List of Agencies and what you should know about them

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
21

Hi guys,

It’s Julie :discodance:

Several teachers had told me about this posting so I came to check it out. Thanks for everyone’s support!

I see that there seems to be some confusion regarding how ACI operates. Therefore, just for clarification, please read below for our service charge rules.

  • For applicants outside of Taipei City/County: NO FEE
  • For applicants who gets hired to teach at schools within Taipei City/County:
    1. ACI does charge our teachers a one-time agent fee for placing them at a job.
    2. The fee is not reoccurring, which means you only pay the fee once.
    3. The total that we will collect from you is 10% of your one month’s earning.
    4. So, for instance, we got you a position that pays 60,000/month, your fee due to us would be 6000, and if the position pays 10,000/month, then your fee due to us would be 1000.
    5. After we have received your payment, we will write you a two-ply receipt.

Of course, the fee is only applicable if you were to accept the position.

As far as the kind of positions go, yes, we have all kinds, ranging from kindergarten to teaching business classes. But, naturally, most positions are for teaching kids 6-13 years old in the afternoons.

Teaching kindy IS illegal, especially with the new policy that has just passed. So if you wish to teach at a morning kindy, please be very careful, and please weigh out the consequences carefully. Some schools are safer than others, and we do explain each school’s situation beforehand to our teachers.

Although we would love to get everyone a great job, this is unfortunately not always within our capability (of course we want to make money, too!). We try to do the best matching we can, but sometimes there is just nothing that fits what a teacher may be requesting. Therefore, I apologize if we do not always immediately get back to everyone. However, we do have a list system, so if you let us know exactly what you want, we will put you on that particular list. Then, when a job becomes available, we will contact the people on that list first.

I hope I have made everything clear. Please do feel free to contact ACI if you have any questions or concerns.

Happy job-hunting,

The Julie from Asian Consultants International

22

I have been in Taiwan for 1.5months so far, I used ESL Dewey and i must say that my experience has been fantastic. I am dealing with Mickey and he has been extremely helpful.
They helped set up my bank account. found me accomodation near the school. They still answer any stupid questions i have about Taiwan/the culture and not just about teaching. They found me a really great school too. and communicate with my land lord or estate agent when ever there is a problem.

I read in this thread that someone had a bad experience with them. Maybe you dealt with soemone who was incompitent but on the whole i have had an awesome time…so far.

And so people know that i am not being biased or naive…
I applied with a range of angencies like asian consultants, foot prints and Reach to teach. and all of them took so long in getting back to me it was incredible. by the time i had signed my contract with dewey i was only getting some meagre offers from the rest. Im not saying they were bad or unfriendly but compared to Dewey they were not as effecient.

I recommend Dewey.

I would say the best way to get a good job is to go to a place like Dave’s ESL cafe and see whats on offer and then compare schools, locations etc. but most of all do your homework!!! check what kind of town it is your going to and what is on offer in the town. coming here blindly and then running into “social problems” is partly then your fault.

I was lucky a teacher i was working with back home had taught all over teh east for 20 something years and was able to translate and guage what kind of school i was going to. she also could tell me about the place i was going to. but you can use google its just as great :wink:

some questions yu should ask over and above those mentioned by others is:
How many foreigners are working there?
Am i replacing someone?
May i speak/email other teachers who work there.
Can i have a break down of the costs involved. (if they dont wanna reveal this then maybe that is a warning sign)
What support do you offer when im there?

23

Julie was helpful, I was referred by another teacher who found work through her, although I did not work for her because I found a job two weeks ahead of her got back with me, I remember during our phone convo she was informative about teaching in Taiwan.

Also, I tried footprint, reach to teach, and ESL Dewey, they were all acting interesting and serious about placing me a job, but after when they found out I had an ABC background, the follow-ups were terrible. Footprint basically told me that they only interested in white Canadians or US citizens. Mitch Gordon from reach to teach scheduled skype interview with me, and stood me up not once, but twice, and tried to tell me how he had called when he didn’t, because I made the calls and he wouldn’t pick up, when he was online signed into skype. ESL Dewey had a bunch of weird recruiters, I dealt with Andrew and David, Andrew basically ignored me after showing plenty of interest until I showed him a scan of my US passport where he had things against “ABC”, David wasted the most of my time, exchanging like 30 e-mails in two weeks period when every e-mail he kept asking me for my college diploma/US passport scan/recent photo, while I e-mailed to him like three times and still end up telling me how at the end he had no jobs available, when he and his company (Dewey) kept posting them up in various websites looking for English teachers in Taiwan.

