How does one find a university teaching position in Taiwan?

[fatslob]

Does anyone here know of any sites where one can find job openings for universities or institutes? (Yes, I have the proper degree.) In English or Chinese...both are fine. There are plenty of sites for kindergartens and language schools, but that's not what I'm looking for.

[ironlady]

Try Dave's ESL cafe on the net (I assume you're going to be looking for an English teaching job, but they sometimes post Linguistics stuff too). Although you have to plow through a lot of language school posts, many unis show up there if they're really looking.

You could also try visiting the Web sites of the individual schools. Most of them post job openings via a link on their (usually Chinese-language) web sites. It's a little more time-consuming but you will probably pick up more opportunities that way.

BTW, when were you hoping to begin teaching? It's way too late for this year...they were interviewing in June and July for Sept. openings. It's fairly rare that a school takes people at mid-year, but it's not unknown, especially if they suddenly get funding for some project or other.

Oh, one other thing you might do woudl be to call up or visit the chairman of an English department at a college or university. That person will sometimes have an idea about whether other institutes might be seeking personnel.

Good luck

[ginnylu]

I hold a BA and QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) in the UK. The latter is the professional qualification needed to teach secondary schools in the UK. My specialist subject is English. I'm a South African and Taiwanese passport holder. I'd be very grateful to anyone who could suggest ways of finding a university-teaching position in Taiwan. I'm not sure I'm qualified but I could really do with the experience if I am to further my career abroad. Please email me gbongiovi@hotmail.com.

[xtrain]

best bet is to go here and do some reading ...

http://www.michaelturton.com/Taiwan/tea ... ml#college

[wayneowen]

If you are a UK qualified teacher, why dont you apply to International Schools - the pay and package offered would be much better; if you are in Taiwan now though, this might not apply, they only offer these good packages to people recruited from england. In Taiwan, there is the European School, or there is one in Hsinchu (whose name i cant remember). You could even apply to some American schools or other international schools, especially if down south.

[delectric]

Hi I currently teach in Beijing. I've taught mainly oral English in 3 universities on the mainland, I'd like to at some point move to a Taiwanese university but where do they advertise their positions? On the mainland there are countless universities offering teaching positions for English teachers. I take it Taiwanese universities also need English teachers?

[Dr Jellyfish]

You would have thought so...

However, the majority of English teachers who work at universities here seem to be married to Taiwanese people. All of the universities I know of (in Taipei) very rarely employ foreigners because they can't get working permission/ARC for foreign employees. This seems a bit odd considering how many buxibans there are about here, who seem to have no trouble at all getting work permission for their hords of foreign teachers. If you have a Taiwanese wife/husband ~ then it's a lot easier finding a job at the universities here (well ~ on top of your teaching qualifications).

[douglas@taichungpaws.org]

Well, actually, I know several foreign teachers in universities in Taiwan. Because of the over-abundance of Taiwanese with PHDs from abroad, it's getting a bit less common, but there is still room for qualified people to teach in universities in Taiwan.

At the moment, the trend is toward people with PHDs in related areas: TEFL, Linguistics, Literature, etc. But there are some universities that hire Lecturers with MA degrees. You will have to go to each university website and try to find an address for the Foreign Language department, or for the English Language Center of the university, and then make direct contact yourself.

Many universities are offering "contract" teacher positions, which means you are not part of the official faculty, and the hours are different. Sometimes there are limits on how many times you can renew this contract. I'm not sure how it works, but I know people who have done this and have their Alien Resident Visa based on that job.

Keep in mind that the Ministry of Education is a bit strict about where your PHD or MA diploma comes from. It's possible to get a fake degree past many cram schools, but the universities are held to a higher standard (I'm not sure if that's really explains what I mean, but you get the point).

So start your internet search and try to get some contacts with schools here in Taiwan.

By the way, I would just like to add that your marital status with or without a local person has nothing to do with getting a job in a university. That's ridiculous.

[Dr Jellyfish]

It does sound ridiculous, but if you're married you don't need a work permit.

The university I work for was looking for qualified foreign English teachers who already have resident visas ~ such as myself. I was told that they can only take a very limited amount of foreign English teachers on, this was in order to protect Taiwanese English teacher's jobs; however, a lot of students prefer foreign English teachers so... if the universities can find qualified foreigners with resident visas, then that's one way for them to get around this problem. There are 2 other foreign teachers at my University in the same situation as myself.

I am not in anyway saying this is fair or suggesting anyone marry a local to get a university job. Do I think it sounds ridiculous? Yes... does this prove your statement about being married to a local having nothing to do with getting a job in a university wrong? Yessss. I'm not proud of it, but there you go.

[douglas@taichungpaws.org]

but you should still need a work permit from the Ministry of Education to have a full-time faculty position in an accredited university here in Taiwan.

Anyway, it is possible for qualified teachers to get positions at universities here in Taiwan.