Job Discussion Forums

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

I agree with "wood" on this one. There is a discriminatory attitude out there with regards to FBCs. Is it the only form of discrimination out there? Of course not. Do Mandarin speaking FBCs have certain advantages here that we whities don't? Maybe in some cases. But the fact remains that many Western born Chinese come here and find getting a job as a foreign esl teacher to be rather difficult. I know people for whom this has been the case. The closest to me would have to be my CBC girlfriend with whom I arrived in Taiwan. Overseas recruiters were licking their rabid chops trying to get me to sign with them. They wouldn't touch my girlfriend. Schools won't pay for Chinese, was the stated reason for this. I've been in the room when employers have offered two different salaries, one for me and another (lower) for my identically qualified girlfriend. I deliberately put off finding my first job here because I wanted to wait until my partner had found a job. I would then find a job in that area. I knew (and still know now) I could work anywhere I decided to look.

I'm not saying we whities have all the breaks or that FBCs are treated like trash in all instances. But believing that FBCs have the same level of opportunity in the efl field in Taiwan (or worse, believing that they actually have it better and/or have misplaced feelings of self-pity) really amounts to denying reality.

minigo · Joined: 30 Mar 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Vancouver, BC

To wood: Thanks for defending me.
To Okami: I understand that according to your expererience FBC do better than others. I was not whining about anything. I was frustrated and I was just simply asking for advice. I have done my research and i have been discouraged by the rejection letters. But it hasn't stopped me yet from wanting to teach in Taiwan. I would've liked it if you had suggested as to maybe where or how to find a job using my ethnicity as a strength. Name some companies that only hire FBCs. I didn't intend to annoy you with my question.

In fact, I didn't intend to turn my question into an argument for people and I'm sorry if it has. I just wanted some advice. That's all.

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

Don't worry about starting arguments. We do that pretty well on our own. Hopefully, from this forum, you can get the benefit of multiple sides to an issue, thus giving you a fuller picture of what it's like here. The answer is probably never one side or the other. Probably somewhere in between. Good luck.