i have six years of english teaching experience, and i’m going to advertise myself as being available to teach for 400 nt per hour, any type of teaching acceptable, as i am fully able to teach any age. you think you’re going to undercut me? now i’m going to undercut you. your job is in danger so long as i’m out there.
go home, because you’re about to find out what you’re dealing with, and you’re going to be making yet another visa run.
some white guy
ps. i have a degree, so i can be legal, whereas you and your cheap big nose will only ever be a big joke
[quote=“hank”]I have six years of English teaching experience, and I’m going to advertise myself as being available to teach for 400 nt per hour, any type of teaching acceptable, as I am fully able to teach any age. you think you’re going to undercut me? now I’m going to undercut you. your job is in danger so long as I’m out there.
go home, because you’re about to find out what you’re dealing with, and you’re going to be making yet another visa run.
some white guy
ps. I have a degree, so I can be legal, whereas you and your cheap big nose will only ever be a big joke[/quote]
Well, yes, 400NT is a cheap price but after reading your post I wonder what kind of baggage comes along with your attitude?
of course you’re right. i wrote in a moment of anger at all the very young and inexperienced who are working for so little that i can’t seem to find a job which will pay more than 500 per hour, which i find insulting. why pay me more when a south african will work for peanuts? so what if he’s illegal and has no clue how to teach: we all know that teaching is not actually what we’re wanted for at most of these places.
that, i guess, is the problem. i actually want to teach, and not be just a decorative element. unfortunately, jobs of this more serious nature are very hard to come by, or so it seems. to those of you who have them, i say, hold on to them. you’ll not find another so very easily.
[quote=“hank”]of course you’re right. I wrote in a moment of anger at all the very young and inexperienced who are working for so little that I can’t seem to find a job which will pay more than 500 per hour, which I find insulting. why pay me more when a South African will work for peanuts? so what if he’s illegal and has no clue how to teach: we all know that teaching is not actually what we’re wanted for at most of these places.
that, I guess, is the problem. I actually want to teach, and not be just a decorative element. unfortunately, jobs of this more serious nature are very hard to come by, or so it seems. to those of you who have them, I say, hold on to them. you’ll not find another so very easily.[/quote]
Keep your head up, Hank. It sounds as if you take your teaching seriously and that will pay off in the end.
In the end, though, it hurts more than just the people here teaching English (who don’t necessarily qualify as English teachers…two different ball games there between teaching English and being an English teacher). I too am qualified with relevant training both through CELTA and my university degrees (focused on TESOL), but being black, your skin color and price would hurt me much more than some FOB without a clue.
well i don’t think i could actually stomach working for 400 per hour! my initial post was more to gauge how others feel about this, and if i was the only one who feels somehow short-changed. however, others seem to have no scruples. i know two south africans teaching six hours a day, but spend an additional 3 hours per day in the office. their monthly pay? a whopping 43000. they seem happy with their big bucks.
I met a South African recently who told me she was refusing jobs at 700/hr because she felt that she was worth more.
Good for her, and, to be fair, her accent was fine. I’ve met a few that were pretty unintelligible though. Some of them were almost as bad as some of the Brits.
In most other posts where ‘we’ have been asked to justify the relatively high salaries we demand it has been pointed out that most locals have studied more and harder than most foreign teachers. We earn more, not because we deserve it, but because that’s what the laws of supply and demand dictate.
In the last few weeks we have had a steady stream of people (about 80 of them actually) coming through our doors in search of work, and the story is usually the same. Apart from the FOBs and wasters there are plenty of skilled competent teachers who have suddenly found themselves not working as much due to a slump in student numbers.
One of the other schools I teach at heaved a big sigh of relief when I told them I didn’t want to work as many hours for the time being. They were able to allocate my classes to another teacher that was threatening to quit because he wasn’t making enough any more. One of their big competitors has just closed his doors.
So we appear to have a surfeit of supply, and not much demand. No point getting upset about it. I wouldn’t work for 400/hr either, but I don’t feel that I’m especially entitled to make twice that much. I’m ‘worth’ more if what I can do meets the needs of my customer better than the cheap alternative, but there are plenty of schools that don’t really need teachers. We’re just a product, packaged for sale into a throw-away society where quality is considered to be a waste of money. Cheap crap is always going to win in this environment.
One thing I like about teaching adults is that they’re usually serious about learning something and can form their own opinions about how well you do your job. If your class are consistently full of happy paying punters then you’re worth a fair wage and can insist on it. Quality counts when people are studying for a definite goal such as study overseas.
