Job Discussion Forums

marleymg · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 Location: Canada

Amazing. Who has got it right?
123 makes great points.
staying power is not so eloquent yet - has staying power

myself - I did not feel right about Hess from the moment I recieved their questionnaire. I found questions about my physical and mental "readiness" and desire to teach to be downright insulting. Obviously - they will take anyone they can get.
Furthermore, I am an excellent judge of people by the way they "use" language. I feel the posts by 123 to be yet another attempt at recruitment.
For example, spouting off things like bring $2000 - exactly as the Hess website suggests.
I think that if people actually NEED the advice given by Hess they are selling themselves short or simply should not be teachers. I believe in education and educating - not developing programs that are designed to keep a population paying to learn a language for years when the same can be accomplished in much less time.
As a true teacher and sharer of knowledge, my "feeling" about Hess was to simply avoid putting myself in a situation like Staying Power's altogether. If anyone from NA knows about restaurants like the Cactus Club (or Cactus cult as it is nicknamed) you will understand where I am coming from. My astute observations tell me that 123 was as green as can be before teaching at Hess and, therefore, posts may be more biased than even I originally assumed - that is of course accepting the fact that the persona 123 displays is actually real. How much extra does one get paid for such actions as this. Staying power - although crude at times - at least comes off as genuine.

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

babar6789 · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 69 Location: Japan

babar6789 · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 69 Location: Japan

Summary: Hess = Sad

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

bassist33 · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 4

I am making my first post in response to this thread for the sake of providing a completely unbiased approach. I am in the United States and have been researching the opportunities to teach abroad that are available to me for nearly a year now. I have never been to Taiwan nor do I know anyone that has been.

After reading through this entire post, word for word, I have to say that I feel the general attitude of the posters to be very anti-productive. I whole heartedly believe that 123 is being genuine in his assessment of his time at Hess. He is recruiting, whether he's getting paid for it or not, but what is wrong with that? I have worked for several organizations in my lifetime, some good in my opinion, some bad in my opinion. Every experience is subjective in life, and it requires a special person to stick it out in any teaching field. I believe that if you looked at the sheer number of people that were unable to stick it out all across Taiwan's English academies you would find similar turnover rates.

I believe that it is important to provide your take on this company, stayingpower, but I believe that your point of view has been well described here and it is simply unproductive and negative for you to continue attacking this person's viewpoints. If someone has not taken away a sense of hesitancy in choosing this company from your previous posts then it is their responsibility to accept the consequences of joining this company. If you wish to start your own thread to continue your conversation and accusations against this company, I think that it is completely fair and right.

I feel that your interjections and continued attacks have really dragged the conversation down in this thread. I feel that 123 has a lot of excellent information for anyone who may be considering joining this company (foolishly in your opinion).

Hess is the largest English school in Taiwan. Ok, so it makes sense that money is their primary driving force. I have no illusions regarding the facts of a capitalist world. What I want to know is the perspective of someone that has been with Hess. I like to hear babar add his take as he was employed with them and has a perspective. I also like to hear from 123 who has a lot to say regarding his positive experience.

Another point I would make regarding the turnover rate at Hess is that it offers a lot more hours to start off than other companies generally seem to offer. I have read through countless recruitment ads and the general trend is 18 to 25 hours a week at most. As 123 stated, Hess offers contracts of at least 30.5 hours. I believe that this is where many people meet their downfall as teaching this many hours can and will be very overwhelming for new teachers. Also, as 123 stated, this may in fact be necessary to lead a truly comfortable life in Taiwan, especially with student loans back home. This is one fact that drives me towards Hess as a realistic option. I would like to save and continue paying my bills while experiencing this amazing culture.

Overall, I would say that, with all accusations of corruption aside as they are unfounded from the evidence provided, I see that Hess is a realistic introduction into employment in Taiwan. If you really do end up in a school that is abound with negative experiences, you are experiencing a simple fact that I'm sure invades all areas of the English school sector in Taiwan, some schools are just not up to par. That is true for any company that you may join, especially the large ones.

