Job Discussion Forums

[Edd]

I am hoping to leave to go and teach in Taiwan
> sometime before the end
> of this year; I am currently living and working in
> England but spent
> 15 months in Japan, teaching at NOVA, before
> returning to the UK in
> October. Whilst in Japan, I met my girlfriend who is
> American-Taiwanese; we have decided to go off
> teaching again and, as
> she knows the place well, have chosen Taiwan as our
> destination.
>
> Despite her family connections and lots of info that
> is flying our
> way, I still have a few questions...
> 1) As you may know, NOVA is a large corporation with
> hundreds of
> schools all over Japan - this lead to frustrating
> amounts of red tape
> and lots of petty rules and regulations. We want to
> get away from
> companies like this and as Im sure there are a few
> similar ones in
> Taiwan, could you tell me which are the ones to
> avoid??
>
> 2) We have been offered a position by a member of
> her family as
> teachers in her english school - the school is out
> in the country, 1
> and a half hours south of Taipei. Would you
> recommend the big cities
> such as Taipei or schools in smaller towns and
> villages?? How abou
> work in universities?
>
> 3) I am currently studying for my TESOL but will not
> complete it for a
> couple of months - I would like to apply for
> positions as soon as
> possible-so you think that even though I havent yet
> completed the
> course, schools will be willing to take me on? (Im
> doing pretty well
> so far, so I shouldnt fail..)

[WorkingVaca]

1) there will be red tape no matter what school you work with. The work permit/ARC process involves a health check, paperwork auditing, trips to two different government offices, waiting for weeks in between, and of course, paying fees. It'll take at least a month to go through the hoops, AFTER you get a job. The best thing to do on arrival is get the health check completed ASAP, so it'll be ready to submit with your paperwork once you get hired.

2) country living vs. city living depends on your preference. At least you have your girlfriend with you and won't feel totally lonely and bored if you live in a small town.

3) in Taiwan, you need a B.A. degree to teach legally, and most schools only require this. A TESOL is only considered a plus.

[Frankie Knuckles]

Hi Edd,
I worked at NOVA in Kyoto back in 2000 and I am now living and working in Taiwan. NOVA receives a lots of negative criticism but I actually found it to be quite an easy job and a relatively painless experience. Yes, they do have alot of stupid rules and there is certainly red tape but I think you will find there is probably more here in Taiwan. I actually miss the fact that at NOVA you hardly had to prepare for classes and you never had to mark homework or tests. NOVA really was much easier work than the job I have in Taiwan. My advice is to try to find a job here in Taiwan where you don't have to mark homework cos that can take up quite alot of what should be personal free time. I have found that here in Taiwan I have actually had to learn in very short time how to become a real teacher. At NOVA all I had to do was to sit down and speak to 2 or 3 Japanese teenagers and really it was a total no brainer compared to what I am doing now. I am not trying to be really negative though cos there are still times when I really enjoy my job here in Taiwan but I really wish I could have a job that I didn't have to take home with me. If I decided to quit my current job in Taiwan there is quite a bit of red tape to go through. It is also alot easier to chop and change jobs in Japan than it is in Taiwan. In Taiwan employers can make it difficult for you to break contracts and can blacklist your name so that it becomes difficult for you to find jobs with other companies. Some companies also have fines written into their contracts if you decide to break the contract. All I am trying to say is don't expect less red tape here in Taiwan. If anything expect more than you experienced in Japan.

Despite these problems there are still things I like here more than I did in Japan. The two most obvious ones are much cheaper rent and cheap food. Like you my only reason for coming to Taiwan is that I too have a Taiwanese girlfriend so I decided to come here so that I could be with her. Don't get me wrong I still like to Taiwan despite my complaining. Just be careful cos there are quite alot of dodgy schools here. There is a much greater likelihood that you could get stiffed here than you could in Japan. Good luck

Frank

[MTurton]

>Whilst in Japan, I met my girlfriend who is
> American-Taiwanese; we have decided to go off
> teaching again and, as
> she knows the place well, have chosen Taiwan as our
> destination.

