When’s the best time to apply for a teaching job in Taiwan?
Whether you are in the country or not you always want to have work. You do get six months leeway between jobs but if you just flew in on a three-month visa you will need to find a job quickly. Here is when schools are hiring the most.
At the end of Chinese New Year, is when to apply for a teaching job in Taiwan. Parents make resolutions to educate their children more. Also, in September the school year ends and so do contracts. You can find a job anytime, but better schools hold teachers until the end of contracts at these times.
There are other nuisances of when to get a job and I will fill you in on all of the details below. Getting a job can be really easy here, but finding a good job is much harder.
Biggest Hiring Period for English Teachers in Country
The biggest hiring periods for English teaching in Taiwan are after the Lunar New year and during the summer. A lot of contracts at the smaller school like buxibans (are also called crams schools) end around this time. For example, teachers will go away for the Chinese New Year and may take a few months off to travel/ go home, come back to a new job, and in some cases even not return.
Many buxibans try to align their schedules with the public schools called the Ministry of Education (MOE). I have attached a link to the MOE so you can see the Schedule for the upcoming year, it changes yearly as Taiwan works off a Lunar calendar and not Gregorian. But for the upcoming year, it looks like this:
- New Year: January 1
- Chinese Lunar New Year: February
- 228 Peace Memorial Day: February 28
- Tomb Sweeping Day: April
- Labor Day: May 1
- Dragon Boat Festival: June
- Mid-Autumn Festival: September
- 10/10: October 10
The better schools will follow this as they strive to retain their teachers and keep them through the whole year, or the bonus is so good the teacher stays the whole time.
The month before Chinese New Year and August are probably the best months to start looking. If you start before July it is also helpful for your taxes as the rate changes after six months under a certain income threshold (you get taxed less after that).
When is the best time to look for a job outside Taiwan?
The big hiring period is from December to right after Chinese New Year for the upcoming year which starts in August/September. They take time to vet you and have multiple interviews and do background checks.
The other periods are much slower, but still active. In Taiwan, the buxibans rarely hire from overseas as this means they will pay for flights, hotel rooms, etc. The better buxibans, international schools, private schools, and public schools will. They say they will also keep your information on file until they need it and send you an email.
For international schools and public-private schools, you can apply year-round and even if they don’t have a position open. You still want to check the school’s jobs board and make sure to write up your Cover letter accordingly. I am still getting emails this year on schools I applied to a few months ago. It is also pretty easy to get that work permit outside the country, I have outlined it here.
What is the easiest and fastest way to find a job in Taiwan?
Word of mouth and knowing someone will get you a job quickly as that is really popular here and a very close-knit community exists with the foreigner population.
A recruiter and or a recruiting agency also works very well as they get a commission from the school, not you for filling the position. But be wary they don’t always have your best interest in mind and just want to fill the position to get paid. If you want a good list of international schools you can read my article here. How and Where to Find Work at Taiwan’s International Schools
You can find lots of recruiters on the Facebook groups for teaching jobs I attached the link here. Teach Taiwan is where the public school jobs are and are very helpful and friendly. There are other ones that you can search like Search Associates which do International schools and private schools, which are harder to get jobs. If you are looking for a hard-to-find position like a math teacher check out my article here on that.
Can I just arrive and find a job?
Yes, you will not have any issues with finding a job on arrival. There are plenty of jobs out there, if you are a qualified teacher it is even easier. You will be able to get a buxiban job immediately, but that may not be what you want. Depending on your visa, you will have 90 days to find a job, get your visa and the work permit.
The issue about doing this is unless you have a place to stay and resources it could get expensive and if you are at a friend’s house annoying. You also will not be able to rent an apartment, buy a scooter or open a bank account without an Alien Residency Card (ARC).
I wrote up an article on how to survives and what you need before you come. The Ultimate Guide for Moving to Taiwan to Live or Work
When is the best time to start working to get the best tax rate?
Starting in January will give you the best tax rates. As you will be over the 183-day threshold and after the 183 days your tax rate will drop from 18% to 6%. Basically, if you are living and working in Taiwan for less than 183 days you will get hit with all your money being hit at 18%, and depending on your passport you may or may not get that back during the year or when you leave. Americans get a tax refund when they leave Taiwan as with have a deal with Taiwan.
The tax situation is quite confusing here and if you want to dig into it check out the government website for more details National Tax Bureau of Taipei.
The problem with this strategy to get the most out of the taxes is that there may not be many jobs available at that time. I’d say that you should just finding a job quickly and paying higher taxes for a few months outweighs not having a job and possibly having to leave and do a visa run and find a new job.
This problem is mostly for bu xian and part-time workers as they will get most of their taxes back. International school teachers and private school teachers will make usually over 100,000NT and the tax rate really doesn’t change. So don’t worry if you aren’t a buxiban.
What is a buxiban?
A buxiban is also known as a cram school. They are all over Taiwan and Asia. They run anytime public schools are out. So after school, weekends and holidays are the most popular times. They teach all subjects like math and science but mostly English and school test prep. They also have ones that you can go to in lieu of regular schools and do hire foreigners but technically that is illegal, but everyone looks the other way for most of these schools.
