What do you think of this ad?

forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?t=25778

Hmm! English CONSULTING, Taipei 101!!

Wow, sounds like a high class outfit. No classes of more than 7 students, great boss, a VERY NICE environment, convenient MRT location, guaranteed hours.

And "Remuneration is commensurate with experience and skills "

I was almost tempted to apply, but didn’t.

Taipei 101 is not convenient for the MRT, although the office they currently work out of is. I know of another place called 101 English, or something similar, and they teach kids, which isn’t consulting. I’m confused.

This ad specifies no buxiban restrictions, so I’m speculating that they are no relation and they say they will be operating out of Taipei 101 (which I believe has some dispensations regarding ARCs), but that’s not convenient for the MRT.

And why is the same company advertising 25 jobs all over Taiwan, starting next month? Are they agents, or a chain school? Something smells fishy.

Also, two blocks of three hours per day = 30 hrs a week (130+ per month), of CONSULTING. That’s not ‘follow the text book’ stuff, that’s work requiring lots of prep. It sounds like a very big workload to me, and I’m not sure how realistic it is to provide a quality service consistently for that many hours. It must be tremendously well-paid, but if so then why not mention that fact?

Thoughts anyone?

They’ve made a big effort to give a good impression, ie they’re trying to sell the opportunity, but they don’t seem to be very selective about hiring. There is no email address provided for anyone to send their details to for pre-screening. Granted, different hiring managers have their own ways of making their hiring decisions, but my experience has been that good jobs are often over-subscribed.

Ads I have placed at tealit in the past typically produced 60-80 responses, and friends who have done the same report similar amounts of interest. And most of those applicants were never invited to interview, because they didn’t appear suitable in one way or another.

Perhaps that is the wrong way to do it. Perhaps inviting anyone to walk in and request an interview is a more efficient use of a manager’s time? Perhaps the people I rejected because they couldn’t write a covering letter would have been great teachers and I just have my head up my arse again.

But perhaps someone who is qualified to do English CONSULTING in a prestige development does not have time to go and visit every outfit that is hiring teachers all over Taiwan? I would think that it be a more efficient use of everyone’s time for applicants to send their details and salary expectations first, and then arrange an interview if everyone is reading from the same page.

I say this because I have had numerous interviews with people in the past only to learn that their standard rates are 550-600 per hour, and that policy prevents them paying anyone the sort of money I earn now. I’m not even a high earner. I know plenty of people who make more than I do, but I’m certainly not going to travel for an interview with an employer until I’m sure that he knows what I expect to earn and is still willing to meet.

So the impression I get from this ad is that they’re trying to get people in through the door and signed up quickly. Note the requirements that you be:
-Professional-talking and professional-looking individuals
-Team Players, please
-Optimistic and great attitude
-Able to follow rules and customer service protocol

These are reasonable requirements given the quality of idiot that masquerades here all too often, but it also sounds like they’re looking for people to push around. You will look the part, talk the part, do as you’re told, and smile about it, but nowhere does it say that you must be suitably qualified or experienced. In fact, it even states "-Guaranteed ARC, NO BUXIBAN Restrictions or MOE Restrictions "

So you don’t need to be eligible for an ARC under the normal rules. You just need to turn up with the right passport and attitude, and will be paid “commensurate with experience and skills”

Am I being unreasonably negative or is this job a load of toss?

How much would you expect to be paid for 30hrs a week of consulting, and looking/talking professional in Taipei 101?

Oh yeah, great, I am a kiwi, so I guess I am out of the question then.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp:

Yeah, I saw the ad. Generally, if it’s too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.

I’m not sure if this is the same place I went to about 5 weeks ago but it sounds just like it. I went to see them. An American and a Taiwanese run this “consultancy” business for rich Taiwanese. They told me the hours were from 10 am to 9pm every day for a monthly $50,000. Most days you would sit around in a jacket a tie waiting for these busy people to pop in for a quick English lesson, which you would teach one on one. You would always be ready to teach and you would always greet them and escort them out of the office with a respectful bow. I was told it was a personalized way of teaching English to busy Taiwanese business people. A VIP aproach is how they put it. Private lessons on demand. I can only imagine what the clients are paying for this. I went with a Kiwi and he was flatly refused because he is not North American sounding, it was a real joke this crap was. Like some scene out of a bad law movie etc.