OK.....

> companies like this and as Im sure there are a few
> similar ones in
> Taiwan, could you tell me which are the ones to
> avoid??

There are thousands of schools. No one can tell you that, and anyway frustration is often a matter of perspective.

> 2) We have been offered a position by a member of
> her family as
> teachers in her english school - the school is out
> in the country, 1
> and a half hours south of Taipei.

Are they actually going to pay you and get you a work permit? Accept no bullshit! Your best bet would be a regular job with a real school to agument your G/F's family school. What if you and G/F part? YOu'll need a fallback. Work under the table for G/F, and work for Sesame Street or similar for a proper visa not under your GF's control. Be sensible, and don't compromise.

One and a half hours south of Taipei is not "country" but will be remarkable built up for a place the locals refer to as "rural." I suggest you get the name of the town (not the county) and look for pics. What locals call "rural" isn't what you and I would think of as "rural."

>Would you
> recommend the big cities
> such as Taipei or schools in smaller towns and
> villages?? How abou
> work in universities?

Universities require an MA at least. There's no way to know, cities or rural areas depend on taste, but cities are better IMHO. See my Housing in Taiwan page which discusses the issues of which places are better.

http://users2.ev1.net/~turton/housing.html

> 3) I am currently studying for my TESOL but will not
> complete it for a
> couple of months -

TESOL what? A BA? MA? certificate? Without a BA you can't get a visa.

Schools will be happy to take you on, regardless, so long as you have a valid BA. They don't care about TESOL certificates most of the time.

Michael

[a_dorais]

"The best thing to do on arrival is get the health check completed ASAP, so it'll be ready to submit with your paperwork once you get hired."


how much is a health check? do schools reimburse you for this?

[alamuerte]

tried to find the cost deducted from my first paycheck, but i can't put my fingers on my first paystub, but that's how i did it.
it was very little and i didn't bother negotiating it with the boss because i thought i had a sweet deal. and i was right.
my advice is to take it easy to begin with, establish a rapport with your boss. you play hard nose you get hard nose.
i'm a jaded old duck who came into this with a modicum of trepidation, having read the forums, but i got lucky, because i think i'm lucky.
if you know what i mean.
!buena suerte!

[daily chai]

MTurton, great advice on not tying one's work permit/residency to a GF or BF. Don't get into a fight with your better half over this. Just appear more interested in working for another place, with PT (though illegla) work at her family's school. Keep in mind if they get raided and you're photographed in front of a classroom you will get deported. You might like teaching for someone else, then taking on privates to supplement income instead.

I taught at a big chain (Kojen) and had a great experience. No extended bureaucracy at all.

Health checks are approximately NT$1200. Don't waste your time going to any other hospital, go to Ren-Ai Hospital. They have the most efficient system worked out for handling health checks, and the staff speak decent English, the signs are in decent English too. I once went to another hospital and I have friends who went to others--the other hospitals are not as informed on the rules and require unneccessary and invasive exams. One friend had to give an unneccessary fecal sample, and another had that plus an unneccessary rectal exam. Terrible! Ren-Ai will not scr*w you so only go there. Your GF can read the list of approved hospitals for health checks but RA is the place to go, and the results come in 5 working days--other hospitals take longer. Your check will include height/weight, blood pressure, vision, HIV blood test, & chest X-ray check for TB. Unf. Taiwan and many other gov'ts discriminate against HIV-positive people, so you have to be neg to get a job. This year they also require uni teachers who have been continuously employed in Taiwan for less than 4 years to submit HIV results too. Last year I didn't have to do a health check at all.

Uni positions also require several years of FT documented teaching experience. My uni did not accept 3.5 years of PT experience, only with my FT experience was I able to be hired and certified as a lecturer under MoE rules.