Job Discussion Forums

[tracker466]

I am a recent university graduate from the USA and I have been searching for an EFL teaching position since January, and after many months of unemployment and unsuccessful attempts at finding a job in Eastern Europe and South America, I decided that I would like to teach in Taiwan. I would like to work in Taiwan for two or three years, and then I plan to go to Russia for graduate school. My eventual goal is to become a university professor.

Anyway, when I began searching for jobs in Taiwan, I found a recruiter and he has already found a position for me, which is located in Jhubei. I am, however, a bit leery about this position so I thought that I would ask for some advice from the pros.

My first worry stems from the fact that the school wants me to arrive in Taiwan in just a few weeks, so that I can begin the job. Normally I would not be concerned, but I have not yet applied for a visa, and I just feel that with a short deadline, it will be easy for me to overlook a vital item in the contract.

Secondly, the beginning wages will be 540 NTD per hour. From my own personal research, it appears that this is low to begin. I was thinking that maybe between 600 � 650 NTD was average, per hour. This is just going by my recent research, however, so I could very well be off the mark.
I was also not very happy that I was not offered any paid vacation days, although I am not sure if this is standard fare within Taiwan or not.

As a recent university graduate, my credentials are as follows:

-BA in English, with minors in German, Computer Science and a concentration in business
-100 hour online TEFL certificate
-15 hour in-house teaching certificate from when I was working as an ESL teacher at a literacy council
-1 semester of teaching language classes as a substitute teacher in the USA
-1/2 year working as a tutor and language teacher at a local literacy council
-Published author and member of Sigma Tau Delta, an English honor society

I realize that although these credentials may be okay for someone who has recently completed his or her university studies, these credentials may not be able to compete with someone who has been in the profession for awhile. Likewise, I also believe that it is harder to find a job in Taipei than other parts of Taiwan. I am not so picky about location in Taiwan, but I just felt that the wages were a bit lower than average. What does everyone think about the hourly rate of 540 NTD per hour? Also, if I turn this position down, are jobs readily available in Taiwan, so that I can maybe find something else?

If anyone can offer me advice or suggestions, I would appreciate it! Also, I realize that many people do not like using recruiters, but I just cannot bring myself to flying to Taiwan without a �job-in-hand�, so to speak, as I just don�t have enough money to be taking such risks. Thanks for any advice!

[markcmc]

I won't presume to advise you on taking this job or not. Just some thoughts on what you said.

The pay you're being offered is on the low side - although I think pay has been dropping here recently. The average first year pay in Taiwan seems to me - others may have different thoughts - between 580-620 NT p/hr.

No holidays is a Taiwanese, or perhaps just an TEFL, speciality. If you find a job that gives you paid holidays you are lucky. They do exist, but are not the norm.

Check out the jobs on tealit.com If you turn up in person, there's a good chance you will find a job offering better pay. However, you should come with enough money to live for 3 months or so. Have you asked them about the pay? Perhaps they can give you a better offer.

Dealing with an agent is not ideal. Actually they are best avoided completely.

[yamahuh]

Agreed - $540 is on the low end.

If you want paid vacation days, typhoon days, Chinese New Year etc you need to be looking at salary positions not hourly. Most salary positions will pay you for time off at CNY and some even offer an additional week or so of paid vacation time.

Some of the regulars here will grumble about how you are earning less per hour for a salary position as opposed to hourly, but when you take into account that you have to do prep work on your own time (unpaid) with hourly positions but usually have time to do it on the school's time with salary positions, I don't see that it makes much difference.

At least with salary you know how much you are going to make each and every month AND you get the benefit of paid vacation time, which you definitely do not get with hourly pay contracts.

As for recruiters?
Yeah, what he said... You don't need a recruiter to find a job in Taiwan, take a look at Tealit.com or ESL99 and you'll see tons of listings from schools looking to hire directly.

[madhatter109]

Can you give a heads up on any schools to avoid or look for? Would you recommend going there with 3 months savings and look for a job? How much money can you live on for 3 months? Do schools reimburse you for flights?

[yamahuh]

I personally would never work for Hess but I've heard plenty of people say it's fine. 3 months savings? I don't know - depends on how much you save per month I guess. I would say that a reasonable amount to show up and look for work would be $1500 - $2000 US / Canadian.

Bare in mind that most apartment rentals are going to require 2 months deposit plus your first month and, depending on where you end up, that can take a big bite out of your money. A decent used scooter once you've found work will run you around $500 US and then you've got hotels / hostels, feeding yourself etc while you look for work.

I live on about $700 US a month and that pays all my bills; rent, utilities, food, gas, everything... I'm not sure if that's typical or not though.

Schools generally do not reimburse flights in Taiwan.
In Korea they generally do.

Hope this helps.

[JZer]

I would say that 30,000NT, $1000US a month is a comfortable living in Taiwan. On that money you never even have to cook.