In the Beginning.....there were emails and phonecalls.

I was reasonably sure that if I contacted Hess I would get a job with them. I had worked with children since I was 19 and I had good references. I studied Linguistics in college. I'd lived abroad before. Altogether, probably a decent candidate for them. Plus they advertised so heavily that I imagined they don't turn many people away.
I accepted the job and began the roller coaster that ended just a week ago.

My first warning sign (other than the negative feedback about Hess that I'd read on blogs, message boards, and forums) was when I received the Hess contract as an email attachment.
The things that scared me about the contract the most was the following:

-An NST is required to accept all working hours offered to him/her within the HLS working hours as outlined in the NST policy handbook.

-If the NST fails to give the required notice (when quitting) or remains in Taiwan upon leaving employment, the NST agrees to reimburse Hess the training investment fee of NT$20,0000 (about $600 US). If the NST fails to adhere to the terms of this contract or the NST policy handbook, resulting in their termination, or leaves the employment of HLS before the expiration of this contract, the NST agrees to reimburse Hess the training investment fee of NT$20,000.

Now, coming from the land of at-will employment, both of these items looked suspicious to me. I HAVE to accept any hours offered to me? If I quit, I have to pay them money?
Yikes.

Also, the contract that they wanted me to sign didn't say how many hours I would be working, or which classes I would be teaching. It didn't even say where I would be living.

I am a person who knows what I want.
I knew that I didn't want a split shift contract (where I'd be required to be at Hess at 8:30 am and my last class would end at 8:30 pm). I was aware, from years of working experience, that having several hour breaks throughout the day is not the same as having a morning or evening to yourself when you can really relax.

I wanted contract C. I knew I wanted contract C.
I went, as always, to peoples blogs and discussion boards to see if I could get some information on what the real deal is.
What I found surprised me- I didn't find complaints that people had been asked to work too MANY hours-
I found that a lot of people who'd worked in the branch that I was supposed to go to had not been getting ENOUGH hours. They'd only had about 12 hours a week and had had to move to a different branch to get enough hours.
I sent an email to my contact at Hess stating my concerns. His responses are in bold:

Also it seems that a lot of people had a tough time getting enough
hours at the Luodong branch. Do you think that there will be enough
hours for me at the kindergarten? And since the contract says 25
hours, will I get paid for 25 regardless of whether I work 25? I am
really really looking forward to teaching kindergarten and I hope that
there will be enough work in Luodong to keep me there, as I do not
want to work in Taipei or Kaohsiung. I've been reading blogs and been
in touch with a couple of people who worked for Hess in Luodong, and
mostly their reports have been good but a couple have said that they
couldn't stay in Luodong because of lack of hours.

>> That's not an issue for your contract. You will be teaching two
kindergarten classes, so you will have 25 hours each week (each class is 2.5
hours every day Mon-Fri). The issues in the past were twofold - teachers
trying to teach a full 30-hour B contract in Loudong, and classes not able
to open at the right time slots to make this happen. Your 25 hours are
guaranteed, and even if a class was to be put off (eg, all the kids called
in sick) we would have some hours for you doing something to make sure you
could get paid.

>> (FYI, we get around the "not enough for a B contract" issue by not
offering B contracts in Ilan/Loudong any more).

It's a little scary to sign a contract that doesn't guarantee where
you will be working! Especially if you have to leave the country or
pay $600 to get out of it! I know that it seems to be against company
policy to guarantee anything, but I guess I just want a little
reassurance.

>> I understand. The reason the location is not on there is because the
government details about this would all be in Chinese, and because you can
count these emails as part of the contract discussion, etc. We do take it
seriously and make sure you get what you are wanting.

>> Oh, also: don't forget, you have the first 30 days (after you finish
training) to decide if it's really for you. If not, you can give 7 days
notice you are leaving and going home, and the Training Investment Fee
doesn't apply. See the NST policy book about this.

This all sounded reasonable so I signed and scanned and sent the contract. The guy I was emailing seemed nice. He probably is. But a lot of what he told me is BS.

There's a disconnect between the recruiters, Hess main office, and your branch.

Another reason why it's nice to just go and find your own job- you can speak directly to the person in charge and see what you're really getting yourself into. At least then, if they lie to you, you know who lied to you and you can at least try to hold them responsible or ask for answers.

Anyways, I had another concern. As an avid surfer, I wanted to take my surfboard. I'd been traveling around the country saying goodbye to family and hadn't been able to surf regularly for several months. I wanted to arrive in Taiwan with my surfboard and be ready to go right when the Hess initial training was over.

It seemed unreasonable to ask my new employer to help me transport a large and unweildy piece of sporting equipment to my new home, but I figured it was worth a try. So I wrote the following message in an email:

I will probably be arriving with my surfboard. If I came a couple
of days early (as recommended to get over jet lag) could I get an
airport pick up with a vehicle capable of carrying my surfboard?
Also, would I be able to get transportation down to Lou Dong in a
vehicle that could carry my surfboard? I have a nine footer and may
bring a 6 footer as well.

About the surfboards, yes, we can arrange transport suitable for them as
well. Just remind me closer to the time, so I don't forget!

Wow- I was stoked that they seemed so willing to help out. So I did remind him a lot. He told me that a mini-bus driver would take us down to the town I'd be living in from Taipei. I sent the following message to be sure about the whole arrangement:

A couple questions- Could I get in contact with the mini-bus driver
who will be taking me from Taipei to Luodong? I want to make sure
that everything goes smoothly with my surf board.

>> It will be one of the Taiwanese branch staff - not the best for
conversations in English..... What are you concerned about? The size? If
so, let me know how long it is and I will make sure it's OK.

So I told him the size (9feet) and it seemed like everything was a go. I guessed that they often had people going between the branches and that it wouldn't be so hard to get the right vehicle to carry my surfboard. I was stoked to be dealing with such a responsive company that cared about what I wanted.

As with everything else, I should have known better....