University EFL Teaching Positions in Taiwan

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

Hey, where are all the university teaching jobs in Taiwan? No advertisements on other popular websites and not much known about what the contracts are like. When is the hiring season?

Also, what are the requirements for getting hired (there seems to be some discrepancy judging from the dialogue on the other site).

Is it too late to get a University teaching job in Taiwan?

Is Taiwan moving towards caps on contract renewals like Japan? Are teachers only hired as temporary instructors?

Let’s see if we can produce more usefl info here about university EFL teaching in Taiwan.

2

University jobs often are not advertised, except perhaps on the university websites - which are mostly in Chinese. I’ve worked at several universities, but I’ve always heard about the position either through contacts or through blanketing the city with applications, never through an advertisement.

What I did at one point: wrote to some of the universities in Taipei. Got nowhere. The next year, wrote to many more of the Taipei universities. Eventually got hired.

Is mid-June too late? Likely. The schools have probably hired whoever they’re going to hire for the coming school year - but if someone refuses an offer, you may still be able to get in. Of course, finding that sudden availability is tricky.

If I remember right, you should be sending applications out February to March; interviews will be in April or perhaps May.

I’ve heard of threatened renewal caps for people with only Master’s degrees, but I’ve never [yet] seen them enforced. We’ll see what happens over the next ten years as the university-age population plunges. This island may already have more student spaces available than there actually are students.

Part-time work is available, and probably fairly easily - but it’s not a good deal. You’re looking at 600-700NT/ hour of class time, and you’re expected to plan a course and do the marking. I suppose you could do this to get your foot in the door.

General take on money: not that different from cram school jobs as a monthly salary, but you get that same salary through the one month winter vacation and 2.5 month summer vacation. Which, of course, makes a huge difference.

The salary scale is set by the government and there are [usually] low annual increases, although airfares have increased faster than my salary has. I get the impression you can make a fair bit of extra money by being a genuine academic and publishing in the right place.

Requirements: almost all ads will say PhD required. If they’re in Taipei, they probably mean it, but if you’ve got experience you may be OK. If the school is outside of Taipei, a Master’s degree may be enough.

When the national universities say PhD, they definitely mean it.

Look for a school that has a Language Center (i.e. has an English program for all the students of the university, and not just for English majors). They typically need more teachers.

Almost all contracts are 1- or 2-year, but renewal is seldom an issue.

3

National Changhua University of Education is hiring and they have the requirements on their English website.

4

Thanks for the information in the above posts.

I guess it’s getting too late now to find anything, isn’t it. Maybe have to look at next year.

5

That looked very interesting until I discovered where Changhua City is.

6

That looked very interesting until I discovered where Changhua City is.[/quote]
You know if there was anything to be proud of where I live, I would of taken that personally. :wink:

7

No slight intended on beautiful Changhua City, it’s just that it’s halfway down the island, which is a little far for a comfortable commute.

8

I see they want people with a Masters in English literature. Do you get many of those down Changhua way?

9

I’m not sure as I don’t get out much. Puppet would be the person to ask.

10

As for female profs, how much in demand are western female instructors at universities in Taiwan?

do they generally get over looked?

Seems to me they want “White” and “Male”.

Is this true for most instructors’ experiences at Taiwanese universities?

11

[quote=“Shimokitazawa”]As for female profs, how much in demand are western female instructors at universities in Taiwan?

do they generally get over looked?

Seems to me they want “White” and “Male”.

Is this true for most instructors’ experiences at Taiwanese universities?[/quote]

How did you form the opinion that universities want white, male English instructors? Is it through talking to people or your own experiences? I was in a uni a month or so ago and of the 5 instructors I met 2 were white males. I think there are 12 English instructors at that uni, so I don’t know if the other 7 are all white males.

Actually, come to think of it I was in another uni in Taipei for an interview recently and met 4 instructors of whom only one was a white male. The other three were female ABCs.

12

It’s all about being at the right place at the right time if you only have a Masters. I met somebody who happened to be responsible for hiring at a University and got offered the job even though I only have a Masters in English Literature.

13

[quote=“Shimokitazawa”]As for female profs, how much in demand are western female instructors at universities in Taiwan?

do they generally get over looked?

Seems to me they want “White” and “Male”.

Is this true for most instructors’ experiences at Taiwanese universities?[/quote]

I don’t think that this is true. Whenever there are interviews at my uni, the applicants - for whatever reason - are usually male. For this reason, a female would have a better chance. I got my position when a lady left the job to return to the UK, and I have another friend who is quite happy in her position at another varsity.

14

I have taught at the university level in Taiwan for almost 10 years. I have been on many departmental hiring committees and seen many people get jobs both at my school and others.

– You do not need a PhD., althought it sure does help. It does not have to be in TESOL or Education, but it sure does help.

– You do not need to be white. It’s probably harder for coloured applicants, but in all honesty, maybe not. I personally know Filipinos, Indians, and African-Americans who have taught here. Some were/are extremely popular with students. I have spoken with my students about this and the only thing they were concerned about was the quality of English. There would probably be more Indians or African teachers at the university level here, but there are bureaucratic problems hiring them.

– You do not need to be male. In fact, the idea that being male is an advantage is silly. That’s all that needs to be said about that one.

There aren’t a lot of jobs at universities right now. Black, white, boy, girl, scientist, engineer or English teacher: the biggest problem is finding a school with an opening. We have a hiring freeze on at my school - again. We had a hiring freeze for about 5 years. It got lifted for a year, then it got put back on. We’ve hired lots of teachers, but they are all local teaching assistants with master’s degrees. Probably your biggest selling point is being willing to work under any conditions, teach anything even if you’re not able to, and be willing to move anywhere even to Penghu.

There are jobs, but they’re tough to find, and they’re not always what you want. You might want to have a look at this tinyurl.com/2ac5x8y