What is the going rate for a Copywriter?

Hi!

I just interviewed for a copywriter job and was asked to find out the going rates for the position so that I can negotiate my monthly salary (keeping in mind no bonus at CNY). The range seems to be NT$40,000 min. to NT$55,000 with little relevant experience. Is this right?

Thank you!

And there would be no bonus at CYN because…???

Make sure you’d be getting the same benefits as the non-foreign staff, as you’ll undoubtedly be putting up with the same restrictions. This would include bonuses at CNY as well as Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn Festival, appropriate time off, sick leave, etc. If you plan to travel abroad on vacations you might try to negotiate an extra week unpaid leave or something like that, to make a trip back feasible.

I charge NT$2,000/hour minimum. More depending on the technicality or how much I think I can gouge them for.

See also the thread.

So what would this work out to? NT$2,000 times 8 full-time hours a day times 5 days a week = NT$80,000 per week or approx NT$240,000 a month

I suppose that at this rate, then you wouldn’t need to ask about a bonus for CNY :laughing:

I should have pointed out that I only do case-by-case – very few companies have enough work to employ someone fulltime, so you spend most of your day sitting on your thumbs or posting on Formosa. Therefore, the companies are unwilling to pay too much. The companies I deal with are happy to pay premium prices in the knowledge that it still works out cheaper than hiring someone full- or even part-time.
They also seem to like the up-front pricing attitude. Unlike some unscrupulous people :wink: I don’t give them a NT$1,000/hr estimate and then pad the hours till the invoice looks good for my wallet, so they see me as expensive but DAMN! he’s fast!
Works for me.

Out of curiosity:

What kind of copywriting? Are you doing it freelance or in-house? I would think the cost would depend on answers to such questions. I am interested to hear what you think as I am currently looking around for some ideas on how to price freelance work in a couple different areas myself: copywriting for English texts, test writing, curriculum writing, and web developement.

v

[quote]I am currently looking around for some ideas on how to price freelance work in a couple different areas myself: copywriting for English texts, test writing, curriculum writing, and web developement.
[/quote]
Sounds to me like you’re in the educational materials area, one in which I have no experience, so I can’t really help you with pricing. Most of mine is for multinationals, from press releases to annual reports.

Hi guys!

Thanks for the replies. I start work tomorrow, it’s in-house. Not sure what exactly it entails but will find out then I guess. Sincere apologies for the late reply, often have trouble opening the Forumosa website - do any of you get that problem?

No bonus because it is a foreign company but seems like it has a good annual leave policy.

Happy working tomorrow?!

So, please tell us the salary that you will be getting?

This information will be of use to other people who will be doing this kind of work in the future (and will have to negotiate for their rate of pay).

ok, well the range is between NT$40,000 to NT$55,000 so I am actually getting that minimum rate.

I guess that’s the going rate?

NT$40,000 per month? In that case the CLA will not issue you with a work permit. The minimum for your kind of work is now NT$48,000. If you need to have your ARC through this job I would warn the HR department in your company about this.

And unless you’re only part-time, that’s a hell of low salary for a copywriter! Proofreaders get more than that.

Really? Even for an entry-level copywriter? So I should try to negotiate for at least NT$48,000?

Thank you of your advice!

[quote=“yoshihiko”]Really? Even for an entry-level copywriter? So I should try to negotiate for at least NT$48,000?

Thank you of your advice![/quote]
I don’t think it will come to negotiating. The company will find out when they process your work permit about the minimum salary requirement. I myself only found out about this very recently when my colleague had to renew his contract and the company (a media organization) was told of the new rules.

So they’ll either pay up and hire you or they won’t – you won’t need to negotiate, so you can be super-nice to them and tell them “how happy you would be to work for 40k, but … rules is rules.”

I used to make more than DOUBLE what you’re getting for only thirty hours a week in my educational publishing job. But I deserved it.

Sounds like someone doesn’t know the going market rate…so someone is undercutting the market because they THINK they’ll be good at such a position or they think they’ll prefer such a position to teaching.

It takes a lot more than just pedagogic concepts, classroom experience and theories to be good at educational development editing. It takes finesse, attention to detail, the ability to think outside the box while staying within the Taiwan cultural box, and creativity. But above all, in such a position, the ability to negotiate with the local company to receive the wages you deserve, is a highly recommended tactic.

Don’t be taken. This is a challenging and financially rewarding career if you look at it as such. It’s a whole lot more than just proofreading, and it certainly could not be classified as copy writing.

But then, you can do what you want with such a job. If you’re getting paid so little, I’d recommend putting a minimal amount of effort into the position.

Congratulations and good luck with your new job, yoshihiko. :smiley:
Keep us up to date.

What does your company do/make/sell, and what kind of copywriting are you doing?

My guess is that it might well entail your spending 60% of your working hours browsing on-line and posting on Forumosa. :wink: You should get up to the 1000-post mark in no time at all.

NT$40,000 for a full-time job seems extremely stingy to me – far too little if you spend more than a couple of hours each day actually doing real work. I wouldn’t be too interested in accepting anything lower than NT$60,000 per month for a 20-hour working week, but it would be very different if I were fresh out of university and hadn’t much in the way of credentials for doing such work.

Good luck, and do be sure to let us know how everything turns out.

Wow!

Thanks Sandman, you were indeed right, they have adjusted my salary to the minimal NT$48,000 to be able to apply for ARC successfully.

Yeah Alien, I guess what I’m doing so far is not quite a Copywriter job in the full sense because it is mostly editing and proofreading work so far. So nothing really challenging and I don’t really have any experience so I am pretty grateful to be hired even though this would be suitable for a fresh-graduate entry-level position. It would be nice to get what you were getting, something to work towards and achieve in the future.

Seems like I need some proofreading myself having rushed my earlier reply:

Thank you FOR your advice guys!

Thank you Spack and Omniloquacious!

Need the encouragement. After my fourth day of work finally getting into the swing of things. Seems to be going well, will hang in there and see how it all works out - for the better hopefully.

I am working for a B2B medium firm (and trying to keep up with my dance schedule at the same time…)

Notching one more post :wink:

Glad to hear it’s off to a promising start, Yoshi.

BTW, how come this thread is in the Teaching English in Taiwan forum?