The big boss, they told me, is a cleanliness fanatic so clean toilets and a very very clean appearance is de rigeur. It sounded like a surreal concept and I got the feeling it was some sort of hot house operation in that it smacked of something very strange. This was no school in my view. The guys looked like lawyers and it made me feel like I wanted to get the hell out of there fast, I did. I can’t prove the following but it felt to me that there were strange Christian tones in the air although they never once mentioned Jesus. They just looked like they were going to at any moment though. Just my impression.

So you don’t like their business model. Doesn’t mean it won’t work. :idunno:

I agree that sucks, but that’s the market.

What’s surreal about that? Hell, if I were going after the top echelons, I’d make sure that my toilets were clean also. It would be nice if more businesses had this “surreal” concept… And a clean appearance? Well duh! :unamused:

Dude, what the hell are “strange Christian tones”? :astonished: How does one look moments before one mentions Jesus? :loco: :laughing:

If that’s what they pay for 10 to 9 everyday, stay away. Stay far away.

Of course I like the clean bathrooms as opposed to what I get at work. :sick:

Well as for the strange Christian tones what I meant was that these guys gave me the impression that they are selling more than just English lessons, they had that Jehova’s witness or Christian fundamentalist feel about them and it is just my impression, you had to be there. I have seen this sort of thing in Thailand, missionaries disguised as English teachers. Again I have no proof but it would not surprise me in the least to find that they are just that.

As for the toilet, it was the first thing of importance mentioned to me, in other words when not teaching one would be then cleaning and making sure the paranoid boss doesn’t t totally lose his mind when he comes in and does his inspection. I was told the old guy was very concerned about this sort of thing, it was his number one concern. They never really asked about any teaching experience, they just wanted to know if I could handle their rules about cleanliness. They talked about three pillars they wanted to know that I could respect, cleanliness, punctuality and politeness. (Doesn’t that go without saying?) Three pillars is how it was put to me. I should have mentioned that in my last post.

Man it was weird, hey I thought I was applying for a teaching job, that was not something they were ever worried about. Ok, so as a business model its interesting, but it didn’t feel that way and there were two of us there that felt this was a very weird operation. The Kiwi was asked if he could fake an American accent, man you just had to be there, it was priceless. Teaching English? Ok, but this is a unique approach to say the least. These guys have no interest or any background in teaching English and that is what made it such a sideshow for me. It’s business. $50,000 a month for 10 office hours a day, toilets to be monitored for cleanliness, and bowing to your clients, fun! But not for $50,000. Not ever.

Glassy-eyed and euphoric? The burning light of fanaticism on their faces? I dunno, but perhaps there was just a feeling that here were people with agendas other than running a business, or with beliefs that were going to be incompatible with most employees’?

Or maybe Alexandre is just paranoid? I worked for a couple of Mormons once, and had no complaints. They were decent people, didn’t preach, and I would have no problem recommending them as employers. Religion and business are best not mixed, and as no-one actually mentioned Jesus I wouldn’t worry.

Not that this is on-topic, but I worked at a few large companines in Korea teaching ESL to executives and the whole thing is off-kilter. You do get used to it and in KO the money is great.

But what Alexandre might also have been feeling is the lack of ESL driven thinking, like you get at a bushiban. In the corporate classroom, ESL is squeezed between pleasing the boss and pleasing the boss. So when you go in for an interview, that is exactly what they are thinking.

So this may explain the other agenda Alexandre felt. I’m sure the boss wants the ESL hood ornament (er… teacher), front and center to show that he is well rounded and thinking global. However, this sounds like an awful gig. When I did corporate work, it was an hour each time and I was outta there. :slight_smile:

Wouldn’t do it any other way. That environment is not for moi. :noway: The toilets are just too damn clean.

I had just about the same experience as Alexandre. Everything in their protocol was negatively oriented. lots of ways to get fired on the spot (eg. not bowing to a client). The only pos. incentive was a commission recieved for recruitment of students. But even that was to be done at 7am for two hours once a week at no pay. I went in with no resume, no diploma, and came away thinking that I was nowhere near profesional enough to work at this place. I would have to spend a couple thousand dollars on a new wardrobe just to fit their dress code. Yet I was promptly called to do a demo soon after. I had already made up my mind though.

If you’re recruiting your own students then for why do you need an employer? I happily subcontract all that jazz to my school so that I can focus on what I do - teaching. In return they make a fair return on their investment.

Were the bonuses anything like 30% of the tuition fee? Good salespeople in adult buxibans make more money than the teachers.

I don’t have too much more to add to the other anecdotes. Except that, in addition to being expected to work full-time hours for 50,000 NT a month, you are also obliged to work three days for which you may or may not be paid. Yup, if you’re hired you’ll be paid. If not, you’re out three days wages. Is this even legal?

