Hi everyone,
First time I’m posted, so sorry if this is old news, but I was thinking about Taiwan and applying to Hess (or HESS?) as seem to have a pretty good set up, but a friend there has just sent me this link hesstaiwan.com - very critical of HESS, really damning. Seems to be a serious message behind the satire - can anyone out there expalain what on earth is going on?! http://www.hesstaiwan.com 
Very interesting that the website designer for this Hess protest site put in a reference to the Canadian national anthem. 
Peterdane,
You should read through these threads to get some more balanced views on Hess:
Hess Language Schools
Phone/Skype Interview with HESS… Any help?
What’s with all that Hippo stuff? And is there any connection to Maoman’s hippo? 
As someone who has worked for the Hippo before, I must say it’s pretty funny.
Lissen, OP. All of those big chains are shite. Some branches are better than others, though. Remember, a lot of the bad reporting comes from long-timers who have found better options. Depending on the branch, Hess is not necessarily a bad start. You’ll get crap pay and be treated like one of the kids that you teach, but at least you’ll have an opportunity to look for an alternative whist working and surviving. The job market for English teachers is at a low at the moment. If you have your sights set on teaching English in Taiwan, you will have virtually no recourse but to start out at one of these factories. Gain some experience, make friends/connections, and move on after 6 months. 
Err, seems like this site is way OTT
The parody is very weak and the misrepresentation of JC seems unfair.
Looks like it was set up by 3 stoned canadians with a grudge.
Try this for better laughs http://www.theonion.com
Otherwise, there is probably an inch of truth in most of the site, but it’s just a job - from what I know, people either stay at hess for 3-6 months, hate it, hate teaching or the students hate them so quit, or just get on with it and do the job and stay for 3-8 years (that’s why the Hess turnover stats vary so greatly from experience, because it can feel like new teachers every week but they also have many “cobweb branches” where the teachers have barely changed since 1983)
yes, many unpaid hours, but that’s teaching. If you do go through teacher training they tell you to expect half the contact time to be used in prep and marking - so a 25 hour contact week is 37.5 hours
The Force is strong with this one. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. 
Come to the dark side of the Force. 
[quote=“Chewycorns”][quote=“itakitez”]
Looks like it was set up by 3 stoned canadians with a grudge.
[/quote]
The Force is strong with this one. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. 
Come to the dark side of the Force. 
[/quote]
You you’re my f…f…father?..
This is SO often overlooked. Employers fail to mention it, or gloss over it, for fear of scaring off unsuspecting, potential candidates. People new to the field seldom consider that there might be unpaid work to do, especially since most hourly jobs in the West actually PAY for each hour that they expect you to work. Finally, and my pet peeve, is that people who love to rant about how overpaid they think native English speaking teachers are are in total denial that unpaid work hours actually exist for us.
If anything, adding .5hrs prep time for each hour contact time is conservative, unless you have block hours in one location. Besides prep time, I’m traveling all over town, usually 1 - 1.5 hrs r/t for 1.5 - 2hours of paid contact time. It’s a damn good thing I love my job.
So as others have said, the dissatisfaction with Hess sounds like a disconnect between expectations and reality. Not placing blame on either party.
BTW, is the joke on that website that it’s a blank page with the Hess logo or is it not working anymore?
Yeah, all the anti-hess stuff there was deleted. Guess it was some kind of inside rogue job
My guess would be that Hess’s lawyers and/or gangsters worked out a deal with the website’s registered owner to get rid of the material for either life, limb or money.
webcache.googleusercontent.com/s … =firefox-a
The cached original is here for now if anyone was interested.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uXMiyCSM5acJ:hesstaiwan.com/+http://www.hesstaiwan.com&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a
The cached original is here for now if anyone was interested.[/quote]
The original seems to be back, actually.
[quote=“itakitez”]yes, many unpaid hours, but that’s teaching. If you do go through teacher training they tell you to expect half the contact time to be used in prep and marking - so a 25 hour contact week is 37.5 hours[/quote]Ita -
Let me get this straight, they get you engrish teechur peckerwoods to work a 37.5 hour week and only pay you for 25 hours?
Is this right?
[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“itakitez”]yes, many unpaid hours, but that’s teaching. If you do go through teacher training they tell you to expect half the contact time to be used in prep and marking - so a 25 hour contact week is 37.5 hours[/quote]Ita -
Let me get this straight, they get you engrish teechur peckerwoods to work a 37.5 hour week and only pay you for 25 hours?
Is this right?[/quote]
Who’s the peckerwood, TC?
[quote=“smithsgj”][quote=“Tempo Gain”]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uXMiyCSM5acJ:hesstaiwan.com/+http://www.hesstaiwan.com&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a
The cached original is here for now if anyone was interested.[/quote]
The original seems to be back, actually.[/quote]
LOL; they seem to have changed the name, so Hess likely can’t complain. Hopefully future teachers there will be savvy enough to know it’s the same place.
[quote=“nemesis”][quote=“smithsgj”][quote=“Tempo Gain”]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uXMiyCSM5acJ:hesstaiwan.com/+http://www.hesstaiwan.com&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a
The cached original is here for now if anyone was interested.[/quote]
The original seems to be back, actually.[/quote]
LOL; they seem to have changed the name, so Hess likely can’t complain. Hopefully future teachers there will be savvy enough to know it’s the same place.[/quote]
Now it’s a combination of Hess, Hiss, and Mess…would love to see what strongarm tactics Hess used.
Used to work for HESS and there are tonnes of other job opportunities where the level of pay is closer to the amount of work you put in… the do kinda slave drive you and the extra work mounts up! (I won’t even go in to the internal polictics!)
On the the flip side, if you are coming to Taiwan fresh from Uni, its not a bad place to start… their training is really good and their lessons are well structured (but that only really helps you when you get the hang of their system anyway!) and they help you loads with your documents.
They do give you an interest free loan which just means that for the first few months they deduct loads form your salary whcih is already being hit by the high tax rate for your fisrt 180 days here!
All in all, not a bad place to start (if you can keep your head down and work!), not a great place to stay… catch 22???