Hi expatriate oracles…I need some serious advice about a serious situation unfolding this week: I’m getting on a plane for taipei and I need to make fast progress getting a high paying english teaching job. I have little money to waste floundering about. I need to go to various places looking at bulletin boards and gathering tourist info on international companies at the CKS airport, and talking to foreigners everywhere and being a little sexy/flashy white person to get attention I presume.
What I really would appreciate would be honest unsarcastic replies that advise on specific stategies and tecniques, possibly direct leads as well.
I know the most desired nationality is American so I have that going for me.
I have marketing, design, business consulting experience in NY.
I must make between $850 -$2,500 NTW per hr to feel effective.
Please do not hesitate to reply because I am very appreciative and genorous…and humble…and hot, and cool, and humble. Please don’t tell me $650 is a good wage because I’m not that humble when it comes to lifestyle !
IT BETTER BE…I have been online for a year researching my relocation there. I have 2 interviews offering over $850 setup already and oters that want me and are vague about their rate offers but are greatly interested in me…I heard Comapnies are likely to hire rather than send the employees off site to a school who will not tailor curriculum to the company students’ needs…
Uh you dont have a job lined up yet. Assuming you’re arriving this month, gonna be difficult to find a job, let alone one that pays you the desired amount above.
“The positions for teaching English in the cram school are part time positions paying 800 to 1000 NT$ per hour, depending on qualification. I think you will find this amount highly competitive here. The teacher training program is in its infancy, and I don’t know when it will start. Mr XXX who is starting these schools has other schools in operation in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and San Jose (Calif.), and has developed electronic curricula for commercial sales. He could be a good person to be on good terms with, even if you don’t end up working for him. Re: the other business opportunity that I mentioned – I would just give you an informational DVD which you could watch on your own, and then we could talk about a follow up interview, if it seemed like a good fit.”
Nothing is too firm on interviews it seems in taiwan, negotiations are key…
If someone offers you NT$850/hr as a starting wage then you’re a) extremely lucky, and b) probably not going to get a lot of hours out of them.
I don’t know anyone making more than NT$1200/hr consistently, and that usually requires fluent chinese too. And a good relationship with someone who can afford that sort of rate.
For regular work, and plenty of teaching hours, there isn’t much demand for highly qualified people. If you’re coming here without experience, and don’t know anyone, then the chances are that you’re not going to earn a lot of money.
Get used to people being vague with you. Don’t be surprised if they turn around and offer you 550/hr. It happens all the time.
As for ‘the other opportunity’, I would love to know more about that and if Mr XXX is talking about expanding in Taiwan then I’m sure he’d be glad if you bring a few people to hear all about it. But the balance of probabilities is overwhelmingly in favour of this being just another crap product that you’ll never make any money out of. It deserves to be looked at with an open mind, but if you have marketing, design, business consulting experience you should know better than to pin your hopes on it.
Also, you’re an american tart, not an english tart. As a connoisseur I object to false advertising.
For a newbe English teacher in Taiwan NT$ 650 is a good wage. Sorry to tell you what you don’t wanna hear.
You didn’t mention your teaching qualifications and experience. Reputable companies here see this as important before they negotiate the type of wages you are demanding.
Not a chance Englishtart. I agree that your confidence is refreshing, but your numbers are unrealistic. You should have no trouble finding regular hours (half-time) teaching conversation classes at a cram school for NT$700 or so. Full-time work in such schools may be scarcer. From time to time you may be able to land a couple of hours a week for NT$1,000 or so, but that’s good pay and there’s no way you’ll earn NT$2,000, probably not even $1,500. Given the time and hassle involved in commuting from one position to another, a steady block of work at NT$700 is really not all that bad, especially when one considers the lower taxes and cost of living here. If you don’t spend all your free time at the bars or buying shoes, you should be able to save money fairly easily.
I admit I’m not presently a teacher, so I don’t know exactly what the situation is right now, but I’ve got an MA a JD, college teaching experience in the US and a decade of experience as a lawyer and the above was what I experienced when I arrived here a few years ago.
NY Bullshit, Humor, Charm…False Advertising… Confidence…Yes…That’s me !!! I am experience free (like the phrase?) when it comes to teaching though, I lie gracefully and vaguely, like a good Taiwanese should…I am certainly prepared for Mr. xxx and his friend to be a couple of lame losers, and he can keep is gay litle dvd… and am prepared to setttle for lower expectations and approx. 700hr full time…NOT IF I CAN HELP IT…But I’m ready for life’s bullshit and I can see Shady Taiwanese don’t only sell Magwai they also sell bushiban teaching hours…My aittitude, my oulook, and my resume (just ask for it PM) is really fun, funny, and quite impressive to someone who either looks for a smooh talker or is often prey to one. It’s actually all true (except the teaching part), just worded in a way that IF you CAN COMPREHEND WRITTEN ENGLISH…you realize what you have here…RARE…I’m rare…as in fresh meat to be slaughered? I suppose (terrified of planes) but fresh unusual meat more precisely (you think I’d let that one stay open for you wiseasses?)…I am the type of American that brings status to a school because PEOPLE LOVE ME…I’m super eccentric, funny, cool, well dressed, I’m just the type of ciche value American bushiban owners and hopefully more respectable people; want to garner hours from (SEE!)…I negotiate like NO ONE YOU EVER SAW…NY jEW gone tactfull and calm…I’m not all THAT COOL AND SEXY…but I’m speaking objectively…I beat most people in my demographic for HOTS…Ok…talk some more my wise oracles, and I shalll gratefully take it all to heart !!! Thanks for being so prolific in your responses…I’ll do my best not to let you down, AND OFCOURSE KEEP YOU ALL POSTED WITH MY HYSTERICAL UPDATES !!!
I was working at JOY school in Hsin Chuang and someone fresh off the plane asked for 1000 an hour, I was in shock having been here for 4 years I thought her demands were hilarious. She didn’t get the job. :loco:
Start at lower salary, develop your craft (teaching), the money will come.
You may come with your own identity, but it will soon get lost. I left my nuts in an envelope at Heathrow Airport, to be collect upon my return.
I have many years of teaching experience and can’t get anywhere near the money you are looking for right now with no experience.
Once you meet 20 Mr XXX’s you will realise that most schools more or less offer the same deal to the inexperienced teacher. 700 will be very good with no experience. Don’t lower your expectations just yet, but do raise your level of awareness once you arrive. Bon Chance.
…and having a job you semi enjoy makes a huge difference too. A depressing job often results in excessive partying or retail therapy :s
If you’re earning WAY more than anyone else doing similar work, your job is always going to be on the line.
…and having a job you semi enjoy makes a huge difference too. A depressing job often results in excessive partying or retail therapy :s
If you’re earning WAY more than anyone else doing similar work, your job is always going to be on the line.[/quote]
Wise words.
The largest single cost for schools is teachers’ salaries. And you better believe that they are looking for ways to either cut that cost or keep it under control.
There is no way I’m gonna pay someone 700NT an hour. Why? Because I can get someone to do it for 550NT.
