Be wary of the guaranteed hours/salary schtick. Especially when you are in another country applying for jobs here. There’s a dude I know who applied for and signed a contract at a school while still overseas and now he is right f’ed. Here is why;
a) The school offered blah blah hours at bullshit pay per month and he ends up doing more than the stated hours at school. This equates to no free time.
b) The school got him an ARC and holds that plus the contract over his head like a gallows. They told him he was shit-canned and had a month to scram. He said okee-dokee and found a sweet, higher paying gig elsewhere that was set to start after his final day at shite school. Shite school couldn’t find another sucker from overseas to fall into their trap so they said, “Dude you can’t leave because, you see, we have this contract and your ARC all nice and sharp above your neck.”
c) They offered “free” accommodation as bait as well. He thought, “sweet la! no worries for me” turns out he had to live with 2 other foreign slobs. He had also stated that he wanted to bring his famdam over to stay and was given the go ahead. Said famdam living in “free” apartment ended up being the reason he was shown the door because, according to dude, they were too clean and put unwelcome pressure on foreign slobs to keep the place clean.
d) Shite school offered a “free” scooter too. It’s a 50cc that is shared by the tenants of “free” apartment. You can imagine the scenario.
e) The one or two times a month he isn’t teaching, taking part in “volunteer” clown acts on the weekends or just plain bagged he goes out with buxiban teachers where he hears about the lazy lifestyle, mondo free time and higher pay. Suffice to say, Dude doesn’t go out much.
f) Lastly, shite school set him up with a mobile phone also. Dragonlady, his fake japanese boss, monitors his calls somehow.
You can get the picture of how these types of arrangements can pan out. It sure looked good to him when he got his stupid little calculator out and ran the numbers around his noggin. Now he is right f’ed with a family to support, no free time and shitbag boss gloating about her power.
Do your research and don’t take the lazy/easy way when deciding to come over here. The dead dog of advice has been kicked to dust on this forum which is, if you’re serious: get a plane ticket/visa/cushion of cash and pound pavement. I followed the advice and am damned glad I did. While hunting for jobs after I landed I had gone to the above school to drop off my CV and show my face. I had a contract and pen slithered across the desk at me as soon as I sat down but luckily I made contacts with other foreigners and knew the possibilities at buxibans for pay and benefits. Plus, I spent 5 minutes talking to the hopeless wreck who was the current teacher at that time and could tell by the look in his eye that the place was shit, working in a daycare has never been a dream of mine either.
p.s. The school is in the south of Taiwan and is highly regarded in the community.
p.p.s. 1000 bucks u.s./cdn (roughly 30 000nt) is a lot of money for starting out cash. If you are looking for jobs in the south of Taiwan go to yahoo groups - Kaohsiung Living. There is always someone posting about room-mates needed and the odd teacher wanted post.
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