Former university academic seeking a post-retirement career in ELT

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
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Hi all; thanks for your attention. I’d really appreciate your advice on this one.

So here’s my situation: I’m a former university academic seeking a post-retirement career in ELT. I’d really like to teach English to adults (or at least older teenagers) in Taiwan. I have a PhD, a couple of masters and a few undergrads (but none of which is in education). I’ll also have my CELTA by mid-May.

I don’t speak Chinese (but I have been learning), I’m an Australian and I speak with a neutral accent that’s more reminiscent of British RP than a broad Australian accent. Also, I’m not white (well, I’m literally fair - but, like, I’m not a Westerner) and I look young; that’s me in my display pic. I suspect one or more of the aforementioned factors might go against me in my job-search.

Now, I’d much prefer teaching adults to children. I’m - of course - willing to be flexible, but I can deliver the most value to adult learners and IELTS/TOEFL candidates. Moreover, I don’t think it’s an option for me to get a registered school teaching certificate from back home.

Financially, I’m not desperate; but I do want to earn something. I’ve been living off my passive investment income since I stopped working full-time. But for various reasons, I won’t be able to bring much to Taiwan; so, I’d really like to be able to secure a job before I get there. I don’t really have a need to save from a teaching job, so enjoying my work is more important to me than saving a lot of money in the process.

My main concern is simply that the demand isn’t there for whatever reason. If you wouldn’t mind sharing your opinions on how I should go about starting my job-search (and things like, which institutions I should go after, which job boards, which agencies, etc.), I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!
Kevin

ps: Yes, I’ve organised a police clearance and I am a native English speaker. But no, I’ve never been to Taiwan. I’ll stop by for a quick visit in in the next few weeks, though - just to look around.

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Get a Gold card visa. It will simplify things for you immensely. You get an open work permit and can work wherever you want. I also think getting a job before you leave would be a mistake IMHO. Unless you can line something up with a university teaching job, or one of the private achools.

BTW, most of the private schools have ads on Tealit.com now, and with an open work permit (and likely without one) I am willing to bet with your credentials most would be willing to hire you or at least give you an interview. You would have to teach children, but they could be older and it would be more of a real job.

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Blimey you’ve aged well. You’re seriously retired? You look like a teenager.

Some of the better cram schools require teaching experience post CELTA. However, I think as you are coming from a teaching background they may overlook that. British Council is an obvious possibility. There are also possible examining opportunities with IELTS or TOEFL, although your work rights may affect that.

To teach English in a university here you’d need one of your post-grad qualifications to be English Literature, Education, or Applied Linguistics. Or something closely related to one of those.

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I think this guy’s got the best darn hand in all of 7-degree poker.
I fold.

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Awesome.

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You might have an easier time finding a job teaching in your subject area. If you have had a good career and especially if you are published, there are many all-English classes at some universities in Taiwan and the schools want to have highly qualified staff. ELT at a private language school is a big step down.

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Not sure how other uni departments think but my department’s director has made loads of comments about not hiring people because of age. Race is a non-issue where I’m at. In fact, the first question asked in my interview was for my age. They want to hire someone in their 30-40s, or perhaps early 50s at latest, so they don’t have to do it again for a very long time. But that is perhaps just my school. That said, each teacher finds their own way here. So, if you are interested and willing to explore options, I’m sure there would be something.

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First, how on earth is that photo you? What moisturiser have you been using?

Plus: your fistful of degrees

Minus: Taiwanese discriminate on age in teaching (i.e. they say the principal should be the oldest person at a school… with age comes authority in Confucian cultures). But if you look the way you do I’m pretty sure you’ll find something easily.

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Pretty sure that’s all unis. They skew a bit older than buxibans because they require more qualifications and experience, but they don’t want anyone near spitting distance of retirement age.

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I don’t have much to add to this here: you’re a high-flyer and should have no problem getting one of those Gold Member cards, or whatever they’re called this year.

As for teaching English, you are over-qualified and will probably be bored out of your gourd after a couple of months. You’d be better off charging a million dollars an hour teaching people the secret of eternal youth. I’m half-serious; there’s a respectable market for that sort of thing in Taiwan.

What’s your academic field? You might find there is some demand for it on a part-time/consultancy basis.

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Thanks for your replies, everyone!

I’ve never heard of a gold card; so I’ll definitely look into it. I’ll also check out Tealit and the British Council.

I wear sunscreen everyday. Around 80% of visible signs of skin aging is the result of unprotected sun exposure; so covering up helps. Aaaand I did retire young - so I’m not, like, 65. In my case, it’s just because I have enough passive income to cover my modest daily expenditure (barely - haha). Doing nothing all day does get boring, however, after about a year …

Teaching in my area would be great! Anyone know of unis in Taiwan that have courses taught in English? I’ve only been looking through Times Higher Education’s website and most opportunities around the region are in China, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

I have been a bit concerned about age discrimination, actually. I applied for a secondment to a Chinese university a few of years ago, only to be told that they wanted someone who looks more experienced and authoritative. They ended up picking a colleague of mine, who’s barely two years older than me - but looks a lot older :frowning:

By the way, my academic fields are industrial relations / human resources and political economy. But I’ve also got a little bit of experience in risk management and employment law. I worked at PwC before jumping into academia.

Thanks again everyone!

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That is true, there seems top be a mandatory requirement age. I knew a professor who was trying to continue for as long as she could despite being past retirement age. But if the op doesn’t have high income requirements he might get hired as an adjunct professor teaching only a few classes are different schools. Work permits could be an issue if he doesn’t get open work rights.

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I’m curious and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want, but exactly how old are you?

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So in job terms, what was your job? Were you some kind of researcher? Were you a professor? Did you teach anything? What were you paid to do?

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It’s all right, milk it all you can now because as soon as you hit 50, BAM! You’re gonna look 70 until the day you die.

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Teaching involved: lecturing, conducting seminars/tutorials, marking, monitoring online discussions, etc. It also included curriculum development, though we mostly just tweaked and added to what’s already available from the previous semester.

Research and associated activities involved: doing field work, publishing, ghost-writing for senior profs, presenting research findings, supervising research students, editing manuscripts, etc.

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Haha … Below 50 … Cause, like @wakethenight said, when I hit 50, it’s all over

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Cool another Aussie! I also worked in Big 4 previously but then worked in the Finance field in Taiwan (ahh the long hours!) before returning home to Melbourne last year.

Definitely look into getting a Gold Card since you have a PhD and plenty of experience.

Lastly, the work culture and environment may not be that enticing in Taiwan after a while so be ready for that. Of course the grass always looks greener from afar so try to read up on some of the drawbacks before committing to anything longer term.

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Cheers mate!

Yeah, that’s why I’m doing plenty of research ahead of time - haha

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Update: I started looking around Tealit and contacted two companies who seem to cater to adult learners. I figured: ‘Hey, what’ve you got to lose …’ I didn’t think I’d have much of a chance because I mentioned I can’t start till mid-May.

Surprisingly, both got back to me. One asked for a video intro (which I did). The other scheduled a Skype interview.

Mind giving me advice on how to prepare for the interview? Like, what do they ask? Should I expect, like, a standard behavioural / situational - type questions?

Thanks in advance!