I’m a PhD student in the States looking for university level positions in Taiwan (Stanford Graduate School of Education, Learning Sciences). Has anyone gone through the process recently? Land jobs? How did it go? Ideally, I’d love to continue my research and teach, but happy to make some adjustments for the sake of moving (my wife is ABC; her parents live part-time in Taiwan). My Chinese language skills are weak: basic conversational and reading only.
The recruitment schedule seems to be later than in the States; earlier posts say Feb-May for the fall. That still true? I would be looking to work starting in the fall, 2018.
I have tried cold-emailing a couple of Taiwanese professors who do similar research, but no response so far (not expecting much). The Fulbright program seems possible, but I don’t have a sponsor without a connection there. Tealit doesn’t have anything right now, although I’m assuming it will pick up during recruitment season. Aside from that, the plan is to visit university websites looking for jobs during recruiting season (although given the academic schedule in the States, I may well have to pass on early job opportunities here first). The Ministry of Education has a U.S. location near where I live. Perhaps I’ll contact them, too.
Anything else that I should be looking into or doing? My sister-in-law mentioned that teaching at an English cram school can bring in good money; folks seem to have different opinions on this issue. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’d consider it.
There’s no local equivalent of the Chronicle of Higher Education, if that’s what you mean. Each university posts faculty openings on its own website(in Chinese, typically). Some people have gotten jobs by cold-e-mailing (with resume / cv) department chairs or deans. Fall semester plans are naturally put together the previous spring, but not everything goes according to plan, and openings can suddenly appear. You really need to be in Taiwan to get hired, though.
That said, you have to understand that Taiwan’s aging demographic structure has meant that there is a glut of universities, especially right now, and that many departments and/or whole universities fear for their futures. In my department new hires don’t get offered “permanent” jobs, but get the equivalent of year-to-year contracts, or else part-time work. So do be prepared to pursue some other kind of work.
Hello, bekeep. I’m a full-time university instructor working contract to contract on an ARC. While it is contract to contract, at least at my Uni the position is stable unless your student evaluations are consistently bad (something you don’t need to worry about as long as you work hard and know what you’re doing). My Chinese ability is garbage. I’m TESOL certified and have a Master’s in Ed. Coincidentally enough, my wife is also a Fulbrighter and I met her while I was completing my Masters and she was doing her Fulbright exchange in the states. Hiring season for the Fall semester is tight, with most deadlines being between May and July (and applications being accepted in earnest from about January or February). So you have to hurry. If you can’t meet the deadlines (and it’d be hard at this point) then I’d try looking for work for the second semester beginning in February. There’d be fewer jobs for a mid-year position, but there’d be some out there.
To be frank, I strongly disagree with your sister-in-law. There are many great teachers at cram schools. That said, I consider myself somewhat overqualified for a cram school position with a Masters. With a PhD, you are definitely overqualified. You should be settling for nothing less than a Uni gig, in my opinion. Despite stiff competition, you have an advantage many don’t in holding a doctorate. I think you’d go to the front of the line, as long as you also have experience teaching. If you really can’t get a Uni position, then look into working at an international school. As long as places are hiring and are aware of you, I don’t think you’ll have that much trouble. The downside is you’re starting your search when the hiring season is pretty much wrapping up. But they’ll be hiring again soon, so try not to get trapped in a cram school contract. Universities typically don’t advertise on jobs boards, and they definitely don’t use recruiters. Check out their websites and they’ll usually announce whether they’re hiring new instructors. Good luck! Here for follow up Qs, if you have them.
EDIT: I thought you were looking for immediate work, but rereading I see you’re looking for a Fall, 2018 start. Even better. You should be golden then. Don’t pester too many Unis now as there’s no point. Wait until the hiring season begins next January or February.
Many thanks for the info. I wouldn’t mind a year-to-year contract so much, but part-time would be more challenging. I probably couldn’t swing being in Taiwan for the entire hiring season (January to say July), but I could probably be there for three weeks in February or March and then be there end of June/early July with plans on staying.
A key point that has not yet been mentioned is this: you will need to have the PhD in hand to be hired at the assistant professor level here. There is no allowance for ABD hires in Taiwan for full-time faculty work; this is not at the discretion of individual hiring committees or deans, it’s mandated from the top (i.e. the MOE).
OP: Since you identify yourself as a PhD student, I wonder about your expected completion timeline? Should you go through this process–and I encourage you to try–do beware that the hiring process in Taiwan (again, for full-time faculty work at the assistant professor level) is extraordinarily protracted and will involve external assessment of your file (ideally publications, almost certainly your dissertation) as well as certification of your credentials should you be offered a position.
That said, if you do have the degree from Stanford, and if you present yourself reasonably coherently (as of course you will), you will certainly get noticed by hiring committees. But you will need the degree in hand and a completed dissertation.
