Did I choose a really bad time of year to look for work?

Hi everyone - nice to see f.com still up and firing on all cylinders. Lots of new characters too which is great :slight_smile:

After a really awful 2008 I have finally been able to return to Taiwan and continue on my English teaching adventure.

All I seem to be hearing from people is that I have picked the wrong time of year to look for work. Even the recruiters are saying this, although I found my last job in February 2007 after looking for about 12 minutes.

Is it the economy? Is it the fact that we are mid-year for the Taiwan school year? Does my bum look big in this?

Is anyone else out there looking for a teaching job at the moment?

Luckily I was able to get a 90 day visitor visa (tourism) and have a well planned out timetable of friends couches to crash on, so things aren’t too grim yet…

it’s the economy

young children classes are being cut back because parents are feeling the pinch

the adults business is doing well but for those jobs you have to be quite experienced

Hey pubba, whats up? BAck in Taiwan? But I thought you liked Thailand and Phillippines more?

How bout teaching english in Thailand? I guess it wont work for Philippines?

Pubba, I don’t know what place you are looking at for work but personally down south here there isn’t too much to pick from. There is work but you can’t be too picky. I was and had to wait 3 months before I got something new.

Hi tommy - I live Thailand but the salary and workload are terrible… 35,000nt for 160 hours a month… No thanks
And the Philippines was a bit scary. It felt luke the wild west. Guards with shotguns outside the 7/11 etc :frowning:
Creztor - I’m trying to find a job in the Taichung area or perhaps Tao yuan near Taipei.
Have been calling schools all day but usually get the brush off or ‘please leave your number’
I’m heading to Taichung on Thursday and will hit the streets to see what I can find :slight_smile:

Well after 2 days of sending out resumes, replying to ads and calling schools I have got one rejection phone call, and 3 phone calls - all from the same bloody recruiting company!

Hopefully things pick up a bit soon… :blush:

[quote=“pubba”]Well after 2 days of sending out resumes, replying to ads and calling schools I have got one rejection phone call, and 3 phone calls - all from the same bloody recruiting company!

Hopefully things pick up a bit soon… :blush:[/quote]

You gotta love Taiwan. I once had a school call me asking to set up an interview as I was on the way to the school for the interview we had already scheduled.

I got an email once that basically went like this:

Tim

We have job now. You come tomorrow 9 for demo.

random name

Um, who are you. What’s the schools name? What’s the position? Where are you located? A phone number maybe? Anything???

[quote=“timmyjames”][quote=“pubba”]Well after 2 days of sending out resumes, replying to ads and calling schools I have got one rejection phone call, and 3 phone calls - all from the same bloody recruiting company!

Hopefully things pick up a bit soon… :blush:[/quote]

You gotta love Taiwan. I once had a school call me asking to set up an interview as I was on the way to the school for the interview we had already scheduled.

I got an email once that basically went like this:

Tim

We have job now. You come tomorrow 9 for demo.

random name

Um, who are you. What’s the schools name? What’s the position? Where are you located? A phone number maybe? Anything???[/quote]

Its nice to be wanted in Taiwan… even if you are also wanted elsewhere :slight_smile:

That’s common, it happens with my wife. She always has to ask them to stop and tell her what company is calling and from where and for what job!

Well the de-wey guys seem very efficient despite their lack of communication between each other…

Was offered a package today - 6 hours a week in Taipei and 19 hours a week in Keelung. Lots of travel between each school every day… So I declined this time.

Just got offered an interview for a school called ‘Stamford (Stanford?) English’ in Feng Yuan. 90 to 100 teaching hours a week, no extra pointless ‘office work’ or weekend classes. 600 NT an hour.

Sounds ok to me. I would have to find my own apartment but Feng Yuan is a nice place. I used to go there to get some civilisation after being stuck up in Dong Shr all week.

I think 60,000 a month is very attractive especially considering how bad the economy is.

90 to 100 teaching hours a week? how do you even sleep??