24

I recently dealt with dewey.com and found them to be very helpful in every respect. They set me up with various substitution jobs while I was in limbo and arranged a number of interviews for other companies including Hess, Shane, and the school I finally settled on, Joy. They don’t charge the teacher any fee…they charge the school upon your hiring, and they contact you frequently to let you know about updates and possible positions, always making sure you know as much as possible and even telling you if the supervisor of the school is a nice person who will take care of your concerns as diligently as they do. They are especially good at helping out foreign teachers who are young and inexperienced such as myself, but are not limited to such specifications.

I hope this ad doesn’t sound too good so as to make people think that dewey posted it themselves. But they have done everything I would expect of an agency in facilitating my employment, and I have had no problems, nor do I forsee any in the future that would be a result of the service I have recieved.

The two agents I dealt with were Bryan and Linda…Both very nice people who were quite quick to offer me many different jobs in places that were nearby or not so distant… I have to give more credit to Linda though, since she was the agent who got me the job that I have decided to take. Their numbers are listed below

Linda-0923-109691
Bryan-0953003251

25

Has anyone worked with esljobtaiwan?

26

Do Asian Consultants International still only deal with you if you have a North American passport?

27

Hi,

It’s Julie from ACI. To answer your concern, we deal mostly with North American teachers because that is what the schools prefer. However, that does not mean we exclude teachers from other nationalities! You are still more than welcome to apply with us, as long as you are eligible to receive ARC.

Your accent is not the only thing that matters; your accent, pitch, tone, speech pattern, body language, attitude, and background, all play a part in the employment game.

Feel free to contact us as well.

Julie at ACI (you should be able to find our email pretty easily)

28

My husband applied to ReachToTeach around 2 years ago and no one has contacted him so far. He has qualifications for the teaching job. In the application form you attach a photo. Does it mean that a black person is not even considered by that company?
Just wondering…

29

The corporate communications company for which I do some work has found Asian Consultants consistently helpful, proactive, and reliable. We have hired North American, Australian, Czech, French, and South African employees through Asian Consultants. They have always been excellent at forwarding us only the resumes of potential trainers meeting the selection criteria we gave them.

30

[quote=“horo36”]My husband applied to ReachToTeach around 2 years ago and no one has contacted him so far. He has qualifications for the teaching job. In the application form you attach a photo. Does it mean that a black person is not even considered by that company?
Just wondering…[/quote]
I had nothing but a positive experience with Reach 2 Teach and know personally at least five others who have used it with great results and have never heard of any hesitation to consider someone based on race. One of the guys that came here through Reach 2 Teach that I know is black, too, so I don’t think it’s an issue of race.
If it has been that long, then most likely they never received the information or somehow it was skipped over. There is no doubt in my mind that the people of Reach 2 Teach are a diverse and friendly group who only want to help.
Once you’re accepted to Reach 2 Teach you’re invited to all kinds of mountain hikes, bbqs, etc., and you’re likely to see a few different races at those gatherings.

31

Teaching experience? Qualified?
These are the questions that these agencies should be asking.
Never mind accent, age or race.

Soon children will not be allowed to attend school after 6 p.m. English classes are being increased in the state schools by law. Although not by quality, the tests remain as does the rote learning. But soon it will be good bye cram schools and good riddance!

Why need an agency? Apply direct.

32

They don’t really have many jobs available. Just a couple out in the sticks when I contacted them. I’ve been in contact with esljobtaiwan mainly through email and skype. I think there’s only 1 person working there and I found him to be quite rude and not very helpful. He likes to throw in a lot ASAP’s in his sentences such as you must do this ASAP or may you come in ASAP, but that’s not really much to complain about. What I didn’t really like about this recruiter is that he’ll ask you a lot of questions in his emails but he won’t answer some of your questions if he thinks it doesn’t sound good for the school, such as how far from the city is the school? Also chatted to him on skype and he logged off as soon as I asked about the overtime hours and if you have to do them or not.

33

[quote=“WolvesMon”]Teaching experience? Qualified?
These are the questions that these agencies should be asking.
Never mind accent, age or race.

Soon children will not be allowed to attend school after 6 p.m. English classes are being increased in the state schools by law. Although not by quality, the tests remain as does the rote learning. But soon it will be good bye cram schools and good riddance!

