It’s not a seller’s market. If it was a seller’s market the demand for teachers would outstrip supply and prices would rise. Prices haven’t risen for ten years - when I first arrived in 1992 I could (and did) walk into any school and get 550 an hour with no degree and very little Chinese. NT$550 an hour appears to still be the going rate for newbies.
Meanwhile, rents and the price of beer have gone up.
[quote=“hexuan”]It’s not a seller’s market. If it was a seller’s market the demand for teachers would outstrip supply and prices would rise. Prices haven’t risen for ten years - when I first arrived in 1992 I could (and did) walk into any school and get 550 an hour with no degree and very little Chinese. NT$550 an hour appears to still be the going rate for newbies.
Meanwhile, rents and the price of beer have gone up.[/quote]
Sorry, I should have put “seller” in quotes since it is such an odd situation here.
Hexuan is right,
No problem with supply. Taiwan is attracting more foreigners than ever before: South Africans fleeing a sinking ship, Canadians running away from the tax system from hell, Kiwis escaping their students loans, and Englishmen looking to get laid. Although not as lucrative as before the hourly rate is still attractive and Taiwan is now a much more liveable place than it was ten or five years ago. Japan has long since fallen from grace and is now considered a less attractive destination. All eyes are on China. Chinese culture and language are increasingly popular.
Someone mentioned school’s concealing salaries, so perhaps our more liberal-minded Segue members who’re making more than the standard $550-650 an hour would care to comment on how they managed this? I’m aware of Mo Dawei (Ī
I assume such jobs DO exist, but I never found any that were attractive to me. I did find positions for $750/hr for on-site business classes that pay more for your travel time and expense to their offices. I knew of offers to privately teach business classes for $1000/hr but then there’s the hassle of coordinating it all yourself. I find teaching general classes of adults more interesting than teaching business classes and having supportive co-workers is important to me so top pay wasn’t top priority for me. I knew I could always supplement my income with privates if I wanted. More than five years teaching in Taiwan and I never stumbled upon one of those legendary pleasant, well-paid teaching positions. Obviously, I don’t know the secret either.
Money isn’t everything. How much would you need an hour to take a job teaching air hostesses from China Airlines or Eva?
Fair enough. I suppose in the end I’ll end up settling for something in the NT$600 range with a comfortable environment, having learnt the hard way that I came here with unrealistic salary expectations and ought to chill out a little bit and focus more on finding something livable. Shrug. Is just a little hard to find a nice balance between lifestyle, study goals, and salary – because although money isn’t everything and far from the biggest thing, it does factor into most things. Anyway, am sure I’ll figure something out in the next week or so. Thanks all for your input.
(Oh, and for what it’s worth, I wasn’t all that impressed with the CAL hostesses. I’m sure, given their line of work, that they’ve a pleasantly fatalistic and short-term attitude towards relationships; but they weren’t anything all that special to look at.)
ROTFLMAO!
Does someone actually know the going pay rate at Wall Street? Surely someone posting on segue knows someone who works there. It would be very useful additional information for this thread.
I worked for Wall Street for a short period and know how much they get paid.
Wall Street will not pay teachers who have several years of expereince and higher education any more than $550/hour.
A per lesson instructor will get $550/hour.
If your student doesn’t show up, you don’t get paid. Or you can do some other things around the school and collect half of your hourly wage.
Full time instructors will be asked to work 30 hours a week or so.
You can expect $40,000 per month as a full time instructor at Wall Street. So, your hourly wage for teaching at Wall Street will be about $325/hour
A shi t wage.
But Wall Street are a typical greedy big chain language school.
As for Mr. Wall Street…
The White Guy at the Front Counter is merely a corporate a ss kisser, as are all the Front Counter White Guys at Wall Street and other big chain schools in Asia.
They don’y care about the line-level English Instructors and are primarily concerned with their own position in the company and would stab you in the back in the blink of an eye.
Wall Street is best avoided for this very reason. These Front Counter White Guys will want to control you and tell you how to think, dress and behave.
These Corporate Johnnys can make life unbearable.
OP, there are so many more relaxed places that are less controlling and better paying than Wall Street.
Stay away.