I been looking posting resumes and sending them through 1111.com.tw and 104 and so far not even ONE call for interviews… the market must be flooded or something. I got this email from a school that asked me about my teaching experience but when I called the number they denied ever sending the email and I emailed back telling them that and they never responded.

90-100 hours a month :blush:

Where are you rahimiii?

[quote=“pubba”]90-100 hours a month :blush:

Where are you rahimiii?[/quote]

I live in Danshui. Been looking for jobs in the greater Taipei area. Not a whole lot of postings to begin with I think I will hit the road as soon as I am finished with my old job (and get the jet lag fixed… I am not working graveyard shift again) and start handing in resume. My sister actually think I need to do that because smaller schools won’t be posting on 104 or other job search site since they charge high fees.

The one story reminds me of an interview I went to in January. After meeting the boss and setting up a demonstration the boss plain forgot to show up. I ended up doing a demo only for the other foreign teacher.

Needless to say that school is still advertising. They have not found a teacher yet.

[quote=“steelersman”]The one story reminds me of an interview I went to in January. After meeting the boss and setting up a demonstration the boss plain forgot to show up. I ended up doing a demo only for the other foreign teacher.

Needless to say that school is still advertising. They have not found a teacher yet.[/quote]

Can you PM me the name of the school? Thanks :slight_smile:

Quick update:

Met with the dewey guys on Friday. One of the recruiters was doing a real hard sell on the job in Feng Yuan. It was a bit overwhelming… Any question I had was shot down and the benefits of the school were extolled once more.

I get home and read through the contract and found this… See what you think

  1. The teacher must pay a 20,000 NT bond when starting the job. This would be paid back after 1 year. The contract then went on to include about 8 clauses that dictate when the bond could be kept by the school.

  2. If the teacher is late to class, they must pay 200NT. If more then 10 minutes late, one hours salary would be deducted.

  3. The teacher is expected to attend between ‘3 to 6’ outside activities per year.

  4. If the teacher attends all meetings, training sessions and is not late once all month - they will be paid a 1,000 NT perfect attendance bonus. This bonus is not paid any month that includes a public holiday.

  5. If the teacher is rude to the boss, the contract will be terminated and the bond (mentioned above) kept.

I decided to decline the job offer at this stage… Back to the drawing board :frowning:

Stupid rules, get another place.

If you gotta pay money to start a job it’s most likely a scam.

[quote=“pubba”]Quick update:

Met with the dewey guys on Friday. One of the recruiters was doing a real hard sell on the job in Feng Yuan. It was a bit overwhelming… Any question I had was shot down and the benefits of the school were extolled once more.

I get home and read through the contract and found this… See what you think

  1. The teacher must pay a 20,000 NT bond when starting the job. This would be paid back after 1 year. The contract then went on to include about 8 clauses that dictate when the bond could be kept by the school.

  2. If the teacher is late to class, they must pay 200NT. If more then 10 minutes late, one hours salary would be deducted.

  3. The teacher is expected to attend between ‘3 to 6’ outside activities per year.

  4. If the teacher attends all meetings, training sessions and is not late once all month - they will be paid a 1,000 NT perfect attendance bonus. This bonus is not paid any month that includes a public holiday.

  5. If the teacher is rude to the boss, the contract will be terminated and the bond (mentioned above) kept.

I decided to decline the job offer at this stage… Back to the drawing board :frowning:[/quote]

  1. no thanks…maybe the biggest warning sign in any contract is this clause

  2. well hmm, so if i am late 10 minutes i basically dont get paid for the class? why not just skip the whole class then (I am always on time by the way, I just hate the thought behind these dumb clauses)

  3. paid? during regular days or weekends?

  4. these are almost impossible to get, and almost not worth the effort

  5. “rude?” so you have to kiss the laobans rear in order to not have him/her steal your 20,000NT?

I have no idea who would ever sign one of these pieces of trash, and you are right to pass. Sadly, people must sin them, or we wouldn’t hear about them so much.