What are my prospects?

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve spent many days reading this forum and found some very useful information here and there. However, none of them pertains to my situation directly so I am risking this thread to ask about it. Many apologies if this seems redundant. And thanks always for any input.

Background: I have a BA in Psychology. I tutored and did a lot of volunteer work (especially with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America) while in college. I am not TEFL/ESL certify. I am currently working under contract with a non-profit group that deals with children who has special needs. I enjoy working at the non-profit but there’s no room for advancement, and I feel as if the water is getting stagnant. I have no plans to attend grad school anytime soon, and I want to see the world.

The idea of teaching/living abroad has always had its appeal to me. It is only earlier this year that I had begun to seriously consider it. At the moment, I have a friend who is with Hess. He encouraged me to apply but, unfortunately, I did not make it in their selection process. I then sent my application to Reach To Teach after reading (mostly) positive reviews on here. R2T emailed stating that there is no current position in Taiwan but they have openings in Korea (EPIK) if I’m interested. However, since I started researching this subject, I’ve decided that I would try to skip Korea and Japan due to their (mostly) high standard of living. I realize this may be unfounded since I’ve never lived there so anyone with experiences with said countries and/or the EPIK school can chime in.

Furthermore, even though I’m not in it for the money but the experience, I would like to know that my salary is at least enough to cover my daily expenses. I don’t miss living like a broke college kid but I will do it if I have to (within reasons). I am also not limiting myself to Taiwan. Other countries I’m considering are Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Anyone with experience with said countries are welcome to chime in as welll. Also, what are some good sites to look for job postings from these countries? So far, I’ve only ventured to eslcafe and tealit.

All in all, I’m just looking to get my foot in the door. I also realize that with the economic slump right now I am competing with teachers who are far more experienced in this field than I am. I do not have a definitive date but I would like to start teaching somewhere before this year is over. A lot of various threads in here suggest that one move to Taiwan then hit the pavement since that is where the good jobs are; however, I personally feel more secure if I have a job prior to going anywhere so that strategy is out of the question for me.

Thanks for reading. I apologize for such a long and winded post. If nothing comes through I think I’ll just join the Peace Corp. One more thing, I am of Asian ethnicity. I accept the fact that there are pros/cons to being so; I won’t let it bother me.

2

What was the reason given for not hiring you?

3

Being Asian is not really a problem these days. Especially if people actually originally came from Taiwan. It saves schools having to get ARCs and many elementary and high schools prefer that.

4

I think that if you are not in it for the money then skip Korea. If you work for EPIK in Korea you would be working in a public school, more than likely in the countryside probably earning between 2 and 2.2 million a month. I have not been in Taiwan long but for the time that I have been here I like it a lot. On the job front, I have five years experience, post grad qualifications, speak Chinese and I think I interview well but it took me some time to find a decent job here. All I wanted was, on Taipei MRT, no Saturdays and about 20 hours a week. It took about 3 weeks to get something suitable. At the moment it is not as easy as I heard it once was to get a job here, esp with no experience. You can earn enough here to live no problem. My advice to you is you hit up the chain schools that hire from overseas, send your application then call them, keep calling until they say yes or no. Also hit up the different recruiters and see what they have to say, keep calling them until they get you something. A phone call is much harder to ignore than an e-mail. Good luck.

5

What was the reason given for not hiring you?[/quote]
Not sure exactly. Their email simply stated that, “Your application has been reviewed against our selection criteria and has not advanced to the next stage of our recruitment process.”

I’m not an ABC but thanks for the heads up though.

Thanks for the great info. I’ll definitely check into the calling recommendation.

6

Other posters are correct: it’s not as easy as it once was to find a job in Taiwan.

Number one reason: aging population. Taiwan has the lowest birthrate in the world. This is not likely to change any time soon.

Having said that, it’s also a hell of a lot easier to find a job if you ARE IN TAIWAN ALREADY. As long as your appearance doesn’t “frighten the kids”, you’ll find something–enough to cover living expenses. Forget about lack of experience. If a cram school needs a “body” and you’re in the right place at the right time, you will be hired. As anybody on this forum will tell you, Taiwan (Taipei especially) is somewhat of a revolving door of Western teachers.