Wall Street, maybe, I really don’t know, but please don’t generalise to all ‘white’ managers at all chain schools. I’ve met some very nice ones.
Brian
Okay, maybe I’ve met one or two “nice ones” …
But that is it!
Yrs.
BP
Sounds like the white guys behind the counter are just doing their job.
Sounds like the white guys behind the counter are just doing their job.[/quote]
And the Nazis were only
Sounds like the white guys behind the counter are just doing their job.[/quote]
And the Nazis were only following orders?[/quote]
I’m with Flicka. It’s a manager’s responsibility to tell his employees what sort of dress code the company has, and enforce it, if necessary. Ditto for behaviour that reflects the company’s policies. I’d draw the line at telling employees what to think, but behaviour and appearance are well within the bounds of reason. And what’s “white” got to do with it? Do you mean foreigners, or do your assertions apply exclusively to caucasian managers? Do bi-racial managers fall into your generalizations? :?
Yup.
Are you one of those White Guys behind the front counter? If so, I can understand why you responded the way you did.
If you want to be told how to dress, what to say and how to do your lesson and basically how to behave, then go to a big language school like Wall Street.
They’ll treat you like a child, if that’s what you’re into. They’ll treat you like a 17 year old high school student.
And if you want to have a manager like that White Guy behind the front counter, who watches you all day long - the things you say, the way you dress and how you teach - Then Wall Street is for you!
If you like to be controlled all day long - Then Wall Street is for you.
If you don’t mind being paid $325 - $550 per hour - Then try getting a job teaching English at Wall Street.
But if you want to work in a friendlier more relaxed work environment, one where you can exercise more discretion in the way you teach and how you dress - Avoid Wall Street.
Wall Street micro manages it’s employees.
And I don’t like that or the type of people that get promoted in large language schools - Most of these people are scummy and I can’t stand being around them.
They’d f*ck you over in a heart beat without feeling any remorse.
Personally, I think the OP should be thankful that they showed him what kind of as sholes they could be up front.
Better than finding out 3 or 4 months down the road.
I screwed up.
I don’t have the energy to go back and edit all of my posts but I knew White was in there somewehre.
It’s actually The White Fellow at the end of the counter.
I am not, but if (maybe when) I was the manager of a school, that’s exactly what I’d tell my teachers - how they should dress, what they should say, how to teach their lessons, and how to behave with students, Chiense workmates and parents.
Brian
Yup.
Are you one of those White Guys behind the front counter? If so, I can understand why you responded the way you did.[/quote]
No, I most certainly am not one of the guys behind the front counter. I can understand your frustration. I know a lot of these guys behind the counters can be jerks. It seems to be some sort of tradition here.
But a school is still trying to sell something, and in order to do so, they need you to dress, teach and behave in a certain way. A lot of jobs are like that, pumpkin.
[quote]
They’ll treat you like a child, if that’s what you’re into. They’ll treat you like a 17 year old high school student.
If you like to be controlled all day long - Then Wall Street is for you.[/quote]
Is this an English school you are talking about, or some sort of kinky sex club?
It sounds like your real problem is the pay. You are right – it doesn’t seem so hot. But don’t they only teach adults? Nothing is grosser than a hot summer classroom full of sweaty, smelly kids holding bags of street food, so maybe its worth it.
That’s a real newsflash for a Taiwanese company. Haven’t been here too long, have you?
[quote]And I don’t like that or the type of people that get promoted in large language schools - Most of these people are scummy and I can’t stand being around them.
They’d f*ck you over in a heart beat without feeling any remorse.
Personally, I think the OP should be thankful that they showed him what kind of as sholes they could be up front.
Better than finding out 3 or 4 months down the road.[/quote]
I still think they are only doing their jobs. But who cares if they stab you in the back or if they are getting promoted? They are only setting themselves up for their own day of reckoning. Besides, there’s a billion other cram schools out there for you to try and see if they fit.
WTF?
Then do you work for Wall Street? Because I kind of get the feeling that you’re sticking up for them - or large chain schools. And I have no idea why.
Aha, ha, haaa!!
No. Haven’t been in Taiwan long. Wall Street is a Spanish company.
I totally agree with you, Flicka and I’m happy the OP got a taste of what Wall Street is really like before he signed on.