Global Village vs HESS help

[Chububobcat]

Ok I just returned to Taiwan after year in Guangzhou, and I applied to both HESS and Global Village (GVO) and have received the letter of acceptance from HESS, and was told by GVO to give them all my documents (Passport, Degree, Health papers) which I was told by a friend that means they are going to set up my work visa application. However, I haven't heard back from GVO in about 4 days, and my current visa is about to run out and I am very low on money. So, the question is, Should GVO come back say tonight or tomorrow and tell me they want me to work for them, who would you recommend you recommend between the two?

I am asking this seriously because even though I have hear some horror stories about HESS I also know 2 people that have worked there and said they liked it even though it was stressful at times. One worked in Taichung (Taiwanese) and the other in Taoyuan (Canadian), so I don't know if they had a luck of the draw and found good schools or if what they said was accurate. The friend I am living with now worked in GVO for 3 years until his wife had a baby and he got an offer to do non teaching work, and his wife still works in GVO so they are always telling me that is a great school and that I should work there. Personally I don't know much about either school because last year started my first experiences working in Buxibans, prior to that I was in a public school (since that time my teaching creds expired and I don't want to go home to renew them).

Ok so here is what I know:
HESS
They operate 2 types of schools: Young Learners Academy and HSL Cram School.
The pay is 580hr (paid only for in class hours), with a 40NT raise if you renew the contract.
They have all their materials set out lesson plans drafted so its just prep how you want to teach each lesson.
They offer a 30000NT loan for new teachers, but only after you have been assigned to a school and they will hold your passport until you return the money.
The minimum number of teaching hours is 20 but average at 24 hours, and the heavy contract has 25hrs but average around 28-30hrs.
The students are all 17 and under.

GVO
They have 1 type of school and are the largest ESL company in Taiwan.
They pay around 500 (too many conflicting reports)
They have all their materials set out and lesson structure, so your responsible for coming up with the delivery method.
They (for my case) offer at start 8hrs a week then 15 hours after a new branch is opened.
The students are "adults" or higher level English so the classes are more conversation.

I need to decide between the two relatively quickly, but since I don't know much about either one I am hoping that other Forumosans can give me a little help with this by giving me more pro's con's to make a better choice.

[tomthorne]

I have no direct experience working with either HESS or GVO. However, from what you have written I would choose HESS if I were you. There are some worrying work permit warning signs with the GVO offer.

[creztor]

Need money? Hit HESS. They'll give you more hours than GVO ever will, and you'll get pay increases at HESS, something you most likely will NEVER see at GVO. The downside? You will spend time outside of the classroom grading homework and will have to attend training sessions every three months or so. GVO is great if you don't have visa problems, because the pay and hours can be shit, so you can turn up drunk and no-one will mind. I've worked at HESS and I think there's nothing wrong with them provided you do what you are told. GVO wants you to decide on how you deliver the lesson? I am not sure what class you are teaching, but GVO uses a two bit magazine that consists of some random story, new words and a few phrases. It's anything but structured, but this is good because the place can be very laid back. I'd take HESS if you need the money.

[naijeru]

Based on what you've written I'd choose HESS. They're offering more pay for more hours and in my experience they were very good with paying on time and paperwork like ARCs and stuff.

[bigduke6]

I remember a post which went something like;

If you wanna knock the bottom out of as many local slappers as possible, GV is the place to go.
I heard the romantic location for these opportunities was the local park.

[ironlady]

Darn, based on the thread title, I thought Global Village and HESS were going to duke it out.

[tomthorne]

Darn, based on the thread title, I thought Global Village and HESS were going to duke it out.

My money would be on GVO. Most people would argue that the HESS teachers are generally younger and fitter, but the GVO guys tend to be heavier, alcohol-numbed and have less to lose. It would certainly be an intriguing match-up.

[GuyInTaiwan]

Everyone here knows what I think of Hess and my experiences with them, but look up my story here if you don't.

Two other things not mentioned so far:

1. The kindy gig at Hess will be illegal. Please read some threads here about the illegality of teaching kindergarten in Taiwan and the risks involved. If you don't work at the kindergarten part of their business, then you're basically looking at 4.3 x 20 x 580 = 49,880NTD/month. based upon the numbers you provided, GVO = 4.3 x 15 x 500 = 32,250NTD/month. Hess is the better option there, though you might be able to make the other 5 hours up somewhere else, and because there wouldn't be any preparation time at GVO, you could theoretically earn more (because the 20 hours at Hess is actually a lot more than 20 hours). However, you might not be able to get those hours elsewhere.

2. They're completely different gigs. Hess is kids, and it's much more intense and structured. GVO is adults, and it's much more laid back. Some people hate teaching kids. Some love it. Some people like structure, some are stifled by it.

[superguavaguy]

I worked for 2 plus years at Global Village and loved it. In fact, I wouldn't work at any other school in Taiwan. I taught adults, met interesting people, had great conversations, didn't dread going to work, left work in a better mood than when I started, never saw my "manager" or had to deal with any bullshit. It took me a while to get up to 20 hours a week, and i made $500 an hour.

I don't know where people are getting their info about GV, but you cannot show up drunk to work. In fact, I heard stories about teachers before me showing up drunk, and getting fired. One of them turned into a homeless bum with like 6 dogs. Anyway, the age of teachers does tend to be a bit older, so maybe they aren't as "fit" as kids just out of college, but that is completely irrelevant when considering where to work. I knew a lot of people who had been teaching in GV for 10 years. I never met anyone who taught at any other cram school for that long, so that should tell you something. I left Asia, and I'll never teach English again, but if I did I'd never teach children in some place like Hess.

[GuyInTaiwan]

I worked for 2 plus years at Global Village and loved it. In fact, I wouldn't work at any other school in Taiwan. I taught adults, met interesting people, had great conversations, didn't dread going to work, left work in a better mood than when I started, never saw my "manager" or had to deal with any bullshit. It took me a while to get up to 20 hours a week, and i made $500 an hour.

I don't know where people are getting their info about GV, but you cannot show up drunk to work. In fact, I heard stories about teachers before me showing up drunk, and getting fired. One of them turned into a homeless bum with like 6 dogs. Anyway, the age of teachers does tend to be a bit older, so maybe they aren't as "fit" as kids just out of college, but that is completely irrelevant when considering where to work. I knew a lot of people who had been teaching in GV for 10 years. I never met anyone who taught at any other cram school for that long, so that should tell you something. I left Asia, and I'll never teach English again, but if I did I'd never teach children in some place like Hess.

You'd be amazed. When I worked at Hess, there was a woman at another branch who had been working there for ten years and spoke Chinese fluently, apparently. Furthermore, she hated working at Hess. I mean, really? WTF? By that point, she should have saved a small fortune and acquired permanent residency. She could have written her own ticket here, basically. Some people have zero imagination. Absolutely zero. I wonder if it's like they use up their quota for new ideas when they buy that ticket from wherever to Taipei. To me, it seems like any one of these places is the foot in the door. The plan should be to move out, on and up within a couple of years at most, with a view to either be running your own show or out of the industry completely within five to ten years.