I thank you 123 for your advice and your continued additions to this thread. I thank you both, stayingpower and babar, for your opinions as well. As an objective observer to this thread and the experiences regarding Hess, I would like to hear more points of view from others who have been with this company. I believe that your point of view has been stated stayingpower and it is now up to the readers to judge based on all the opinions provided. I also feel that is 123's right to continue posting in this thread without continued interjections.

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

Thank you bassist33, your post has really surprised me.

I'm not going to comment too much further on it except to say this:

In my opinion you are going to be very successful in Taiwan - no matter who you work for. Your post reflects an ability to objectively and realistically analyze problems and focus on solutions for them.

Now all that's left for you to do is get to work, look after your health and stay honest to yourself about the challenges ahead.

You're going to do fine!

Good luck!

(PM me if you need any more advice about Hess specific to your situation)

bassist33 · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 4

Thanks for the encouragement!

I don't have enough posts to PM yet, but I do have a few questions for you.

#1 I was shooting for the August recruitment time, but unfortunately I was not prepared in time. I have contacted a Hess recruiter and she recommended that I shoot for the December recruitment time. Would this be a good time to come to Taiwan? I have heard comments regarding how it is better to arrive with the large classes of new teachers so that we can all become acquainted together, but I am a very social person and quick to make friends. I don't feel that it would be detrimental to my development if I didn't have the same numbers of acquaintences to help me through the rough times.

#2 Any other warnings you would have about this time of year such as weather?

#3 What region of the country would you recommend I shoot for? I love nature and would love to explore the countryside, but I am a city slicker at heart and I love the social scene of a large metropolis. I think that I would love to live in the Taipei area. Money is of course a factor as I do want to maintain financial stability. I have seen a lot of great prices for shared apartments throughout that region and I think that is the way I would like to go.

#4 Would I have any say or the ability to request any of these regions with Hess?

#5 I intend to sign on for contract B or C. I am a workaholic in many ways and am accustomed to working well over 50 hours in a week. I understand that kids could run me ragged, but so can college students at a non-profit fundraising group. After my initial probationary training period, am I certain to receive the minimum hours guaranteed? I have bills to pay back home, and while not overly high, they do require some stability.

#6 What has made you stick with Hess all these years? I would think that with your teaching experience there would be higher paying options out there, even when considering the benefits of your seniority with Hess. Also, I would think that by now you would have reached the pay raise "ceiling" Is there anything in particular that keeps you at Hess?

I guess that's the bulk of my questions. I'm sorry they're so long. I want to thank you in advance for all your advice!

Also, anyone else that has experience with Hess feel free to add your opinions.

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

aeb123$ · Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Posts: 11 Location: Indiana

123loto - i too am a newbie and have been following this post with interest. one thing that i haven't seen mentioned yet is age......i'm older, have an teaching license (general elementary), have NOT had my own classroom but have done lots of substituting and was a teacher's aide for several years. currently i'm working at a bank while taking classes for a TESOL certificate at a university. i am excited about this career change and will be ready to teach outside the US in 2010.
after reading several of the korean posts and being very discouraged about the probability of getting a decent job there, i've started to look at other countries. hess and taiwan seem like a good possible beginning spot for me - would you agree? what do you think about someone in their late 50's working in taiwan?
thank you for your (and any other's) input!

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

Hi aeb123$,

It's harder for our older and wiser colleagues to find work in Taiwan. However, it is not impossible, especially if you can show you have the experience, qualifications and life experience that will give you the best chance to succeed here.

Most of the people I have worked with over the years have been 23-40 years old but there have still been a few who were older. I have never really encountered anyone in their late 50s working here (sorry that's not quite true; I did work with a lady who might have been in her late 50s but I never thought to ask her actual age) - so this might be a reflection of it being more difficult for older people to find work or that, generally, they are not as interested in it as younger people.

I think there are some gross generalisations / assumptions held by employers in Taiwan - I bring them up so you can think about them and how you would respond to questions given to you by a school or recruiter.

A couple of gross generalisations that might be thought of as concerns could be 1) being physically capable of doing the job, spending a lot of time on your feet and running around after children 2) being flexible about misunderstandings, changes in the workplace, changes in the schedule etc etc...

So for example I'd play up the fact that being a substitute teacher is a strength (as opposed to having your own class) because this has meant you have had to quickly adapt to different schools, methods and workplace expectations. Perhaps think of a funny anecdote or whatever that shows how you dealt with an awkward situation.

