Hiring Staff

Business Money
1

Does anyone have any advice on how you go about hiring relieable admin staff into a buxiban?

The place I’m at has always had a pretty high turn-over of secretarial staff, and although the system in place may be partly to blame I’ve been quite amazed at the number of people who fail to even call and let you know that they’re not going to come to the interview.

We’ve been using 104, with not much success. Any better sources?

Thanks

2

I will ask my wife for you… She handles all the hiring for our companies over here and at our school we have had the same administrative staff from the beginning… Great workers and have yet to call in or be late… I will ask her though where you might be able to find some reliable staff…

3

Thanks. Just to clarify: there are a couple of excellent people here, it’s just that finding more like them seems impossible.

4

Yes, an interesting question.

We’ll be looking for Chinese Teachers of English soon, and I’d like some suggestions on where to look.

104 was mentioned but where else? We tried ads in China Times last time, but all we got was annoying calls from Agents trying to represent us or send us one of theirs. Just Not INTERESTED in dealing with an AGENT.

thanks,
Kenneth

5

Many of our school’s administrative staff and teaching assistants have been part-time students (for example doing the kind of course where you only go to college at weekends). Lots have been coursemates or at least from the same colleges. It seems that when you find one good person they can often recommend others as well. I think one thing they particularly like about our school is the friendly, family atmosphere, and that has been an important factor in these ‘word-of-mouth’ introductions.

They are fairly easily trained, being young and intelligent, and are conscientious and enthusiastic. The majority have been with us for longer than a year.

You could consider putting ads. in local colleges.

6

We had a bunch of student types here - very enthusiastic, very well meaning, keen to help, but absolutely crap. They had no concept of ‘I do my job and you do yours’, so they would try and help with absolutely everything. We’re still trying to trace the missing student enrolment cards, figure out which students have paid for books, and reconcile the attendance lists with the people who are actually in the classroom.

Trainable is good, but if you have to train from scratch when your system is already struggling due to understaffing then it’s not a viable option. We need people who have experience with this kind of stuff and know what they are doing.

104 turned up a few suitable-sounding applicants, but mostly we found ourselves calling just because the site had sent us their details, and they had no interest in working at a school.

China Times was recommended to us by The British Council. They are apparently overwhelmed with quality applicants when they advertise, but my secretary tells me the situation is not that simple.

Apparently if a job-seeker sees an ad from a known reputable organisation - a major company or something like the BC - then they will apply, but most of the smaller advertisers have a reputation for being unreliable. It seems that no one will reply to an ad from the average joe because the chances are the job will not be as advertised and you won’t get paid.

Bear in mind, also, that I’ve had a couple of applicants turn up here with their boyfriends in tow. They didn’t speak to me on the phone, the initial contact was through my secretary, but there’s still a fear of getting raped at a job interview. Bizarre! Also, there is a distinct correlation between telling an applicant that they are going to have to do part of the interview in English and them suddenly having a car accident or sick relative on the day.

Ken, I think 104 is OK for chinese teachers. I also had a few apply here in response to a regular ad at tealit.

Word of mouth is probably the way to go. One of the good secretaries here is working on an old school friend to convince her that working with foreigners is not so bad. I’ve just started calling absolutely everyone I know to put the word out. I think it’s the only way.

Any more ideas anyone?

7

Unfortunately, it’s not bizarre in Taiwan. It’s a well-known way to rape women here. The rapist puts a job ad in the paper for a secretary, the (usually young, usually at least fairly attractive) job seeker arrives for the interview, and she is raped. It’s an easy way to lure women into a room with a man they don’t know.

8

In my old company, the person calling ppl in was always female.

9

I have been hearing about these “hiring local staff/teachers” problems for as long as I have been in Taiwan . . . . and it doesn’t seem that the situation has gotten any better. After seeing the above postings, and giving the situation some thought, it occurs to me that there is a solution, however it is not necessarily an easy solution. Basically, all of the US citizens, foreigners, and other interested parties who are in the bushiban business in one location (such as Taipei) combine your knowledge and resources to set up a “training program” for some period of time (such as a week, for example, with xx hours per day). You have a set curriculum. The bushiban in your group will only hire someone who has graduated from the program.

