Job Discussion Forums

adisattva · Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 2

does anyone know how likely I am to be denied a work permit if I don't have a degree, but have already signed a contract with a school and have been working for them for a month or more? I'm being told it won't happen, but everything I read says it will.

also, if I apply for a work permit and get denied while I'm in the country, will I have ruined my chances to get a resident visa by being a student of Manderin?

one last thing, does anyone have an opinion on how easy/difficult it is to start your own teaching business? I'm planning on living in Taichung and am wondering if it's a big enough city in which to build a client base I can survive on.

any input at all on this would be extremely helpful! Thanks!

MTurton · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 107

adisattva · Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 2

...finish? who says i've started? Wink

that right there is only the beginning of my problems in the world! but thank you very much for your input MTurton!

brian · Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 299

wood · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 202

Aristotle · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1388 Location: Taiwan

You won't have much trouble finding a job.
If a prospective employer ask for a degree tell them you have one but not with you.
Please read this.
http://www.geocities.com/taiwanteacher2002/Success.html
Good luck,
A.

brian · Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 299

Klamm · Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 121

Hm. No one has told you to stay home and get your degree. Let me try:

Stay home and get your degree. Do not go on this board asking people to help you get around laws that are in place for good reasons. This is education. Get some before you teach. Sure, you may not mind if the engineer who works in your city skipped school or your dentist whose working on your root canal is just "darn good" so much so that he didn't even go to dental school, but me, I mind. I like a dentist who went to dental school. I want a doctor who went to medical school. I want a lawyer who went to law school. I think we do these things in society for good reasons. Basic minimum standards and the like. Am I so strange?

Get your degree. And do it in English or Education if you plan to teach. If you just want to make money, go into business.

I hope more people will join me on this. Sorry folks, we need to get the rats out. Bad for the crops and plantation as a whole.

K.

Fortigurn · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 390

Well said Klamm. Great to see someone keeping it real.

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

MTurton · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 107

Aristotle · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1388 Location: Taiwan

Fortigurn · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 390

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

Yes, but is a four year degree the only way to ensure someone isn't a dumb schmuck? Consider the following: an individual, married to a local, has lived here the better part of a decade. He speaks near fluent Mandarin, maybe even some Taiwanese. He understands the people and the culture very well. He can converse with parents to find out what their concerns are and respond to them efficiently. He also doesn't need a co-teacher to translate. Is he really less qualified than some newly arrived new grad with no language skill or experience and a BA in some unrelated subject area (btw, this person would be able to work legally because he would have a parc through his spouse)? Honestly, I think experience is of more importance than an undergrad degree in the esl teaching field. Aren't we also side-stepping what I said earlier? The BA requirement is for visa purposes only. That is why your major has little bearing on your employability. Now, that said, I would advise people contemplating esl as a career to complete a BA. Educational quality arguments aside, it is a requirement for a work permit in countries that pay the best. That is a fact. In Taiwan, you can work without a degree; many do. Still, I think it's more of a hassle overall and I think it's getting harder all the time. Also, alot of jobs simply won't be open to those who cannot meet visa eligibility requirements. So, yes, get the BA. But let's all be aware of why we actually need it.

MTurton · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 107

A BA, Steve, says that your mind has been expanded by contact with a variety of different ways of looking at the world. It is not simply a scrap of paper that you must have to get a visa. Most people who do not have a college degree cannot substitute experience for it, because their experience here is generally unprocessed data with no frameworks for understanding it, which one thing a college degree is supposed to give you. The vast, vast majority of people I meet here without degrees are simply clueless as to what goes on around them, and understand Taiwan on a very low level, regardless of how long they have been here. That is why a person with a BA might make a better teacher even though they "understand" Taiwan "less" than an experienced person without a BA.

Another thing I have noticed in lots of people who have been here a long time without earning their degree is a kind of complex, sullen hostility toward the Taiwanese. As one stays here longer and longer without a degree, one becomes more and more umemployable in the US, resulting in a feeling of being trapped here in Taiwan (I suspect) which evolves into a sort of generalized hostility. Mere speculation on my part, but if there are any long-termers posting here, I'd like to see their input.

Michael