Why need an agency? Apply direct.[/quote]
I find issues in nearly everything you’ve said here. First of all, accent IS important because the children will mimic what they hear, maybe not perfectly, but it’s better than making a copy of a copy, per se. Age is important sometimes too because children will prefer younger teachers, and younger teachers are more likely to be energetic and “empty vessel” types. Many schools have their own curriculum that they want to teach. Race shouldn’t be a question, though.
I also am highly skeptical about some people claiming that cram schools will be forced to end at 6 pm. You know why? Legislators don’t have the balls for that, that is one of the biggest draws to bring foreigners to Taiwan, and it’s helping students learn English, albeit not perfectly. It’s necessary for those ridiculous tests they take, and you know what else? The economy is at the mercy of cram schools. What will those buildings and those jobs become when cram schools disappear?

NOTE: If this becomes a separate discussion, I hope a moderator will branch it off into a different topic.

34

Asian Consultants International will only accept applications from teachers 32 and under…wow, first time I have seen that qualification!

35

I’ve dealt with a few different agents during my time here, and only once taken a job through them. When it comes down to it, agents are there to push jobs that schools aren’t able to fill by themselves. Such jobs are almost always more trouble than they are worth. Also, there are the agents who deal in the “unlicensed” teaching market. From what I understand, they run some rather sophisticated rackets using unqualified teachers, none of which work in the teachers favor.

36

The CIA has the exact same qualification.

37

Really, even outside of Taipei?

38

I would not recommend using any agents at all, if possible. If you are not an experienced teacher looking to come to Taiwan to teach for the first time and you’re open to teaching the preschoolers or at an after school cram school (which are pretty much your only options without a teaching license), you can most likely apply directly with the schools via their website. Almost all the big chain schools have official websites and there’s a link to their application.

If you’re a licensed teacher, do a Google search and try to find a list of public and private schools (elementary, junior high or high school), in addition to the international schools such as TAS, TES or any other ones located throughout the island, visit their websites and apply directly with the HR department or English department. Most of the local schools actually have an English version of their website.

Based on my husband’s own experience, he has never had any luck with any agents as they are usually not very forthcoming with any information. They’re evasive on purpose and they will usually “lie” or not be truthful about things for fear of not getting their commission. Remember, you’re a piece of paper to them, if you don’t get the job, they’ll just find someone else. You are better off, representing yourself. My husband needed to leave his current school (a large chain who treated foreign teachers like disposable napkins), doesn’t have a teaching license but does have a spousal ARC (which really worked in his favor) and contacted a local school looking for English teachers directly and got the job on his own. He also contacted many other schools that didn’t respond but every school is different, some schools want very experienced teachers or will only hire teachers with teaching license.

Bottom line, if you have a teaching license and teaching experience, you really shouldn’t be paying some agent to look for work for you. You can find out where these schools are, who they are and apply directly. We have found that Westerners are used to using a recruiter when it comes to job hunting but the quality level here just pales in comparison to what most people are used to in the West. Most agents here are super incompetent and many can’t even communicate sufficiently in English so how can you really trust them to represent you adequately?

39

absolutely agree!!!

40

[quote=“XinBiDe”][quote=“WolvesMon”]Teaching experience? Qualified?
These are the questions that these agencies should be asking.
Never mind accent, age or race.

Soon children will not be allowed to attend school after 6 p.m. English classes are being increased in the state schools by law. Although not by quality, the tests remain as does the rote learning. But soon it will be good bye cram schools and good riddance!

Why need an agency? Apply direct.[/quote]
I find issues in nearly everything you’ve said here. First of all, accent IS important because the children will mimic what they hear, maybe not perfectly, but it’s better than making a copy of a copy, per se. Age is important sometimes too because children will prefer younger teachers, and younger teachers are more likely to be energetic and “empty vessel” types. Many schools have their own curriculum that they want to teach. Race shouldn’t be a question, though.
I also am highly skeptical about some people claiming that cram schools will be forced to end at 6 pm. You know why? Legislators don’t have the balls for that, that is one of the biggest draws to bring foreigners to Taiwan, and it’s helping students learn English, albeit not perfectly. It’s necessary for those ridiculous tests they take, and you know what else? The economy is at the mercy of cram schools. What will those buildings and those jobs become when cram schools disappear?

NOTE: If this becomes a separate discussion, I hope a moderator will branch it off into a different topic.[/quote]

I also am highly skeptical about some people claiming that cram schools will be forced to end at 6 pm. You know why? Legislators don’t have the balls for that, that is one of the biggest draws to bring foreigners to Taiwan, and it’s helping students learn English, albeit not perfectly.

What’s foreigners got to do with anybody’s agenda here…or learning English properly?