Show me a buxiban or kindy job in Taipei that pays holidays. I believe I have only ever heard of one. It is not the industry standard to pay for holidays.
Exploitation? Why is it that it is the industry standard for all other schools, but with Hess it is “exploitation”?
What is the total number of national holiday days a year , anyway? About 6 total, plus a week for CNY?
As for guaranteed hours, Hess is one of the few that actually does guarantee hours, and gives enough. And pays on time. I know a LOT of English teachers who who do not work for Hess and have to hustle between different jobs trying to find enough hours. I have never had a problem with earning enough at Hess.
Tree House is the exception as it is the only class that takes a break between semesters. I have only ever met two people who have TreeHouse as the bulk of their hours.
The reason Hess gets bashed the most is simply because it is the biggest. Nobody gives a heck about what terrible thing happened to Joe Canuck at Ma and Pop’s Cram School, but if someone has a bone to pick with Hess, it gets a lot off attention.
So, then your advice is to completely avoid the buxiban industry as a whole when looking for jobs since I’m sure to be exploited? What options does that leave?
So, then your advice is to completely avoid the buxiban industry as a whole when looking for jobs since I’m sure to be exploited? What options does that leave?[/quote]
None with your work visa and qualifications.
However, buxibans ain’t all bad. It’s just that the cards will never be stacked in your favour on an employer sponsored ARC. I started with Shane and I didn’t have any complaints. I got a job before I came here, which I considered to be the most sensible option at the time. However, the majority of posters on forumosa seem to think that coming here first then finding a job is best.
If I were you I’d choose a country where the EFL game is growing.
What countries other than China does that include? Also keep in mind that I only want to do this for one more year before I (hopefully) enroll in graduate school next Fall.
I also need to be in a big, developed and modern city next year. For reasons of sanity, this has to happen because I’ve been living in the sticks in Honduras for awhile now and I need the exact opposite for next year. I don’t particularly want to work on mainland China next year, although I am applying to some universities there in some cities that were recommended to me by some friends who have studied there. The idea isn’t really appealing to me, though.
I can rule out much of SE Asia, such as Cambodia and Vietnam because I don’t want to live in a developing country anymore to be honest.
Let’s face it. If I only plan to do this for one year then I’m not sure I really need to go to a country that is on the up and up in the EFL scene. From my point of view, I can go to Taiwan through a chain school and make the most of it for a year and have a good time. I know for a fact it will be less work than what I’m doing now and the hours (for me) are much better. I don’t need to save anything, although it would be nice, so the tax rate being high for this year doesn’t bother me. I don’t think I’m being naive here but I could be. I just think for a one year deal, working at a chain school seems like a good set up…
It looks like Taiwan is the best option, then. Japan or South Korea would be the only other possibilities. Most people are pretty positive about Japan, but there tends to be a bit of negativity about South Korea.
I’ve heard that living in Taipei on a newby chain school income isn’t as good as it used to be. Living costs, particularly rent, have risen in recent years and teaching hours have fallen. If you want to combine a higher teaching income with lower living costs then living and working on the outskirts of Taipei is the best option. Those areas tend to be shitholes, though. If you want to maximise your monthly beer tokens, Taoyuan is hard to beat.
I’m not sure if anyone answered your Shane/TEFL cert. question, but I believe that if you apply for work through Shane HO they can be sticklers for it. However, the franchise schools aren’t so fussy. I could be wrong about this, though.
When I worked at Shane you didn’t need a CELTA or anything. Even though this is going back a few years now to be honest, I doubt things have changed as virtually nothing else about how the company is run, which materials are used, how you are supposed to teach etc has changed. The hourly rate probably hasn’t even changed either!
I am coming back to Taiwan later this year and chain schools like hess will most certainly be a last resort if I can’t find anything half-decent. As a newbie, they are good regarding getting paid on time and so on, however I think the fact that some companies prefer people with relatively little experience of Taiwan/TEFL says something about them.