You'll also want to mention if you happen to be a very fit individual, with a lot of physical stamina.

My only other advice might be to secure your job before you arrive - as I can't give you any meaningful idea of what your chances of getting a job are.

Anyway, the fact is you'll have more trouble finding work than a younger person but as you can apply before you leave there is no risk for you. I hope you stay in contact with this forum and let us know how things go for you. I am sure there are many people who would be interested to know how things work out for an older person in Taiwan!

Good luck!

TJA · Joined: 09 Apr 2009 Posts: 27 Location: Greater Taipei

123Loto · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 160

Good advice!

Rooster_2006 · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 984

I want to add my two cents here.

I'm a new teacher with Hess (started Hess Initial Teacher Training a little more than a month ago).

I'm not sure whether I'll stay with Hess or not at this point. It basically all depends on whether they keep me after probation is finished, or whether they fire me. I'd prefer to just play by their rules and stay afloat since I'm a student with loans and don't have much choice in the matter. I'm not some crusty old guy who's set in his ways and refuses to do what I'm told. I'm not trying to stir things up at Hess. I'm really trying to use VARG, time my lessons appropriately, etc. This is how things have gone so far:

HITT: they were very "worried" and finally said "we decided to put you in the branch, but you're going to have to work harder than the other NSTs." Despite my final teaching demo's evaluation form being filled with 4's and 5's. Weird.

First Week at the Branch: my Head Native Speaking Teacher (my boss, the "HNST") was pleased.

Second Week at the Branch: my HNST was pleased.

Third Week at the Branch: my branch manager observed my lesson and now my HNST is NOT pleased, and is threatening to fire me if I don't "clean up."

Fourth Week at the Branch (end of probation): TBA

Here are five good things about Hess:
1. They train you. Some schools that I taught at in Korea were like "just teach them English" and threw me in a classroom. Or they showed me 10 folders and some story books and said "this is our English teaching material, now go teach." Hess trains its employees.
2. They are a large chain and unlikely to go under.
3. They have advancement opportunities. I know several Hess teachers who have gotten consistent raises up to $750 an hour or $1,000,000 a year. Not bad.
4. They pay. I haven't gotten my first paycheck yet, but at least they gave me a 30,000 NTD loan, so I do have a significant chunk of Hess money in my hands.
5. They can place you pretty much wherever you want. I asked for Kaohsiung, and I got Kaohsiung.

Now for the BAD things about Hess:
1. It has a cult-like atmosphere. Seriously, I am starting to wonder if Hess selects Native Speaker Teachers (NSTs) almost solely on their expected loyalty. It's really starting to creep me out. Whether I'm at HITT, at my branch, etc. the fellow teachers are rabidly defensive of Hess' policies. I'm not talking bosses here, but other teachers just like me. For example, if I say to another NST in a private setting like "wow, we sure have a lot of extracurricular unpaid duties," that NST is highly likely to say "you're lucky to have a job with Hess, they treat us so well, they train us, they put food on the table, and look at you, you're insulting them -- you do not DESERVE to work at Hess." Stuff like that. It's like all the teachers except me and a few others who will soon be weeded out are completely, utterly brainwashed and Hess has become a father figure, the honor of which is to be defended valiantly!
2. Its pay and benefits are pretty poor. No paid vacation. 560 NTD an hour starting wage, which is lower than almost any other school in Taiwan. Other schools sometimes pay for training. Hess not only doesn't pay you for training, they make you PAY THEM BACK for training if you break your contract. Although even if you don't break your contract, you're still paying them back 40 NTD an hour for the whole year, since their wage is 40 NTD less than the standard wage.
3. Its hours are quite long. I understand that this is par for the course in the teaching field and I'm not one of those morons who signs a 20-hour contract and then yells "WHY DO I HAVE TO WORK 21 HOURS WHEN IT SAYS 20 IN THE CONTRACT?!!!" However, I think Hess' preparation/homework and test grading/company function times well exceed other English schools. 20-hour Contract A could really turn into a 40-hour-a-week, full-time job. I mean, think about it -- 20 hours a week of teaching, 4.5 hours a week of homework grading if you're actually reading the students' answers and not just eyeballing them, 9 hours of prep per week if you're actually doing an acceptable job planning, 4.5 hours a week for random training/chats with the boss/etc, a couple of hours a week on average for company functions -- we're ALREADY up to 40 hours of actual work time for an employee who is actually doing his job on bare-bones Contract A!
4. It is very, very easy for them the fire you for the first month and a half, and they fire quite a few people. Some people get canned in Hess Initial Teacher Training. Wow, imagine flying all the way around the world, being jet-lagged, not having your bearings, and just one week into your life in Taiwan, you're told "you're fired." Compassionate folks. And for those who make it through Hess Initial Teacher training, there's a one-month probation period in which they can fire you with no notice. Once you are off probation, you are much more secure, but keep in mind that most branches still won't re-contract their employees with a very subjective rating of less than "Very Good" on the NST Evaluation Form. The form is very subjective and lots of high-points things are beyond the NST's total control, or very vague and subjective ("Rapport with Students," for example). An NST is required to get in the high 800s (out of 1000) to be able to recontract, and if an NST is making less than 840, he or she will probably get fired, said my HITT instructors when I asked them.
5. They are ANAL RETENTIVE about timing. Did your phonics lesson go five minutes too long? "If you don't clean up your act, you know what will happen." Jesus. Even if you cover all the lesson points, even if you do all the activities in the correct hour, they are expected to be accurate time-wise down to the MINUTE. Deviation (regardless of whether or not the class needs more time on this or that) is NOT tolerated.

