Job Discussion Forums

[Sheep-Goats]

Common question, and I've done my best to find the answer on my own, but can't.

I'm mostly interested in getting a M-F day time thing set up in Taipei with an acceptable workload, fair vacation time / payments, etc. I have a BA in English, CELTA, two years EFL experience, and present well, so it seems like I should be able to find something like that. The questions then, are:

1) When do semesters start in Taiwan for schools that would hire me (eg: not universities)?

2) How far in advance do those schools hire new folks?

I got my visa yesterday here in Bangkok and am arranging a ticket now, and basically need to know when the best time to show up is for on-the-ground job searches. Any hints or tips about what I should be looking for and/or how I should be looking would be helpful -- I'm used to hustling to get work from my time here in Thailand (good jobs ain't easy to nab) and lived in mainland China for three months previously, so should be able to deal with the usual Chinese contract haggling and cultural hangups (or lack thereof).

Oh, and should I wear a suit to the interviews? In Bangkok I certainly would, but I've heard Taiwan is a lot less formal.

[clark.w.griswald]

With the exception of Hess (and possibly a couple of others) most private buxibans don't have a semester schedule, but instead have ongoing classes. Some of the preschool and American school programs do have semesters that are often roughly tied in with the Chinese school semesters, but are still all over the place.

Just make sure you get here early enough to ensure that you are in country for at least 183 days before December 31st. This is in order to secure a tax break.

Suits are not required for interviews here. Just a nice clean shirt, dress pants, and some shiny shoes, should impress most bosses.

[daily chai]

Agreed. You aren't eligible for a uni job without a master's and years of documented teaching experience anyway. A BA or BS qualifies you for a buxiban or a primary/secondary school position.

The summer sets off a frenzy of teaching, so if you can arrive in late spring you will be trained up in advance. Check Taiwanese websites for when the schools end to know the official start of summer for them. Chances are excellent to find a job in late spring. That is the best time of year to come.

I suspect it would be very hard to find a M-F job. Most buxiban teachers teach on Saturdays. The teaching market has moved siginificantly over to teaching children, which means Wednesday afternoon and Saturday classes as schoolkids have free time then. The other days will also be spent teaching, but I think it would be rare to get Saturdays off. Can others who teach kids chime in? When I did, I was done by 3 p.m. on Saturday. Classes could start at 9, 11, and so on; if you get an 11 o'clock schedule then you can still go out the night before.

By all means make sure you sign a contact in-country, or you will get he worst hours that no one else wants.

In my job search in 2003 only Wall St. Institute was offering a contract to teach adults only, and at the time they had a 6-day week offer as well.

Good luck!

[Ki]

Holidays? If you're lucky. Most contracts these days have all but got rid of any benefits like holidays. You will probably get a couple of weeks unpaid each year.

The best way to get a m-f 9-5(ish) position is to work (ilegally) in a kindergarten. They should be able to secure you an ARC but be careful of government raids. Make sure you know what to do if you have one BEFORE you get raided.