My website says:
"Really, though, any time is good. Teachers are in demand year-round in Taiwan, and you cannot fail to find work."
That's not true. The hostile I stayed at for 4 weeks was owned by a couple that had never seen anyone try as hard as I did to get a job with a visa. I stayed up till5am loooking on the interent for who to all and email. I sent over 500 emails while there. At 9am-11am I began my day calling and I walked on foot to various towns all over Taipei and visited about 20+ schools I found asking for work, soetimes causeal, sometimes in a Brooks Bothers suit. THEY DON'T LIKE TO GIVE OUT WORK VISAS. They have a TON of canadians that will work without them. It was so bad that I took my return flight home.
Sorry! But nothing is 100%.
Sorry! But nothing is 100%.
9 comments:
Clyde Said:
How does any teacher work without a work visa? Michael, is this the practice all over again? I thought it was all cracked down on ten years ago!
That's what I thought too. But I have heard of people doing it. I wouldn't have thought it could be very prevalent in Taipei. Perhaps the schools were just bullshitting him.
Also, many people work their second job without a visa. So the schools are not providing a visa to the teacher, but it does not follow from that the teacher has no visa.
Maybe the ability to spell is a requirement for teaching in Taiwan?
Maybe if one city doesn't have jobs, it is wise to travel to another city?
Maybe it's all Michael's fault? LOL!
hey anonymous, you're a bit of a chickenshit, aren't you?
Many industries deliberately lie about the desperate need for workers in their industry. Simple economics. It increases the supply (of labor) and thus increases their choices and decreases the price they pay.
Correct me if I'm wrong, is it legal in Taiwan to discriminate based on race, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation and/or disability. Even if there are laws they are probably disregarded more in Asia than in the West. Maybe that is what happened to the original poster. Also don't the English schools here keep and share a blacklist?
Clyde Said:
I've got news for you, it is legal in the US to hire and fire for any reason the company likes! Everyone seems to think there are laws protecting them, but this is not the case. Those laws mostly deal with government related contracts (Federal and State). The reality is free economic systems give businesses the power to decide. This is just like the idea that news reporters have a right to protect their news sources--wrong. Or that Americans have protection to say what they like (freedom of speech), wrong again--this only works in relation to the federal government. If I was your boss I could fire you because you said something I didn't like, period.
Clyde Said:
rmdazwdv, I agree 100%. I was going to cite a few clear examples, but you hit on the point, here everyone is open about it. I used to play a game when I was an MBA students and my professor went on and on about how fair the American system is (not biased), at which point I would dare them to find an annual report with a black face or female on the board! Things are a tiny bit better now, but not by much (don't expect any Arabs on boards any time soon, something that would have been more possible in the 60s and 70s than it is now).
In any case, those ads are really reflecting market demands, because so many parents here have some connection to the US, they want their children's teachers to be that stereotype of an American. I'm not sure it is really anything evil. Chinese here would accept a black American over a 'dark' person from India any day!
One time in Taiwan, I was with some professors walking through a city area that was near a train station. The area was all ethnic stores with many S. E. Asian people. I commented how international it felt, but they only saw how 'dirty' and low class it was. Their idea of international is restricted to America.
Oh, you mean the area near the train station that was dirty and low class even before the guest workers started using it?
I've actually hung out there about twice with Indonesians I knew.
It's also near the park where we encountered SE Asian guest workers, Japanese tourists (somehow thinking it was a major tourist attratcion) and local prostitutes and assorted retinues.
Very international. Very low class.
Not that I don't like that sometimes.
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