hi
i’m arriving in taipei on 2nd Jan with my girlfriend and we are both looking for work.
we hope to find jobs asap and were wondering the best way to go about things.
where is the best area to go and look for jobs?
also is it easy to tell the good schools from bad?
another issue i have is that we both have BAs but i don’t have an official TEFL cert (though my girlfriend does)
i’ve got a short course from a few years back.
will this cause problems in getting a job or arc?
cheers 
You won’t have a problem getting an ARC with your BA. Most teaching jobs do not require a TESL of any sort. Where is the best place to look? Everywhere. I think the best thing to do is decide where you want to live and look in that area. English schools are everywhere. Not too sure about your arrival date though. Chinese New year will be upon you in a hurry. That might mean not too much job activity until afterward. Also, get ready for about a week’s unpaid leave during the holiday.
TS is right. In fact, if you got a job before CNY, I’d be surprised. It’s not impossible, but if I were you, I’d try to arrive just before CNY, get settled, and start looking immediately. Any chance you can delay your arrival a couple of weeks?
Can’t delay, everything is now set.
Hope was to get job sorted by then…
oh well!! will just have to hope for the best. 
I have been looking for work here in Taioei for 6 weeks now and still have found nothing so CNY is the thing to wait for. is it better after the CNY or before? I have stil not quite understood when exactly the hiring takes place fo it. In terms of interviews everyone one I have been told something completley different about the job than what was advertised, mainly the fact that they are not hiring right away and that the job is for a later date etc or its not full time. Watch out for that because I have had exceptionally bad luck with my job search and I have a BA, and TEFL and I taught for 6 months in Thailand before I got here. Personally I don’t know what I am doing wrong but coming here in Nov was avery bad move so timing is huge factor in this place. My 60 day visa expires on Jan 4th so I must return to Thailand anf am seriouls wondering if I will be back but I just might. If anyone can provide any answers about job serch here in Taipei and notnbaly any info on the CNY hiring time I would very much appreciate it.
alexandre,
are you willing to work outside of Taipei? You might find it easier to get a job in some of the other cities.
If relocation isn’t your thing, you could try some of the big chain schools who may need subs. teachers. I know David’s came through for me when I was looking for work when I first got here.
The there are chains like Kojen to check out. Big co.'s with branches will often have more by way of opportunities than going to little schools.
Of course, another good method is to actually go to schools and ask in person.
good luck everybody on this thread!