Hence, your goal now becomes to get people to participate in the “program”. You can also offer various incentives for them to do so (such “details” would need to be discussed among yourselves . . . . ) Maybe you would offer T-shirts, or take them on outings, or whatever.

With this “formulation” in mind, you can easily see that you need to approach the English departments of local colleges, universities, etc. and try to find students who would be interested in your one week introductory program “How to work successfully in a bushiban” . . . . or whatever.

Obviously, this rough plan needs a lot of refining, but even the consideration of this type of “approach” to the problem of hiring staff may be a worthwhile step in the right direction.

10

Sorry, just got around to posting…

I asked her where we get our staff, since they are all great, and it seems all from referrals… She says that it is indeed difficult to find staff for buxibans since most are students, but as I stated all of ours are great…

As for our other companies, we use an outside staffing company and our management has the joyful duty of managing them.

Sorry couldnt be much more of assistance…

11

Any suggestions for advertising for teaching staff?

Libraries?
Public Noticeboards?
1111.com
104.com.tw

Anywhere else? Free or otherwise?

Kenneth

12

Hey, I recently interviewed someone who claimed that he had

  1. a Taiwanese ID card
  2. he had to leave the country every four months

Can anybody explain this to me, I don’t get it? Is this possible or is this just BS?

Thanks,
Kenneth

13

Very easy to explain, Ken.

He has a 2nd passport and doesn’t want to be drafted into the military. This is what a lot of male ABC’s do. As long as they leave the country every 4 months they can claim that Taiwan is not their “home” and avoid the draft.

Okami

14

Ken,

If you’re in it for the long term, Marky’s approach does work; make contact and get in good with one of the professors/lecturers in the English department of one of the universities and he/she will be more than happy to point some recent graduates in you’re direction. Generally, they have the language skills - the teaching skills will require some work on your part.

Our school actually favors this route because the candidates are usually a lot more enthusiastic than an experienced local teacher who is looking for a job. Don’t know about you, but I tend to find that there is usually a pretty obvious reason why these “experienced” teachers are looking for a job (read: they’re lousy teachers).

We’ve actually had pretty good luck this way and had quite a few that stay on for quite a few years.

Good luck,
CK

15

[quote=“Okami”]Very easy to explain, Ken.

He has a 2nd passport and doesn’t want to be drafted into the military. This is what a lot of male ABC’s do. As long as they leave the country every 4 months they can claim that Taiwan is not their “home” and avoid the draft.

Okami[/quote]

Would he/she be treated as a “foreigner” or a local legally? In other words, if I were to hire him, would I have to apply to DOE and FAP for ARC?

Thanks for the help!
Most informative.
Kenneth

16

So I found out that is true from a discussion in Legal Forums on this issue.

However, can he legally work here as a Taiwanese, if he doesn’t have an ID card?

Kenneth

17

Is this an answer to your prayer?

tealit.com/cgi-bin/classifie … ssion_key=

Kenneth

18

Yes, because he has a Taiwanese passport and ID, plus a 2nd passport. He gets all the benefits of citizenship without all the dreary requirements(i.e. draft, being stuck here if China invades rather than catching a flight out of country). This is why Taiwanese parents with the cash and resources get the kid overseas and with a 2nd passport before they come of age and move back to Taiwan.

Taiwan considers him legally Taiwanese. The 2nd passport isn’t really recognised by them and will not hinder his employment options. He just needs to leave every 4 months to avoid the draft. The trip can be as easy as getting on a plane to Hong Kong and then jumping on a plane right back to Taiwan.

Good luck,
Okami

19

thanks, Okami for the clarification!Crystal clear!

I know appreciate where I stand with him!

Best Wishes
Kenneth

20

Our school is looking to hire staff, but we’ve not had much luck advertising in the traditional places…

I’m looking for business owner’s to share their experience hiring…

is 104 or 1111 any good for hiring Taiwanese English teachers? or foreign teachers in Taiwan?

What other sources have you used?

What works? What doesn’t?

Thanks.

PS MOD, I don’t think this should go in Teaching forum. We’re business owners looking to hire, not English Teachers looking for work!

Kenneth