Thanks for the advice and the timeline. Makes sense to go for a Uni gig. Did you apply when you were still in the States and then go to Taiwan for interviews or were you already there? Per Dawud’s thoughts, I could probably swing three weeks during the early part of the hiring season, if it increased my chances. Just not sure what the right timing would be.
My teaching experience background is weird: I taught English in Japan for three months before going to college in the States, led a summer lecture series, and designed and taught a semester-long course, but to prisoners who were earning their bachelor degrees (which might be interesting in the States, but not sure how it would come across abroad). Plus a fair amount of private tutoring. So less teaching experience than the average PhD in Education. Is that sufficient? I could try to teach a fall or winter course at a local community college if it would improve my prospects.
And last line of questioning: I take it you teach English? I’d be happy to teach English, but my background is in science education and would love to continue doing research (and teaching) in that area, if possible. Jobs outside of English departments would require extremely fluent Chinese, I take it?
Ha - okay, one more. : ) Have you liked your job? Find the teaching fulfilling?
This answers one of my questions - thanks! Unless things go incredibly well (as they tend to, with dissertations), I probably wouldn’t have the PhD before the start of the season (Jan-Feb), but would have it before the end (July). May-June is my expected end-date. Sounds like it would either be tight or impossible. Could be get a short gig somewhere and apply for the following year.
Mention the Japan part; I’d keep quiet about the prison instruction (I can just imagine possible foes at the committee level saying: “Why was he in prison”? or something similar.) The tutoring part is not relevant work experience for this sort of position.
Does a law degree count, in this respect? It’s a “doctorate” level degree (or so the lawyers would have you believe). I’m guessing no, but if it does, I would be okay. Maybe I should just check with the Ministry of Education.
Hey bekeep,
I did apply in the states and got offered part-time at one Uni, but didn’t accept it since I got a full-time offer from another Uni once I was in Taiwan. It’s unusual to get an offer when you’re out of the country though, and I think part of the reason for that part-time offer was because my wife is good friends with the English department chair. The interview process for the full-time position was quite intense. I was against a dozen other applicants and had two interviews, one with the department head and one with the hiring committee. The final step was giving a demo lesson to a class. It took about a month from my first interview to when I was offered the job.
I have about a decade of teaching experience, including at another Uni in South Korea, so that helped give me an edge even though I only have a Masters. You have the opposite problem in that your experience seems a bit limited. However, your PhD should make up for a lack of experience. Altruistic as it may be, I wouldn’t mention the prisoner stuff as there’s a chance for some miscommunication. (Just don’t mention “prisons” or anything to do with criminal activity period during your interview) If you’re just cooling your heels and waiting anyway, then yes I’d definitely try to get a bit more teaching in during the winter. You don’t want those pesky gaps on your resume, and it always helps to have more experience.
I do teach English, but within that general framework I also teach related electives such as cross-cultural communication, creative writing, public speaking and business English (as well as more basic reading & writing, and oral communication courses).
I do enjoy teaching at my Uni. The classes are rewarding, the students are mature and interesting, and I get autonomy to make my own curriculum and lesson plans. Plus, I get about 4-5 months vacation a year and get full time pay while only teaching about 14 hours a week. Still, there’s a lot of prep work, a lot of departmental meetings, and sometimes some faculty bureaucracy. You also can’t wing it, because these are Uni classes and you may get challenged on grammar points, or other aspects of your lesson. Finally, while the pay is high by Taiwanese standards it’s still not great. I get about 65k NTD a month, which is a bit more than 2k USD. So don’t do it for the money. But the actual working environment is probably the best you can get in Taiwan, imo.
Wow - cool. Yeah, wasn’t planning on making it rich. : ) That’s all really good to hear. Sounds challenging and fun. I’ll see if I can get a part-time teaching gig in the fall or winter to beef up my experience (otherwise still in school, writing my dissertation).
My research is in how to teach “scientific practices” which is one of the new-ish buzzwords in science ed (undergraduate physics and graduate biophysics is what I’ve done research on, but this is a discussion that’s happening across the board). Long story, but I used to work in forensic science when I was an attorney, became really interested in how people grapple with scientific evidence (judges and juries), started my program, and ended up doing research on how students learn in inquiry environments (where they can run experiments and learn about the target phenomena).
Environmental education is an interesting (and relevant) area. He is in Taiwan, I take it?
Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out, everyone. Made me feel better to know more about the process.
What level is your position in the university? I am wondering the salary sounds very low. Also do you think that teaching in Taiwan university would be good for resume? ’
Not sure how to take that comment about my salary. But it’s about average (or even slightly above average) for an ELT here. Living costs are lower so wages are lower. I’m a full-time instructor (not a professor as that requires a PhD).
I’d be happy to do that, but my preference would be for a research position in my area (science education). From talking to some other folks, seems like post-doc positions can be a good way to network (although pay very little) if I didn’t want to go the teaching English route.
Good luck! I’d love to hear how it goes. Is your Chinese pretty strong? Are you looking for something in science communication, or going the English route?