Arriving in late July and looking for Taipei-area University/College jobs: Is this a viable plan?

[greenrivergold]

Hi Forumosa,

I've read through the posts linked on the newbie thread, but a lot of the responses on the 'current lack of jobs' and 'How is the job market for English teachers right now?' don't seem to apply to the College/University English teaching job market. I would love to get people's opinion on my chances of success for getting a College/University job (instructing/being a TA, etc) in the Taipei area.

Some stats that I've seen a lot of people ask other posters for when assessing their job prospects:

Degrees: BA and an MBA
Certifications: CELTA and a Preliminary Teaching License from Massachusetts in History (license to teach History at the high school and middle school-levels for five years)
Passport: USA passport-holder
Age: Twenties
Sex: Female
Race: Appear to be white
Language: Native speaker of English

I haven't yet bought my plane tickets, but I want to purchase them this week. I was hoping to be in Taiwan by mid/late July, and to try and get a job as a TA/Instructor at a College or University in the Taipei area. I've heard that this is a rather hard job market to crack.

EDIT - "I'm looking more for a part-time instruction position or working as a 'practice your English conversation' tutor within the University system. Say, something that's more along the lines of a '20 teaching hours per week' job than a traditional College/Uni tenure position. I was thinking that maybe there was a market for those basic 'English 101' classes, or something like a university running a business English course, and working as a contracted employee."

Any suggestions for job search plans, places to look at in particular? Assessment of my chances of getting a job like the one that I described? Things I should definitely take under consideration? Any and all tips and replies are appreciated. Please let me know if there's any other information that I'm forgetting to post that's critical to this job market.

[tomthorne]

The Ministry of Education require the minimum of a master's in Applied Linguistics, Education, or English. I've heard that it is even tougher with unis in Taipei who are now looking for people with PhDs. They'll probably need a video of you teaching adults plus proven teaching experience and a copy of your thesis. All your documents will need to be authenticated (stamped by some govt. dept. and the TECO in your home country). CELTA etc is irrelevant, but may help you pass the uni interview stage.

Everyone is on holiday now, but you should be able to apply in September for the Spring term (starts after Chinese New Year).

Good luck!

[greenrivergold]

The Ministry of Education require the minimum of a master's in Applied Linguistics, Education, or English. I've heard that it is even tougher with unis in Taipei who are now looking for people with PhDs. They'll probably need a video of you teaching adults plus proven teaching experience. CELTA etc is irrelevant, but may help your application.

Oh wow, even for being a TA? That's much tougher than I'd imagined! This is good to know before I arrive, so that I didn't land with false expectations.

Everyone is on holiday now, but you should be able to apply in September for the Spring term (starts after Chinese New Year).

Good luck!

Sounds like I'll definitely need to look for cram school work for a few months, minimum, and then try my luck in September for the Spring term. Thank you for the information!

[tomthorne]

Oh wow, even for being a TA? That's much tougher than I'd imagined! This is good to know before I arrive, so that I didn't land with false expectations.

I do apologise. I've no idea about the requirements for a foreign TA. I've never heard of a foreign TA being employed in a uni here. I assumed you were looking for a full time uni teaching job.

[greenrivergold]

I do apologise. I've no idea about the requirements for a foreign TA. I've never heard of a foreign TA being employed in a uni here. I assumed you were looking for a full time uni teaching job.

Oh, no need to apologize! My original post, in retrospect, was unclear.

I'm looking more for a part-time instruction position or working as a 'practice your English conversation' tutor within the University system. Say, something that's more along the lines of a '20 teaching hours per week' job than a traditional College/Uni tenure position. I was thinking that maybe there was a market for those basic 'English 101' classes, or something like a university running a business English course, and working as a contracted employee.

EDIT - For further clarity, I was looking for tips for jobs that might resemble more the one described in this post http://forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=107818

[tomthorne]

I do apologise. I've no idea about the requirements for a foreign TA. I've never heard of a foreign TA being employed in a uni here. I assumed you were looking for a full time uni teaching job.

Oh, no need to apologize! My original post, in retrospect, was unclear.

I'm looking more for a part-time instruction position or working as a 'practice your English conversation' tutor within the University system. Say, something that's more along the lines of a '20 teaching hours per week' job than a traditional College/Uni tenure position. I was thinking that maybe there was a market for those basic 'English 101' classes, or something like a university running a business English course, and working as a contracted employee.

There are part time uni English teaching jobs, but they're not so easy to get without open work rights. I'm afraid that I don't have any advice about what you are looking for. I have the feeling that you'll need to know someone.

[greenrivergold]

There are part time uni English teaching jobs, but they're not so easy to get without open work rights. I'm afraid that I don't have any advice about what you are looking for. I have the feeling that you'll need to know someone.

Ah, that's definitely good to know! I'll see if I have any connections into the Taiwanese university/college system. Thank you for letting me know that I'll need to try informal networks for the kind of job that I'm seeking.