Job Discussion Forums

[misterno]

Hello everyone,

I have heard horror stories about Taiwan and getting a teaching job from an agent. I recently have met one working for Jordan School. I am from Montreal, Quebec, and I am wondering if anyone has ever dealt with this May Jiao agent working for Jordan School. She seems okay to me, but like I said, I have heard horror stories about this chain of School and their agents so I don't know... This would be my first job (actually my wife and I), and I want to be certain this is a good deal.

Can anybody please give me feedback?

Thank you.

[killian]

the school you mentioned is a nationwide chain wherein each branch is independently owned/operated. it would help your cause greatly to find out which city the branch you are dealing with is located. as the large cities can literally have scores of each school/child warehouse it would be really good to get the exact street location.

how would you answer if a foreigner asked if KFC was a good place to work? yeah, it's a franchise, but some locations are better than others; check out the specifics further.

best wishes.

[misterno]

Hi Killian, and others,

Yes, I guess I was pretty vague as to where I was talking about.

The Jordan Schools I am speaking of that this Mrs. May Jaio works for are the ones located in Taipei, Hsinchu, Tayun and Taichung (I am not sure of the spelling of the last 2). May is an agent that works in Montreal (but probably covers more ground than that). I do not have the specific locations, but I will post the addresses as soon as I talk to her.

Thanks for the help.

[Paul G]

Misterno:

If you read down the Taiwan index you will find a thread dealing with this very subject.

[misterno]

Well, if you are referring to the "Sex, lies and videotape at Jordans in Hsinchu" page, that is not what I am looking for. I do not care for people who do not know how to keep it in their pants. It says nothing of the working conditions.

Apart from that, I went through the whole Taiwan index and found nothing about what concerns me. That is why I am posting my questions here. If you are talking about another page, please tell me what the title is.

I want to find out more about the ones in Tayun, Taichung and Taipei.

There ya go.

Thanks for your help.

[Paul G]

I was referring to this thread:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=327

I thought there was another thread dealing with other recruiters for Jordan Schools, but I guess not.....you know what they say about memory being the first thing to go.

[misterno]

OK, so this is what I've collected so far.

I've heard that a good Jordan School in Taiwain is the one located in Kao-Hsiung.

The ones in Chiayi, Kojen, Alian and Gangshan are a nightmare, so they say.

BTW, if anyone could come up with a good list/bad list of the schools they know of in Taiwan, that would be ultra-cool for everyone, I am sure!

Ciao amigos.

[misterno]

Hi,

Anybody here has ever work at these Jordan Schools: in Tainan and/or in Mituo?

Any meat on these two branches? I wouldn't want it to break under me once I climb on.

BTW, I don't see this often so here goes: thanks a mill to all those of you already in Taiwan for the great feedback & info!

Ciao.

[Timothy]

I worked for Jordan's Language school in Taoyuan for one year and had no problems at all.

[TaoyuanSteve]

Misterno, I had sense of deja vu when I read your post. That's because you posted something virtually identical to it 10 months ago. Honestly, haven't you decided yet? The message you should have gotten by now is that Jordans is one of the larger English school companies on the island. Different locations will have different management, so your experince is going to depend on which particular Jordans you work for. On the whole, it should be a safe place to go. Jordans is not the highest pay, but it does have a decent curriculum and teaching resources. I checked all of this out when I got here and interviewed with them (I decided against them because the "incident" I had with one of their recruiters). That brings me to my main point. There is no need whatsoever to use an agent to get a job with this (or any) company. Just a guess, but I bet www.jordan.com.tw or a related url will take you to their website. You can contact them directly and cut out the middleman. There is nothing this (or any) agent can do for you that you can't do for yourself. Search tealit.com for an informative and revealing article on agents and you'll see I'm not just grinding an axe here. Agents are scum. You are putting yourself at risk by trusting them. The argument I always hear is agents provide security. But do they really? Offers agreed to outside the country are not worth squat. You don't actually get the job and work permit until you get here (so no matter what the agent says, you don't have the job yet). The school can at any time back away and leave you screwed. They can take one look at you and decide they don't want you, even after agreeing to a contract overseas (as happened to a friend of mine). Or they can alter terms of a supposed agreed upon contract when you arrive here. Really, even with an agent, you have no more security or assurance than anyone who just gets on a plane and does their own search when they hit the ground. And guess who does better in the long run? Hint: the guy who did his homework and found and negotiated his own job.

[brian]

Taoyuan Steve, this is the original thread that you refer to, it has just come to the top due to the recent comments made by Timothy.

I too had problems with the recruiter that you are referring to and concur with the suggestion to go straight to the school. My problem with them was that I thought that I was dealing with the head office of Jordans. I specifically asked questions pertaining to who I was talking with and was lead to believe that they were in H.O. (we were dealing via email and the email address was a Jordans one). I even communicated via email and phone with a foreign teacher working with them - who once again I believed was based in head office as they were sitting right next to the 'agent'. It turns out that they were a teacher in the recruiters own school in Miaoli. On arrival I was whisked off to a tiny little town in Miaoli and not Taipei where I was headed. Sure, I hadnt asked specific questions, but as they knew I wanted to work in Taipei, I was surprised. I stayed with the recruiters in Miaoli for a couple of days and then they brought me to Taipei and lined up a job within one of the Jordans Schools here. I never set foot inside head office for all of this.

I have posted a copy of an earlier posting that I made regarding my experience with Jordans - titled ARC cancelled. Check it out.

[Michael]

Starting salary NT 53,000 to 60,000
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you may contact us now at [email protected]

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[Aristotle]

Do you want the long list or the short one?

[willy]

never never usa a recuter its a wast of time!!!
its better to beal with the school. and for TW just go you will find a job
but it is better if you bring lots of games very few schools want someone to teach you are a whit face that they can use to make lots of$$$

sorry thats the hard cold truth. i now teach in indo. the $ are the same if you can realy teach (no games) and its chaeper