Job Discussion Forums

[stirge2210]

My girlfriend will be coming to Taiwan with me this July and she's an ABC with a grad degree in Business. I've been working and living in Taiwan for roughly 3 years now, but this is the first time she is coming with me. My question is....................how difficult do you think it will be to find her a job? We are going to be living down south near Kaohsiung. Are there any schools besides Hess that would hire her with no problems? She was born and raised here in the States. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all

Stirge

[BigWally]

It'll be tough...for example...

a friend of mine who is ABC, lived in the US for over 10 years, went to private school & University in the US....has no noticeable Taiwanese accent, goes in to replace another (white) friend of mine at a morning kindergarten, the people there basically tell him that they don't want anyone who looks Chinese because the parents wont understand how he could teach them anything about English, and the kids wont feel comfortable using their English when speaking to white people....

it may be a tough road but with persistence there will be opportunities available! good luck!

[Miyazaki]

No problem.

There are Canadian / American born Chinese EFL instructors working at every level of English teaching that exists here in Taiwan: buxibans, kindergartens; elementary, junior and senior high schools, colleges and universities.

In fact, most English teachers in Taiwan aren't white, western native English speakers, but locals.

[stirge2210]

Wow, 2 totally different answers! I guess I've heard both sides of the situation and I've seen a few CBCs and ABCs working in schools here, but I've also heard many many stories of them being turned away because of their skin color. Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!!

[comenius]

I worked in Taiwan a number of years ago and some of my good friends were ABC's teaching English along with me in Taipei.

Like all things, if you're presentable and deliver solid, entertaining lessons in the classroom, your girlfriend will have no trouble.

Getting the job might be a little more difficult, but if your girlfriend looks and acts the part in the interview she'll do just fine.

[TaoyuanSteve]

You will get a variety of answers on the subject because the success of an ABC comes down to individual circumstances.

However, as a rebuttal to Miyazaki's comment about the majority of teachers, it is essentially correct that the majority of people teaching English here are in fact locals. He fails to mention that they are paid as locals and sometimes make quite a bit less than foreigners.

Your friend will be able to find work. You may not be able to get her recruited (schools won't pay recruiting fees for ABCs) and she may be offered less by some places. If she uses her business degree, perhaps she could get some lucrative business trainer jobs.

[stirge2210]

I really appreciate everyone's feedback on this. We are just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. If anyone knows of any schools down south that are hiring, please let me know.

[stirge2210]

Do you think that using a recruiter would be a good idea? I refuse to do so for myself, but my gf says she would like to secure a position before she leaves because, well, let's face it, she is worried about the ABC thing counting against her. I have to say, not just out of bias, but my gf is a very pretty woman and she looks really young. She's outgoing and has a great personality so I told her she would be a sell at a lot of schools once they met her. But..........she needs the security before she leaves and I can understand that. Any thoughts on this? Any good recruiters that could find her a decent position near the "Dirty, Dirty!!" (Kaohsiung)?

[TaoyuanSteve]