Newbie questions

hello all,

(i also posted this in the “salary” topics post, i hope that isnt a problem)

I’ve recently decided I’d look into the possiblility of teaching in Taiwan. a few months ago i completed my service in Peace Corps and am looking for more opportunities to work overseas. i taught English while i served in honduras and enjoyed it a lot.

the point of this post: I found an ad on another site for the “taipei oxford international school”. it’s a salaried position (NT$60,000+bonuses for approx 40 hour work week). the write-up sounded pretty good, lots of extras and a seemingly nice place to work. is this a realistic starting point for a newbie looking to teach in Taiwan? can i or should i start the ball rolling without ever having been there? am i crazy to set this kind of thing up before i visit the place?

anyone out there familiar with this school, good or bad rep? am i way off base here? as I said, I am new to this I am ready to get going. any advice you can give me would be great.

thanks for your time,
david

[quote=“Hondu Grease”]hello all,

(I also posted this in the “salary” topics post, I hope that isnt a problem)[/quote]
It is. Bad idea. Next time, don’t. Welcome to Forumosa.

That may get you hired some plcaes, but might not get you more money at certain schools. The school I work for now doesn’t count teaching experience outside of Taiwan when calculating pay. :loco:

Assuming the place has some people giving it the thumbs up it won’t hurt too much to go to a place sight unseen. On the flip-side, though, maybe you should line up a few interviews with multiple schools, come here, and then decide.

Do a little math: 60,000/160=375. If you are working 160 hours a month (40 a week) that is going to be very low pay here. Bonuses are not things you can count on. You can easily find a much better rate of pay than 375.

However, look carefully at what they are offering. Is that a maximum of 40 hours? Are you required to be there that whole time if you don’t have that many? How many are teaching hours? Is there a lower number of hours to work/month?

Their advertisement on Tealit TEALIT Job Search (scroll down until you find it) shows a lot of different variables for exactly how much you’re going to teach.

Talk to whoever is offering the job and find out how many hours you will really work/month. For 60,000 you shouldn’t be working 160 hours.

Taiwan can be a sticky spiderweb for the unwary.

While some employers are really good, some will take you for all your worth and then some, if you let them.

Renegotiating is a Taiwanese pass time and the job you get may not fit the exact description you applied for. And it only goes in the employers favour.

Some line up jobs from overseas and then come over and it works out well, but for others it’s the beginning of a huge headache.

I usually advise to come over and check it out.

Searching and reading these forums will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from Taiwan, and what it can do to you. :help: :help: :help: