Finding work teaching in a kindergarten - current search strategies

Guess I’m regretting not ever using Facebook because it’s evil :joy:

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5 years experience? Go to every kindy within walking distance of where you live and if they have a vacancy they will take you. Really, it’s then down to how much you can negotiate.

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That was going to be my strategy until I find out I might have to stand outside looking like a pathetic potential Covid carrier. I think I’ll try that anyway.

When I think about it anyone who comes to my current school stands at the doorway and if they want to come in they get sprayed down.

Many thanks for all your replies and occasional humor. Much appreciated. I hate for threads I create to be an attacking ground.

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Good. Hopefully all the shitty ones with horrible practices go belly up and get replaced with more professional ones with good business and work practices

Fish far from the other fishermen.

Chinese society has near 0 diversity. Make it work for you. Go Just 2 MRT stops from GongGuan and kids have never had an English class from a native English speaker or even seen a Westerner. Even farther out adults have never seen a native English speaker.

If you try to teach around Shida, NTU, Taipei Main Station, there are too many Westerners.

Chinese bosses love to fire you for anything. They can … if a replacement is available.

You can also check out the luzhou area. There’s like a million buxibans in luzhou. A lot in a row near the elementary school, but there are buxibans pretty much all over the area

You will need to go a little bit farther than that to find kids who have never seen a westerner. I see them everywhere in Xindien.

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OK. I went to JingMei for example. 2 stops from NTU, I found I was gawked at on the street like people never saw a white before…schools said they never had a native English teacher before

You are probably right. Go only 3 or maybe 4 stops outside the Taipei Main Station to GongGuan corridor.

If a teacher takes the train outside the MRT system, one can be special

Fish far from the other fishermen

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If you look at Tealit you’ll notice that it’s mostly the same schools recycling ads. And they’ll repost them every few months even if they don’t have positions available. Partly it’s to keep whoever is working at the school worried they’ll lose their job and won’t ask for extra money (while also taking on more unpaid work for them). Partly it’s to keep a list of possible replacements if they need it in an emergency. And I’ve always wondered whether there might be some kind of tax discount but nobody seems to be able to answer that question when I ask.

As someone else said find their Facebook page and try that way. Most of them also have their phone number on their Facebook pages. And those pages can usually be accessed without needing a Facebook account. Ring them up and ask if they speak English. If they can’t they’ll usually get someone who can or just hang up on you.

As for agents there used to be a few getting around but no idea what happened to them. I was contacted by someone that claimed to be an agent. Alarm bells went off as soon as they started asking for way too many official documents and weren’t located anywhere near the school I was applying for.

If you have an open ARC you don’t need to provide copies of your passport or other identification. Your ARC should already have on it your current household registration, criminal background check, current passport from your home country, and work permit status. If you have a degree, which you’re supposed to but schools are advertising for ARC through marriage anyway, then it’s up to you whether you get it certified by whichever TECO office covers the area where you went to college. If it is certified it is a legal document so be very very careful handing it over for others to make copies. Personally I’ve always told prospective employers to contact the school I went to to confirm my education.

Identity theft is a real thing. There are some areas of Taiwan where it seems more common. Treat your documents as if you’re opening a bank account. Never provide enough documents for someone else to open a bank account or other things in your name. This includes phone contracts and utilities. Understand what the bare minimum is so you can avoid any confusion. If the management gets upset with you for not giving them your ID treat it like a red flag. Be prepared to walk away from jobs if the conditions are suddenly changed with no notice.

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Unfortunately that’s not what I’m seeing. Many are being replaced by chain schools that more likely represent meat grinders.

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How can they when there aren’t enough teachers to take the bus? Normally, they rely on the influx of backpackers looking for a quick buck and who want to take advantage of the relatively lax visa rules (can convert visitor visa to arc which you can’t do in Korea)

There are plenty of local teachers certified to teach English as a second language.

A lot of folks also have a driver’s license

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Absolutely

If you do all your work at one school in a place where there are other foreigners then you worry all the time.

Work in an area without so much Competition and work half day at one school, half day at another and somewhere else in evenings.

On weekends tutor 1:1, e.g. young adults. I made money ever weekend helping them up their game at work or apply to graduate school or learn to write or give speeches. You can do what I did. And you don’t do this thru a school where a typical Hitler Chinese boss takes 2/3 of the fee. You keep all the fee you charge

One school should not know about any other school where you teach and it should it be impossible for them to know

4 sources of income. This is the kind of diversity that actually matters

Never ever teach children on weekend or evening
Children hate their parents’ guts for wasting their childhood sitting in school on a Saturday. But they cannot express it to their parents. So they hate on you. It’s lose/lose.

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Surely this doesn’t make sense… ?

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Teenagers, adults

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Yeah that’s the problem. Everyone left is certified/qualified and shitty buxibans want people who are either unqualified or meet the lowest requirements because they’re cheapest

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Sorry but who tf wants to work 7 days a week.

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I did the school to school thing and private tutoring on weekends for a while when I first came here. Was offered a more permanent position but was required to please the manager to get the job. She was a con artist of epic proportions so even that was probably a scam as she was married and adultery was a criminal offense back then.

Morning school and afternoon school is no problem so long as it fits with your lifestyle. Doesn’t for me so I don’t do that. I’ll just choose one. Also the food options for working like that are horrible in Taiwan. And anything healthy is expensive. Not much point working like that if you’re spending $20,000 a month to eat lunch and dinner. Possibly more.

Taiwan has gotten a lot harder to live in. Not sure how it gets the thumbs up as best place to live for expats. Even things like cheese and cream are beyond expensive and they seem cheap compared to a lot of staples, like cereal and milk, for Westerners.

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Not everyone is trying to eat like back home on a buxiban wage. For some people, back home has also gotten a lot harder to live in

I’m here for the weather, the low cost of living
relative to my income, and because I have a good job directly in my field. I could make more in a western country, but would save less (and hate my life). Thailand or Vietnam would be better food and cheaper cost of living (not including western imports), but I’d never get the professional opportunities that I get here.

No doubt it is harder here than it used to be, for many people, but for many people coming here is still a good choice

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