Job Discussion Forums

[brettb]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post on this forum and I hope it will be one of many more!

I apologize if some of the questions I ask here have already been asked and answered by others. I have quite thoroughly read through the forum so I hope there will be little repetition.

FIRST... about me!

I'm 28 years old and will be heading out to Taiwan in January 2011 (maybe sooner). I will be coming with my girlfriend and we are both very excited to teach ESL in Taiwan.

I have a BA degree in Economics, 5 years corporate business experience and am Oxford Certified in TEFL/TESL/TESOL.

My girlfriend has a BA degree in Communications, some limited corporate work experience and is also Oxford Certified in TEFL/TESL/TESOL.

We are both fairly open to ideas right now and have not decided if we would like to teach a certain age group or proficiency level (perhaps you don't even get the choice when working for chain schools?).


SECOND... all our questions!!!!!

We've done some research and think that because we are new to teaching ESL we will try to go the chain school route. When researching the internet / discussion forums I've come across the following chain school names:

- HESS
- Joy
- Kojen
- Davids
- Wall Street
- Global Village
- Shane English School
- Principle School
- Kid Castle

Q1: Does anyone have information (good & bad) that they can share about the above schools based on personal experience?

Q2: Are there any other big chain schools in Taiwan that I should research?

Q3: Neither of us are government certified teachers, does this mean that we cannot teach in public schools in Taiwan?

Q4: I've read from some discussion forums that Taipei is quite polluted. I've lived in various parts of England for a number of years and some people in Canada might call London polluted but this is just a matter of perspective. Is Taipei really that bad or is it just like any big city where certain areas / neighborhoods are best avoided?


Thanks everyone for your feedback. I really appreciate any advice you can offer!


Kind regards,
Brett B

[Modest Mouse]

I'm sorry, but the government of Taiwan has declared that too many Canadians are already in Taiwan, so they will soon put a ban in place preventing Canadians from applying for ARC cards. You should try Japan instead.

[brettb]

Thanks Modest Mouse, good to see that there are some people out there with a good sense of humor!

Based on some of your posts it sounds like it is not as easy to find work in Taiwan as it might have been a couple years back.

Appreciate any advice that you or others can offer that might start me off on the right foot.

[Dr_Zoidberg]

[Hightop]

A tip when applying to these big chain schools, don't just send them an e-mail with your cv and stuff. Call them and talk to the person that is in charge of recruiting after you have sent your e-mail. I did this and most of them had not even read the e-mail. So call them and keep calling them until they offer you a position or tell you no. Also maybe you could try a recruiter. I have had good experiences with http://www.esldewey.com.tw/ Good luck

[JZer]

[FoundWaldo]

Q1: I taught for a Principle School in Banqiao (south-west Taipei). Overall the school was good and I had a great time teaching the kids there. The one nice perk is that Principle will pay you for almost all the time you spend at school, including prep time. Most schools don't do this.

Q2: Dr_Zoidberg covered this. I can't think of any more..

Q3: Yes, this is correct.

Q4: Tough question. Yes, Taipei is definitely polluted by most Western standards, but it is better than most Asia cities of this size. There are some great parks to escape to surrounding the city when you need to escape though. Wulai down south, Yangmingshan to the north. Nonetheless, pollution is one of the downsides of living in Taipei.

Good luck!