Has anyone heard of them. Is it a bad thing to go through a recruiter when it is your first time going to Taiwan?
For which profession are they recruiting you?
Generally speaking, I would avoid all agents when it is quite easy to come here and obtain work by yourself.
[quote=“Soddom”]For which profession are they recruiting you?
Generally speaking, I would avoid all agents when it is quite easy to come here and obtain work by yourself.[/quote]
I agree.
Make a list of things that you expect from your job (pardon me for assuming it is teaching 
) and hit the pavement looking for schools that come closest to meeting your requirements. Research the schools on your short list, then visit a class or two to make sure that is what you really want.
In short, yes. Why not just start with a chain school for the first year ?
Be aware if you arrive this year and work legally you will be paying 20% tax which you will not get back.
I do some recruiting, and I’ll say, just be very careful with recruiters. And be very careful with employers too. Don’t sign a contract until you’re here. Then go to the jobs they take you to look at, look around yourself and then make your choice. If the recruiter offers you a better deal than you get at a chain school or independent scholl by yourself, then take his deal.
Brian
Footprints Recruiting - They have a pretty nice web site, anyway.
If you’re collecting opinions, add my voice to those who say wait to come here before you sign anything.
A quick glance at the website immediately arouses suspicion – “medical and severance dependant on location.” WTF does this mean? These are governed by central government legislation, aren’t they?
Wait until you get here before committing – “one of the oldest-established schools in Taiwan” almost certainly means “Hess.” Its just as simple to come here and interview on your own. If you don’t like what you hear and see, there are countless other schools that will be interested in hiring you.
Their salary estimate for Taiwan is the equivalent of NT$43,000. For 30 (stress-free) hours a week I make much more than that at a chain school and am finished by 4:30. All hours in the same place. For a newbie, that is the sort of deal you want. And you can get it by waltzing in off the street, well dressed, and with an error-free CV, and a co-operative attitude. Even at rock bottom rates (NT$550 an hour) you should be able to pull in NT$65,000 a month. Don’t forget that after July 2 you will not get your 20% tax back. Have a look at the chain schools such as Joy, Hess, etc when you get here. They are not going to expect you to be a miracle worker, and they will generally not muck you around on visas, health insurance, and suchlike. They will probably be able to give you block hours in one place, too.
Bring plenty of loot. Don’t come with less than NT$80,000.
Gumby,
What Sandman and hexuan suggested is spot on.
Good luck.
Find an independent school. Female owner/managers are usually better than their male “counterparts.”
I went through Footprints and another teacher at my school did too. They are based in Canada. It was stated by 2 guys who taught English for several years in several different countries. They have been nothing but awsome to me when I fist started.
They only want to work with the most reputable schools. So this means no illegal work. They do not take a cut from your pay. They even got me in touch with some of the teachers before I arrived so I can get an idea of what working for my school might be like.
This was my first experience moving abroad and had no formal teaching experience. Yes I could have just came here and looked for a job myself but I felt more secure knowing I’d have something guaranteed and that I had a support system if I had any problems.
I have heard some bad stories about other recruiters but I have had nothing but a positive experience with them. They are good people and want to help make sure your experience is a good one because they have been in our shoes before. They get a thumbs up from me.
Judged on the quality of the above poster’s awful English, it would seem one should avoid Footprints. 
Anybody else got good things (or bad things) to say about this agency ?
Ripped from the pages of Ripley…your very own Toe Save came back to Taiwan courtesy of FootPrints…as stated…two nice Canadian guys in Vancouver…now unless things have changed…they are exclusive recruiters for Kojen…see thread this forum…
My suggestion is too NOT get involved with Kojen as there has been enough negative press to warrant some suspicion…
It takes a bit more guts, but you will feel better about things if you just come here and get the lay of the land…take everyone’s suggestions from above…there are lots of choices…a year can be a very long time or it can be the time of your life…you’ll be more apt to find something closer to the former if you just show up and look around…
But don’t work for Durin’s Bane…he’s a little crazeeee
I can’t resist – Don’t go through Foot Prints because they’ll step all over you.
Actually, if they were really “nice” they wouldn’t be running this business. You don’t need an agent to find a good English teaching job. Only naive suckers do agents.
[quote=“Flicka”]I can’t resist – Don’t go through Foot Prints because they’ll step all over you.
Actually, if they were really “nice” they wouldn’t be running this business. You don’t need an agent to find a good English teaching job. Only naive suckers do agents.[/quote]
A little harsh, no? Moving around the world is a very daunting proposition. In retrospect, I was naive and a sucker, but being told that just plain hurts… 
Oh yeah, no agent, no support.
Golly, you must be big and brave.
Thank goodness the McDonald’s meals are numbered or some folks would surely stave to death here :shock:
[quote=“Toe Save”]
A little harsh, no? Moving around the world is a very daunting proposition. In retrospect, I was naive and a sucker, but being told that just plain hurts… [/quote]
Harsh? Not really, especially in this day and age of easy access to information via the Internet. Hell, you’ve got experienced teachers, bosses and other insiders answering questions and posting on this and other sites everyday. I might have sounded a little mean, but agents are not needed at all and my heart aches for the large numbers of people going through agents.
If it makes you feel any better, we all get burned here at one point or another, teaching English or not.