Is it a waste of time to look for teaching jobs in Taiwan if you're not living there?

[PigBloodCake]

There certainly seems to be a mixed message on this site. SHOULD YOU ARRIVE AND POUND THE PAVEMENT OR SHOULD YOU GET A JOB FROM OVERSEAS YOUR FIRST TIME OUT?

The thing that is not being brought up here, OP, is that if you arrive with no job, any work you do before your work permit arrives will be illegal. That means demo lessons, cover classes, and the inevitable, "you start work now, we apply for permit, everything fine no problem." Reality check; WRONG. You will be working illegally, you COULD be fined and chucked out. Then when you trump back up on here saying what has happened to you there will be a nice shit sandwich waiting, decorated atop with icing the words, "you should have done a thorough search NOOB." Your only legal route if you arrive with no job is to apply for one, don't do a demo, get hired, then sit on your ass for 6 (?) weeks till the paper work is processed. And nobody is going to have that happen to them, except in some VERY rare cases. They will just hire the idiot who DOESN'T know the law, and who will take the fall if any shit does happen to go down. I'm not trying to sacremonger you, just letting you know how it is. School owners either don't know the laws, or don't care about them. In either case, it's YOU on the line if things go to pot.

Really look into the pro's and con's of starting out with a chain school. The main plus will you will be working legally, and you will get some training. Then 6 months down the line you can look for that sweet gig you wanted, safe with your apartment, sense of direction, sense of situation and general better ability to make choices.

There really should be some consistent message about this stuff on this site, because it really depends on who you get bothering to answer your posts as to the type of advice you get, and it is a little boring watching the same old silliness going on. Some will say, 'no noob,' don't take the risk. Others will say, 'screw it bro, take a chance,' but really there should be one message. It's not ok to say, 'buyer beware,' in these situations because this is a legal matter, and people are not being given the full facts of the case, just some autobiographical testimony.

OP, from a legal standpoint, listen to Superking.

[headhonchoII]

This is Taiwan, the land of 'grey areas'. Don't do 'grey areas', I guess go somewhere else. Even the big chains are full of contradictions and have teachers working in kindergartens and all sorts of stuff. Superking is happily esconced somewhere else of course.

[GuyInTaiwan]

Really look into the pro's and con's of starting out with a chain school. The main plus will you will be working legally...

That's not true in my experience. The work permit and ARC take a few weeks to process. A person would already be working at their chain school by then. Then there are the matters of working at the chain school's kindy or subbing for someone at another branch of its buxiban. All of these things happen quite regularly, I believe.

[superking]

Superking is happily esconced somewhere else of course.

Nobody is happy in Birmingham mate, we are all just waiting for permission to move to London! I am allowed back in six weeks time. Yay!

[Feiren]

It takes about 10 days to process a work permit these days. But in real life, it could easily be six weeks to find a job and get the paperwork in order.

It has always been a hassle to get legal in Taiwan. It was 25 years ago. It is today. The penalties for a newbie aren't such a big deal. He MIGHT get deported if he gets caught teaching illegally. But he probably won't get caught. If he does, he has no attachments to Taiwan yet. He can just go to China and learn Mandarin. If you are going to come and live and work in Taiwan, you'll have to get used to the idea that there are risks and that you may not be able to everything by the book right away. In the medium or long-term though, it is essential to get an ARC, work permit, and generally obey the law (which Taiwan most certainly has despite appearances).

But if you want to learn Mandarin and you are on a tight budget, don't come to Taiwan. As much as it pains me to admit it, China is much better these days. Go to Kunming in Yunnan or Chengdu in Sichuan. The cost of living is far lower and there is lots of fun stuff to do.

For someone who likes the urban lifestyle as MM apparently does, you have three choices: Taipei City, Taichung, or Kaohsiung. Taichung and Kaohsiung are a lot of fun too and the weather is a lot better. But I hear that jobs are even harder to find than in Taipei because lots of foreigners want to live there.

