Job Discussion Forums

insynch · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Canada

I'm open to reading the good, the bad, and the ugly, if any, on this Kaohsiung City-based recruiter. I'm scouting for a reputable recruiter.

Thanx in advance.

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

The information that I have about Pa Li suggests that they may be one of those recruiters that takes a cut of your wages each month. If so then they would be well worth avoiding. If you are not sure yet then check this with them so that you know how they operate.

The case that I am familiar with the school was apparently paying NTD600 for the teacher but the teacher was only receiving NTD550 from Pa Li.

There are some good recruiters out there, but my advice would be to avoid any that get mixed up with your pay.

Taylor · Joined: 24 Oct 2003 Posts: 384 Location: Texas/Taiwan

Dear Readers,

Pai-li is a school system that makes most of its money from teaching non-English courses, such as math, Chinese and science. Many of their classes have traditionally catered to junior-high students who simply want to prepare for major exams at school.

Over the past few years, Pai-li has begun offering children's English courses. The concept is: "These kids are already here three or four days a week, so let's throw in an English class to make it convenient for everyone." Since they are focusing on younger students, the parents have started to realize that a foriegn teacher is more necessary. That's where you come in. Cool

I am not saying that it would be terrible. You would likely have quite a bit of freedom in how you actually conduct the lesson. However, the pleasantness of your time there would largely be dependent on the personality of the individual branch director. In other words, she could be an angel or a witch. I guess this is true anywhere in the world, though...

It would indeed offer you a quintessential Taiwanese experience. You would likely be the only 'foreigner' there, so most conversations that occur would be in Chinese or Taiwanese, depending on the location. Have any certain cities/areas been mentioned? Kaohsiung maybe?

Best wishes. Feel free to email me back at taylorclint @ gmail.com if I could be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Taylor

BigWally · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:24 pm Post subject:

Why do you want a recruiter? Most will advise against it, you can do most things yourself that they will do for you.

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

True enough Wally. And I would also advise against it.

As for the why, it is often the case that those looking for jobs through agents are either new to Taiwan and/or are overseas. These people are looking for assurances before they put out the money and take the risks to get over here. This was even true in my own case where my gf at the time wanted at least one of us to have a job secured before we departed.

I understand and empathize with those who want assurances. Trouble is, these people are often taking jobs in places they've never seen and setting themselves up for disappointment sometimes. It's much better, if one can, to get here and look at places before agreeing to anything.

insynch · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Canada

Thank you all the comments and info.

To answer Big Wally's question...I'm researching my options for teaching overseas as far as resources, schools, etc. This will be my first time working abroad so I weighing all the options.

This recruiter was mentioned scoping out the school that I had taken my TESOL course at and just wanted to know more about their reputation.

I don't know which schools are reputable or not. This is what I'm trying to find out. I'm assuming that applying to government sponsored schools would be a safer bet for a newbie like me? I was also interested in Taiwan because I've read that doing part-time tutor work for extra income is possible along with holding a full-time gig.