I’m graduating at the end of the year with a Bachelor’s degree from Australia, and am planning to work in Taiwan next year.
I intend to work for HESS, as I am slightly uncomfotable with the idea of landing in Taiwan without knowing anyone, and without a job lined up. I posted about this earlier, and one member suggested that I do wait until I arrive before searching for work.
I was wondering about other people’s opinions on the matter? I have no teaching experience, and am also a FBC (which I believe puts me at a slight disadvantage). For those who have done it, how long did it take to get work?
If you have no experience, you likely won’t get a job immediately, unless you get very lucky. I might not be the best example because I came in the middle of a semester but it took me about two months to line up a full day’s work. My classes pay 600 NT an hour and are at decent schools. The only job I could have gotten within a week of being here was one with a company that I have since heard nothing but crap about. Also, within the two months I was looking, I did demos at schools that wanted to put me on salary and pay me far less than 600 NT an hour. My advice is that those who come without a job lined up should have enough cash to get by for at least of month without being paid and should expect to fight for good jobs. That said, I’ve also heard of people just being in the right place at the right time and landing a sweet job without trying too hard.
I got here on August 29, 2002, and had a job, I think, by September 8 (I guess I went to work for the school on the 9th). I came here from Korea, where I had already been in contact with two interested-sounding schools in Taiwan, and two interested-sounding agents for schools, by telephone and e-mail.
One of the schools with an agent lost interest after an interview/demo. The second school, which was also through an agent, also lost interest after an interview/demo. The third school lost interest after only an interview. The fourth school offered me a job, and I took it.
I quit that school in November 2003. I worked at another school until it closed up. After the school closed, I held off looking for another job because it looked like somebody might be making arrangements for me to work somewhere. That fell through (partially my fault), so a little more than three weeks after my school closed, I got a job at another school. I didn’t like that job, and they didn’t much like me, so I quit (maybe one should think before trying this problem-solving method ). I then got a non-school job, became very nervous and somewhat irritated about a few things about that job (or my perceptions of those things), and so quit that job within a few days (again, this problem-solving method may have drawbacks ).
After that, I went back to work at my original school, in September of last year. I’m working there now.
As other people have said a billion times before, it depends on what time you come to Taiwan. If you come around mid-August, you won’t have a problem finding a job within a couple of weeks. I came back to Taiwan in mid-April and it took me a bit more than two months of actively looking until I found position that I’d be satisfied taking (though admittedly I was being a little picky in terms of the quality of the school, how much extra non-paid work, etc.) If you really insist on lining something up before coming, line it up with an established chain school like Hess instead of some shady recruiter or school you’ve never heard of.
). I then got a non-school job, became very nervous and somewhat irritated about a few things about that job (or my perceptions of those things), and so quit that job within a few days (again, this problem-solving method may have drawbacks