[GuyInTaiwan]

Feiren: Didn't the mayor in Taizhong close all the nightclubs, curb drinking in general, and act like a giant party-pooper all round though? I thought all the Taizhong people were complaining about that six months ago.

[Feiren]

Feiren: Didn't the mayor in Taizhong close all the nightclubs, curb drinking in general, and act like a giant party-pooper all round though? I thought all the Taizhong people were complaining about that six months ago.

Yes a lot of popular nightspots were closed. But it's Taiwan and they will reopen or be replaced by similar businesses soon if there is a market. Curb drinking? In Taichung? There's plenty to do in Taichung although it may not be the best place for live music played by foreigners any more.

[Multiracial Man]

The conversion from renmibi to USD wipes out any savings I would have so Taiwan is the best choice.

You know, any financial adviser who sees this quote would chew you to death on this. Money conversion (except for the processing fee) is the same regardless of the amount of exchanges you made (RMB->USD->NT exchange is no different from RMB->NT exchange except for that 1 extra processing fee).

Anyway, back to your situation: I'd suggest that you live *in* Taipei rather than trying for New Taipei City. Trust me, the MRT ain't all that convenient after more than 10 stops (and don't forget the interchange stations).

lol, I said that wrong. What I meant to say is the exchange rate, not the conversion fee.

[Multiracial Man]

I definitely want to do things by the book, I am generally a law abiding person and the threat of being deported after spending all of that cash to get there makes me uncomfortable. It also seems like kindy gigs are easier to get (or at least that is the impression that I'm getting from other Forumosans) but with my luck, I will work for a week or so and then there will be an "illegal teacher" raid. lol. At this point in my search, I would take a buxiban job happily, even if it means that I must sacrifice living in Taiepi (but hopefully wherever I end up, I won't be too far away...).

There are certainly a lot of contradicting statements here, some people just show up and find work, others find from abroad, etc. I guess its to be expected that there is no a stereotypical employment scenario there for teachers. But, should I expect that if I visit there to interview for jobs, the schools will want me to start immediately? If an ARC only takes about 3 weeks to process, I would think that most schools can wait that period and it would also help me to settle my affairs back home.

I'm not a nightlife junkie, but I would say that since my mobility options are somewhat lessened (won't have my own vehicle in Taiwan for at least a year), I would like to be close to attractions and fun things. In NY, I live in Westchester, which is suburb about 30 miles north of NYC, and I actually like the pace of this place a lot, but there really isn't anything to do here. When I want to have some fun, I usually have to hop in my car and drive 30-45 minutes to NYC which isn't bad, mostly because I have the freedom to come and go when I please. As I previously mentioned, when I lived in Hong Kong, I was out in the boonies and it was such a pain to have to commute 1 hr to 1.5 hrs to and from the city. I just can't enthusiastically accept going into a similar situation again so that's why I am leaning towards living in an urban area with fun things to do, not so much Da'an and Xiyin anymore, but just some place cool in or around Taipei.

I am usually hitting up Tealit.com everyday for new jobs and its a hit or miss in regards to getting a response. How useful do you think networking is to find a teaching gig in Taipei? Or is it really all about seeing you in person and watching you demo? If networking is key, are there any tips/sites that you can send my way?

[superking]

I think all kindy jobs will be illegal for you unless you have a JFRC which means you are legally married to a local. There are other exceptions, like residency, but you won't qualify for those. Pound the pavement is good advice if you are in Taiwan and already working. In your situation it is duff advice, and quite frankly promoting illegal activities. WHY there are not stickies for these things the lord alone knows. These questions are asked time and again and met with the same experiential guff which will count for nothing when you back is against a wall. In such cases you will be lambasted on here for your short sightedness at listening to the advice offered here. Catch twenty, 'SAY WHAT?' two.

I suspect the inaccuracy exists because it drives up post counts to have people ask the same mundane questions time and again, only to be met with the same factual inaccuracies from posters. I am likely to be wrong, but for the life of me it is a head scratcher.