how do I make more than 70000 NTD a month?

[CraigTPE]

Thanks for the info, all. That was really helpful. I have been looking at some of the international schools, but most seem to be fully staffed for 2012-2013.

Yes, as was mentioned earlier, these gigs are so cherry, they are tough to get. Low turnover.

Does anyone have any tips for finding open FT, public school jobs without having to go through a recruiter?

Pound the pavement? Most good jobs are gotten either by knowing someone there, or meeting the right person at the right time. Don't think an e-mail campaign would be very useful.

[ironlady]

Mostly, I've been working with Dewey

Search the forums.

[PapaAzucar]

If you have a Master's, you would start on 67,925NTD/month in the government system, plus a housing allowance (5,000NTD or 10,000NTD), plus a performance bonus, plus an airfare. This could work out at a package of more than 80,000NTD/month. As has been mentioned, however, you could get something better elsewhere.

I've heard stories about Chinese public schools having 50-100 students per class.
Do the Taiwan public schools follow the same practice?

[superking]

Thanks for the info, all. That was really helpful. I have been looking at some of the international schools, but most seem to be fully staffed for 2012-2013.

Yes, as was mentioned earlier, these gigs are so cherry, they are tough to get. Low turnover.

Does anyone have any tips for finding open FT, public school jobs without having to go through a recruiter?

Pound the pavement? Most good jobs are gotten either by knowing someone there, or meeting the right person at the right time. Don't think an e-mail campaign would be very useful.

Don't pound the pavement.

Don't go to Taiwan.

Make another choice.

Taiwan is awesome, but not for you.

[GuyInTaiwan]

Papa: No. When I worked in Taoyuan, we had some big classes. In one instance, for a while, I was covering someone else's class and what they had done was pulled all the really good kids out of two classes, and then combined the remaining class into one "intermediate" class. The numbers varied from week to week (I never could figure that out -- they weren't absent from school), with a high of 44 kids. At that point, my concern was actually getting enough places for them all to sit. The concept of actually teaching anything went out the window.

Normally, the classes will be under thirty students. Typically, you'll have something in the twenties. If you get any kind of special class (high level or special education), it could be single digits. I have a "special education" class that has four students. Class sizes are getting smaller and smaller in Taiwan due to demographics. They're about to fall off a cliff, actually. My junior high school classes range from 19 to 27 students each. My sixth grade class has 27 students. My fifth grade class has eleven, and all of the classes below them at that school have approximately the same, or even fewer. One of the elementary schools near me has a grade one class with three students. I live in the countryside, so the demographics are especially bad here, but this is the general trend in Taiwan: smaller and smaller classes until they close a school, a slight uptick from the combination of two schools, then a steady decline again. They're predicting that they will close more than a dozen schools here in Taidong County within the next five years.

To be honest, the long term future of a career -- be it at a buxiban or in a government school -- in Taiwan is pretty shaky. I have my own plans to get out within the next five to ten years and it's not something I would advise to embark upon for most people for a whole lot of reasons.

[BigJohn]

I have a friend who does international schools: she did the Taipei European School, then did an international school in Xiamen and now one in Singapore. She makes good cash and has a real job. I would really recommend going to job fairs and looking for a job in the region. Don't apply in the country itself, because then you can be a local rather than international hire and get lesser pay and benefits.

[UkJenT]

Well, I currently make more than 100K a month. But I do so by maintaining two jobs. I work at a junior high and then i finish off the day at a cram school. If you are up for working long hours, then you can make some good money.

[creztor]

Well, I currently make more than 100K a month. But I do so by maintaining two jobs. I work at a junior high and then i finish off the day at a cram school. If you are up for working long hours, then you can make some good money.

And that is the "secret" to making "bank" in Taiwan. UkJenT, no offense or negativity at all is directed to you, so please don't take it that way. I just think that working like this is good for the short term, but it's definitely not a good idea for the long term.

[UkJenT]

And that is the "secret" to making "bank" in Taiwan. UkJenT, no offense or negativity at all is directed to you, so please don't take it that way. I just think that working like this is good for the short term, but it's definitely not a good idea for the long term.

None taken. I totally agree with you that this is only good for the short term. I'm on my fifth year now and feel like calling it quits at the cram school. I'll most likely end up taking a break soon and going back to it later.

[Gustaf]

I did 3 contracts for the evil HESS from 2005-2007 and in the end was on a monthly salary of around NT$85k, teaching ~30hrs/week. One month I cracked NT$100k because I was covering for a my friend who took leave. That was hell!!

When I first went over in 2005 you would do 15hrs kindy plus 16-20hrs buxiban a week, so we were all making pretty good cash even on the (then) starting pay of $530/hr, that's already over NT$70k/month.

And no I did not work saturdays, yes I did have to mark hw for free, but no i did not prep lessons, I wrote a total of 3 lesson plans in 3 years. I was just lucky with the school I was placed in that the manager was useless and our head NST would ensure we were looked after.

I had a friend teaching at University and he was on the same salary as me, but taught about half as many hours. I think you need a phd to teach at Uni though. But with your masters you might give it a try.