and then get your check! I mean yeah it may not be the best work attitude, but then again nearly every one of my past jobs in America, I've had to follow a very similar attitude.

[Aristotle]

[SanChong]

[demaratus]

[BigWally]