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christmas
Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 49
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:03 am Post subject: How do you find the jobs?? |
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Hi, not sure where to begin looking for a government school job. Everytime I look on the internet all I get is a stream of recruiter names and not actual teaching positions. It seems like on every esl website the recruiters have it locked down for jobs in Government schools. How does a person find these jobs. I know people are getting hired without recruiters but I am having troubles knowing where to start. Do I just go from school to school with a resume in hand. I read on a post to email your address but, how do you find out the email addresses of the schools?
Any advice would be great. |
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ESL Hobo
Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 262
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:50 am Post subject: |
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I had a job in a gov school in TW for one year, I got it by word of mouth, they were looking for an English teacher and someone(Taiwanese) recommended me. Turns out I was being paid by the parents PTA and not by the gov because the gov didnt want to fund an English teacher for their school.
So thats one possible way to get your foot in the door. I think there are actually only 2 or 3 gov schools that legally employ foreigners, sorry i forgot the names of these schools but if you go through the ministry of education they should tell you which schools they are and what their requirements are. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:14 am Post subject: |
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| christmas, It seems that www.esldewey.com has been contracted out to do the hiring for public school teachers. The salary is around 65,000NT and I believe there is also a housing subsidy. Please not that without a teacher's license from your home country you cannot work in a public school in Taiwan. Any Taiwan one cannot get a visa to work anywhere other than a buxiban with out a teacher's license. |
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gfisher
Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 20
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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Although I don't have experience in Taiwan, I have had the experience of applying for a govt. school position via the recruiter mentioned in this thread.
The recruiter replied to my initial enquiry within three hours. Within 24 hours, I had a contract offer. Coincidently, I was pleasantly surprised by a local job offer and rejected the contract offered by the Taiwanese recruiter. The Taiwan money was 65,000 per month with 5,000 housing allowance.
I should note that I am a qualified and licensed teacher in my home country.
Something I did not like about the contract was that teachers do not receive the same holidays as students; teachers are expected to attend school for much of the holidays and design teaching programmes and perform (the disconcertingly vague) 'other duties'.
Is that normal in Taiwan/Asia/TEFL? Is negotiation possible? |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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Something I did not like about the contract was that teachers do not receive the same holidays as students; teachers are expected to attend school for much of the holidays and design teaching programmes and perform (the disconcertingly vague) 'other duties'.
Is that normal in Taiwan/Asia/TEFL? Is negotiation possible? |
I believe that some of the schools only want to give you a 10 month paid contract. You would be forced to survive July and August without pay. Thus it is obvious why the Taiwanese government does not fill these positions. |
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tomintaipei
Joined: 07 Aug 2009 Posts: 18
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:18 am Post subject: |
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Christmas, the best place to find a job in Taiwan is definitely www.tealit.com
Most schools in Taiwan post up jobs on there, and almost everyone I know has found a better job on there than the one they came to Taiwan with. It's also a great website for personals, merchandise, and anything else you can think of. During my time in Taipei, I found it an invaluable resource...it's like a big tag sale. |
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forest1979

Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry gfisher but if you are turning jobs down because of the holiday issue then you'll never work in Taiwan. Plus if you're turning down jobs at 65,000 salary plus a housing allowance do you really think you'll do better? Really, you only have yourself to blame if you're not in employment.
If you want a job with long holiday and a salary then look for a university job. However as has been mentioned on other threads university jobs are scarce, competition is fierce, and without a PhD you're not really in the hunt. Oh, but don't expect a housing allowance, but yes whilst you might get long holidays technically, and I guarantee 99% of university employees don't realise this, that even though you might not be in the classroom you're not supposed to leave the island and should be, at the call of the director, able to come into the office to 'work'. In practice though rarely do people get called in, hence people see uni jobs as having huge holiday periods.
In answer to your question, can you negotiate? Simply put, no. Understand the culture and you'll have a job. Come into Taiwan with foreign ideas and ideals and don't expect to be happy or maybe even in work. |
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DHAPhotography
Joined: 11 Aug 2009 Posts: 49 Location: Kill Devil Hills, NC
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry gfisher but if you are turning jobs down because of the holiday issue then you'll never work in Taiwan. Plus if you're turning down jobs at 65,000 salary plus a housing allowance do you really think you'll do better? Really, you only have yourself to blame if you're not in employment.
If you want a job with long holiday and a salary then look for a university job. However as has been mentioned on other threads university jobs are scarce, competition is fierce, and without a PhD you're not really in the hunt. Oh, but don't expect a housing allowance, but yes whilst you might get long holidays technically, and I guarantee 99% of university employees don't realise this, that even though you might not be in the classroom you're not supposed to leave the island and should be, at the call of the director, able to come into the office to 'work'. In practice though rarely do people get called in, hence people see uni jobs as having huge holiday periods.
In answer to your question, can you negotiate? Simply put, no. Understand the culture and you'll have a job. Come into Taiwan with foreign ideas and ideals and don't expect to be happy or maybe even in work. |
I think gfisher's point is why come to Taiwan to work for 65,000NT a month with no summer vacation if one is a licensed teacher.
I tend to agree with him. I would probably not accept a government position if I was a licensed teacher. There is nothing so great about Taiwan that I would give up two months of vacation to sit in a school all summer. |
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gfisher
Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 20
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:40 am Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
Sorry gfisher but if you are turning jobs down because of the holiday issue then you'll never work in Taiwan. Plus if you're turning down jobs at 65,000 salary plus a housing allowance do you really think you'll do better? Really, you only have yourself to blame if you're not in employment.
If you want a job with long holiday and a salary then look for a university job. However as has been mentioned on other threads university jobs are scarce, competition is fierce, and without a PhD you're not really in the hunt. Oh, but don't expect a housing allowance, but yes whilst you might get long holidays technically, and I guarantee 99% of university employees don't realise this, that even though you might not be in the classroom you're not supposed to leave the island and should be, at the call of the director, able to come into the office to 'work'. In practice though rarely do people get called in, hence people see uni jobs as having huge holiday periods.
In answer to your question, can you negotiate? Simply put, no. Understand the culture and you'll have a job. Come into Taiwan with foreign ideas and ideals and don't expect to be happy or maybe even in work. |
I never said I declined the contract offer due to holidays. You seem to have joined two unrelated sentences together. I declined the offer from Taiwan because of relationship issues, which is something I don't want to discuss with strangers.
The point of my post was to share information with the original poster, the creator of the thread. I also wanted to ask if I am in a position to negotiate contracts with Taiwanese employers. Thanks for your reply regarding that matter.
And thanks to JZer.
I probably do wonder why I'd go to Taiwan for less money, less holidays and an unpaid summer break. To learn what the culture has to offer, as someone else suggested? That sounds like a punchline. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:15 pm Post subject: |
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And thanks to JZer.
I probably do wonder why I'd go to Taiwan for less money, less holidays and an unpaid summer break. To learn what the culture has to offer, as someone else suggested? That sounds like a punchline. |
I would have to agree. If I was a certified teacher I would not come to work in a Taiwanese public school for 65,000NT. I might work at an international school in Taipei but not for 65,000NT without holidays.
Not to mention that I believe some of those contracts are for 10 months. That means one needs to find a way to scrap by in July and August. |
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