I usually list to starboard and then fall on my head, spilling beer everywhere. Easy to spot.

I usually list to starboard and then fall on my head, spilling beer everywhere. Easy to spot.[/quote]
Yeah, that usually prompts a Jesus, Mary AND Joseph from me… :laughing:

No, it’s not legal anymore. There are no demo classes allowed anymore.

NT$50,000 a month hmmmm… you won’t get to meet so many yummie babes, but if you do, they’ll be rich. :smiling_imp: I’d like to do something like this… LIKE, but not the same. However, the client base around here doesn’t suit this kind of business.

Forgot to mention the last part of this story.

I went to see these guys, without any pretence of being there for a job. Observations:
Friendly and decent people, I didn’t get the ‘christian’ thing but they are clearly focused on doing things their way. I suppose some people could find that to be ‘fanatical’.
Their way is way too strait-laced for my tastes, but not ‘bad’ in any objective sense. If you’re happy with presenting a professional face to wealthy clients then it could be a decent enough place to work.
‘Keep the toilets clean’ doesn’t mean ‘clean the toilets’. I think they just expect you to respect the high quality of the school’s fit-out and maintain the good working environment.
I think they would be reasonably relaxed and pleasant people to work for, although I wouldn’t accept the hours and salary on offer. If you need the job and ARC then you could do a lot worse. I would rather have started there than with the first job I had when I came to Taiwan.

Summary: there’s worse jobs out there, and my gut feeling is that I would trust them. I would also be climbing the walls if I had to do things their way but that’s just me. :sunglasses:

Balanced enough for you, Mr Bane?

I went to check out this school, and with in 10 mins, my gut was telling me to run, run far…
Reading their ‘protocol’ was very strange. Having worked in Japan where presentation is above all else, i felt that this business was not geared to really offer anything of true substance, just someone who wants to make $ first, and be dammed the rest. Not to say that’s not the case anywhere else in Taiwan, I saw alot of potential eggshells to be walked on. As for toilets, yes, they want everyone to clean them, and I’m not talking about flushing when you leave, but it’s 9:05 pm, and you with your bucket and gloves about about to spend some quality time with the tidy bowl man. There were other things, that truly made me wonder.
1)Immediate firing for not bowing
2)Immediate firing for not saying ‘welcome’ as soon as the std enters the classroom
3)three day’s with out pay
4) if you start work on the 11th, then you will have to wait a month and a half for a pay check. This is because accounting cuts off on the 10th and payday is on the 16th.
5)Immediate firing for talking about your salary with other employees
6)If you take a sick day and don’t see the doctor then it’s assumed as a day off which could be seen as ditching work.
7)Salary is not clearly presented, and will not be discussed in the first meeting
8)The strong emphasis made on customer service, as if it was more important than making sure that students were making progress.
9)the Bragging about how they pick clients up in limos and if they want dinner then it’s dinner,etc
10)how the boss hasn’t made a ‘strict/formal’ protocol because if he did you would be fired for alot more than what’s said(out of the horse’s mouth)
11)How it’s more important to give children choices because they will want to learn more :unamused: I don’t know but any kid with too many choices become a Pain in the arse and this makes for strong manipulation in the classroom, and in Taiwan, these kids don’t need any more of what they already have(IMO)
12)The main goal is to have a office opened every 2 to 3 months. And the boss’s need to have a school open in The taipei 101 bld.only on the 40th floor areas…
13)The interviewer’s need to outtalk you when you ask really important questions…
14) the hours are 10 to 1 , 2 to 5, 6 to 9 pm weekdays. So you would have to pick two of those blocks to work. You don’t have saturaday or sunday opition to have off. You would have to work sat or sun. And it would be 1 to 5pm.

I would stay away, but if someone has never taught English before and can deal with the corporate mentality-read dictatorship(on some levels) then I would say give it a go. Otherwise, I would say PASSS. Also, on a funny note, the interview commented how he had over 10 interviews scheduled but over a majority of them have been no shows…hmmm

Namahottie,

I am not doubting you but I need to ask because it is so incredible:

That really happened? :astonished:

[quote=“Durins Bane”]Namahottie,

I am not doubting you but I need to ask because it is so incredible:

That really happened? :astonished:[/quote]

I’m Catholic, so i can not lie or I will run the risk of moving further down in the ranks of hell…Yep, it’s all true :angel:

Am I the only one who thinks 50k a month is silly low these days? Also look at all the crap they want. I wouldn’t be able play along with all the crap, wouldn’t bow to any one and wouldn’t work near that many hours for so little pay.