Right now, having just gotten criticized by my boss on #5, I'm a bit down on Hess. I want to make it work, but I've got to tell you, being on thin ice in a foreign country ain't fun. I'm working hard and coming in two or three hours early each day to prepare, staying an hour late to grade homework, tidy things up, etc, but that's not enough, apparently.

I am holding out hope that if I make it through probation and am more secure, things will get better. I can avoid a couple of especially fanatical co-workers by not preparing my lessons in the same room (maybe I could buy my own materials cart and prepare in an empty classroom). I don't think my boss is a bad guy -- he's obviously intelligent and knows what he's doing. However, it's hard to have a good feeling about Hess right now with the way they're threatening me.

scarab1169 · Joined: 07 Jun 2007 Posts: 42

Rooster,

I made a post here earlier - but deleted it. I had and still have a lot of gripes with Hess, but I'm not even sure if it's worth it to air out. I want to say this to you :

If they are having problems in your first month of teaching about timing, they are looking for unnecasary reasons to critisize. NO ONE- even experienced people can get their "TIMING ACCORDING TO HESS" spot on in the first month. If they want to "GET YOU FIRED" because of that - well that won't stand in court. That being said - yes you're right , they are anoying about timing, but yeah like you said it doesn't matter wheter your students might need more practise with a certain thing. Unfortunatelly, Hess isn't interested in learning students anything - it's just a big sausage machine. If we are finished with today's lesson we're done - doesn't matter if the students actually know that thing you just taught them or can use it in real life.

Second - I think you're making the typical rookie mistake - overplanning. 2 to 3 hours before class for lessons that are already laid out for you - lad, it ain't worth it. Take it from someone who's been there, done that. It just isn't worth it. It sounds like I maybe didn't care. I did. I was like you - I really wanted to do a good job. I dreamed of making a difference in theses kids lives. I soon discovered, that Hess simply doesn't care about things like this.You're expendable - and just another face in the crowd to them. As long as you show up on time, have done your "lesson plans", thought of a game or two or even 3 to play in class, did the class, graded the homework and did your part - please do not waste your time by giving them so much of your time. Like you said - there are a lot of times that you have to do things where you don't get paid for it. When I got more experience, I only did a small summary of my lessons on a sticky note on the outside of the first book - i.e what book, what pages, ect. It simply isn't worth it, and you'll have a breakdown if you continue this way. I did and I wanted to go home, but thankfully my branch manager talked to me and I turned around and started enjoying Taiwan and life here, and I made it and here I am - still in Taiwan, at another fantastic school where I can actually teach kids - not just let them drill and repeat.
So please- relax! Take my advise and just do it.

Good luck for you - hope everything works out.