[quote=“hank”]well I don’t think I could actually stomach working for 400 per hour! my initial post was more to gauge how others feel about this, and if I was the only one who feels somehow short-changed. however, others seem to have no scruples. I know two south africans teaching six hours a day, but spend an additional 3 hours per day in the office. their monthly pay? a whopping 43000. they seem happy with their big bucks.
the damage, it would seem, has already been done.[/quote]
I think this is a strange time for ESL schools. I could write pages and pages of stuff about the current ESL environment but it would probably end up sounding like the innane ramblings of someone who has had too many head injuries.
Anyways, I would recommend not basing your job search solely on money per hour. Of course with your experience you should get more than a FNG but I would look for a place that has a good curriculum and stable hours. Those two things will get you through this rough time. I suppose a lot depends on where you live on the island. There ain’t nothing in Kaohsiung, and I mean nothin’. I have never seen the job market so bad. Taipei looks as if you have to do a lot of running around to fill up a schedule. Find a place that can give you a certain amount of job security hour wise.
[quote=“stragbasher”]In most other posts where ‘we’ have been asked to justify the relatively high salaries we demand it has been pointed out that most locals have studied more and harder than most foreign teachers. We earn more, not because we deserve it, but because that’s what the laws of supply and demand dictate.
[/quote]
That’s bullshit. I respect my coworkers but remember they earned their degrees through the Taiwanese educational system and we all know what that’s worth. One of my co-teachers told me that she learned more English in five months living in North America than she did in five years in Taiwan schools. Every day I have to answer a barrage of questions on correct usage and pronunciation and even basic spelling, because for all their years of hard work & study most Taiwanese English teachers just aren’t that fluent. I earn more in part because of the ‘exotic foreigner’ card, but also because my English skills are clearly superior to locals’. Can you imagine kids being only taught English by locals? Think of all the mistakes and bad Chinglish habits they’d be going home with.
Durin’s Bane wrote [quote]There ain’t nothing in Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong), and I mean nothin’. I have never seen the job market so bad. [/quote]
Incredible. I always thought that because Kaohsiung is considered a bit of a hellhole, that it would be less popular with big noses and therefore offer more work. On my few trips there, I haven’t noticed many foreigners.
Anyway, I just had a look on Tealit. In the past four months there have been two postings for jobs in Kaohsiung (This doesn’t include the "jobs available everywhere ads).
Incredible. I always thought that because Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong) is considered a bit of a hellhole, that it would be less popular will big noses and therefore offer more work. On my few trips there, I haven’t noticed many foreigners.
Anyway, I just had a look on Tealit. In the past four months there have been two postings for jobs in Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong) (This doesn’t include the "jobs available everywhere ads).
DB, can you explain what is going on?[/quote]
Low teacher turnover, no new classes opening (for most schools).
I’d be definitely interested in what people are saying about the local market (should I say “markets”), and why teachers are finding it harder to find good jobs.
How do you see the market right now?
Growing/static/shrinking?
Influx of teachers/outflow or stable?
I haven’t seen that many postings recently, but I suspect too many people are preoccupied but this election, that we are still in a post new year funk, until summer time.
“Anyways, I would recommend not basing your job search solely on money per hour”
i’m actually not so very greedy when it comes to salary, being happy with 600 to 650. my other criteria are as follows:
it is preferable that the boss be a teacher.
a decent curriculum, yes, but more importantly, openness to letting me get a little creative.
no “puppy-mill” style of school.
a decent amount of hours, as much in a row as possible (the odd half hour break is okay).
as you can probably surmise, my recent difficulties in finding work have as much to do with my pickiness, as with a general lack of available work. thankfully, the search appears to be over, and i’m starting tomorrow at a school which appears to fit the bill (with free apartment thrown in for good measure!)
perhaps the moderator can change the name of the thread from “war” to, if not “peace”, at least “truce”?
also, for the sake of my curiosity, what are your criteria for teaching jobs? i’m sure i can learn quite a bit from all of you.
[quote=“hank”] I know two south africans teaching six hours a day, but spend an additional 3 hours per day in the office. their monthly pay? a whopping 43000. they seem happy with their big bucks.
[/quote]
The rand’s getting so strong now, they won’t be happy for long.
Try working in Taoyuan. Have only worked here 3 weeks and there seems nothing to do. But then i have been busy. oh and yes it looks a shithole. Took job because money was running out an dit is a stable job with training and you get paid min 80hrs
anyone with experience, advise please.
Incredible. I always thought that because Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong) is considered a bit of a hellhole, that it would be less popular with big noses and therefore offer more work. On my few trips there, I haven’t noticed many foreigners.
Anyway, I just had a look on Tealit. In the past four months there have been two postings for jobs in Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong) (This doesn’t include the "jobs available everywhere ads).