Now, having been there and done that, I would say skip Korea and Japan. Avoid any country with a U.S. military base. The place to be right now is mainland China. A good approach for you might be to come to Taiwan, check it out, and start hitting the message boards for gigs in China, specifically the south: Guangdong (Guangzhou).

Taiwan is a great place for expats. A positive attitude and a friendly face go a very long way with the locals.

7

Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.

Also, does anyone know how long to wait before reapplying again to Hess? I’m thinking around 5-6 months?

8

[quote=“super_lucky”]
Having said that, it’s also a hell of a lot easier to find a job if you ARE IN TAIWAN ALREADY. As long as your appearance doesn’t “frighten the kids”, you’ll find something–enough to cover living expenses. Forget about lack of experience. If a cram school needs a “body” and you’re in the right place at the right time, you will be hired. As anybody on this forum will tell you, Taiwan (Taipei especially) is somewhat of a revolving door of Western teachers.[/quote]

yes, get on the plane and in Taiwan and you’ll have a better chance of finding a job. And you’ll have a chance to check out the school and where it’s located. I think this is a pretty important part moving to Asia. there are places that I wouldn’t be real excited to be living but I wouldn’t know that from overseas.

And most of the jobs available from overseas are with big chains (as far as i know). They are not as terrible as they sound on the forums. But there are specific branches that are better than others but you wouldn’t know that if you accepted a job from overseas.

9

[quote=“loo”]Hi everyone,

I’ve spent many days reading this forum and found some very useful information here and there. However, none of them pertains to my situation directly so I am risking this thread to ask about it. Many apologies if this seems redundant. And thanks always for any input.

Background: I have a BA in Psychology. I tutored and did a lot of volunteer work (especially with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America) while in college. I am not TEFL/ESL certify. I am currently working under contract with a non-profit group that deals with children who has special needs. I enjoy working at the non-profit but there’s no room for advancement, and I feel as if the water is getting stagnant. I have no plans to attend grad school anytime soon, and I want to see the world.

The idea of teaching/living abroad has always had its appeal to me. It is only earlier this year that I had begun to seriously consider it. At the moment, I have a friend who is with Hess. He encouraged me to apply but, unfortunately, I did not make it in their selection process. I then sent my application to Reach To Teach after reading (mostly) positive reviews on here. R2T emailed stating that there is no current position in Taiwan but they have openings in Korea (EPIK) if I’m interested. However, since I started researching this subject, I’ve decided that I would try to skip Korea and Japan due to their (mostly) high standard of living. I realize this may be unfounded since I’ve never lived there so anyone with experiences with said countries and/or the EPIK school can chime in.

Furthermore, even though I’m not in it for the money but the experience, I would like to know that my salary is at least enough to cover my daily expenses. I don’t miss living like a broke college kid but I will do it if I have to (within reasons). I am also not limiting myself to Taiwan. Other countries I’m considering are Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Anyone with experience with said countries are welcome to chime in as welll. Also, what are some good sites to look for job postings from these countries? So far, I’ve only ventured to eslcafe and tealit.

All in all, I’m just looking to get my foot in the door. I also realize that with the economic slump right now I am competing with teachers who are far more experienced in this field than I am. I do not have a definitive date but I would like to start teaching somewhere before this year is over. A lot of various threads in here suggest that one move to Taiwan then hit the pavement since that is where the good jobs are; however, I personally feel more secure if I have a job prior to going anywhere so that strategy is out of the question for me.

Thanks for reading. I apologize for such a long and winded post. If nothing comes through I think I’ll just join the Peace Corp. One more thing, I am of Asian ethnicity. I accept the fact that there are pros/cons to being so; I won’t let it bother me.[/quote]

Your situation sounds exactly the same as mine, I am training to be a youth worker, and have worked with kids a lot, at a summer camp in America, and various voluntary and paid jobs in the UK, and at a youth house in Germany, but I to also got rejected from hess school.

I know the feeling to mate about being worried about going there with no job but i’m thoroughly expecting to do that.

I am also worrying about my accent and if that will hold me back too, good luck though.