[quote=“chinamac79”]Long hours, low pay, no thanks - Sounds like your papers are run by the same sharks as ours in the UK!
Any idea how much a person could earn as a copy editor on one of the government mags/ websites? Also, what kind of hours would that entail?[/quote]
The GIO has openings about once or twice a year for writers/copy editors for its propaganda mags. I think the salary is 60K to 70K but I could be wrong. Hours would be standard office hours with some overtime at weekends for half pay or time off in lieu added to your annual leave. By all means contact them direct and also TAITRA.
I had a friend who worked for the GIO. He said it was like working in a tomb and the job was alienating, to use a Marxist term. Quite ironic if you ask me.
Not actually that ironic. The GIO was/is? the propaganda wing of an authoritarian regime. Their role in the attempted cover-up of the Kaohsiung Incident, for example, is well-documented, and quite deplorable.
There are permanent Kyoto, AP and AFP bureaux, here. My colleague is a BBC correspondent based here.
Their addresses (not the BBC) are all 209 (or could be 208 – Christ, I don’t even know my own address!), Songjiang Rd. AP looks for Yanks for their resident foreigners. AFP, I dunno if they have any foreigners here. Kyoto is staffed by Chinese and Japanese.
To the OP: What some people do is teach English while looking for editing work, then switch over. AFAIK you have to be physically present here to do that kind of searching. Good editing jobs are scarce because a lot of people want to get away from teaching. However, when one comes up, your experience might, just might, give you a leg up in getting the job.
Unless the earth has shifted on its axis and things are not what they used to be at all, “switching over” is a fantasy.
You might be able to find a job after teaching, but you must have the skills in the first place if you want to work anywhere serious (newspapers, wire services, magazines of note). Editing the Jordan’s magazine or some flunky English language study shite does not qualify as editing. That’s still cowboy English teaching with a twist.
Good jobs are not scarce because people want to get away from teaching (that presupposes facts not in evidence), they are scarce because the good spots are filled, and will be for a long time since the people working in them are not generally short-timers.
I don’t know about the Taiwan News and the China Post – they sound more like unsupervised Filipino bush-league rags now – but the Taipei Times will most likely know the difference between an English teacher and an editor. A quasi-illiterate could teach children in Taiwan for years without being discovered. Being a “teacher” in no way infers that the qualities of a copy editor reside within you.
Being an auto mechanic does not mean you can matriculate naturally to automotive design engineer.
Judging from the copy it puts out, maybe it’s time to hire some of the former for the latter? Or the bosses of the latter?[/quote]
Its a very long time since Wolf was at the TT or even in Taiwan. He probably doesn’t know that they’ve long since contented themselves with first-hand, non-endoscopic examinations of their own rectal polyps.
[quote]Being a “teacher” in no way infers that the qualities of a copy editor reside within you.
Being an auto mechanic does not mean you can matriculate naturally to automotive design engineer.[/quote]
Fair points, wolf but some have the intelligence and the skills to make that switch, so it doesn’t have to be a fantasy.
Nevertheless, there is the official business to take care of: you cannot get a work permit as an editor unless you have verifiable experience in the field that justifies your hiring. Most would probably ask at least for 2 years, and a relevant portfolio.
Of course, I do agree that the most important qualifications are linguistic skills, interest in the field and above all, sharp logical thinking to spot inconsistencies. That is not limited nor excludes English teachers looking for a way to improve themselves and their careers.
Icon: Of course, I do agree that the most important qualifications are linguistic skills, interest in the field and above all, sharp logical thinking to spot inconsistencies. That is not limited nor excludes English teachers looking for a way to improve themselves and their careers.
Yeah…but I think you actually have to understand what editing is, how the mechanics of a story/article work, be able to work under pressure of deadline, know quite a lot of the style guides by heart and be able to drink huge amounts of beer.
What you have said, Icon, is something like saying that the most important qualifications for being a car mechanic are general knowledge of autos, an interest in cars, and a good understanding of how to use tools. There is more to it than that.
And yes, anyone can aspire to something different.
On a personal note, I remember being on the desk at the then-China News (1998?) and thinking that I was doing a decent editing job, but after seeing what the chief sub (Hugh Dawson) did with my “finished” product (turning it into something magically better in every way) I was humbled. I had good mentors along the way and was in a situation (and time) when I could gradually get better on the job.
Perhaps things are the same now; maybe you can just walk into one of the newspapers and get a job regardless of real skill (they’ll train ya up). You tell me.
As far as the two-year requirement in your chosen field, there were ways to smoke-and-mirrors your way around that in the past. I assume that creative people can still get around that.
Apropos the OP, some folks get work on those English-language study magazines. That might be a place to start. And I am guessing that you can work there under the umbrella of being an English teacher instead of an editor. However, if you want to work with the professionals, it’s the same in Taiwan as it is anywhere – pound the pavement and knock on doors. As someone previously said, you must be in Taipei to be considered (generally, but not in all instances).
Not really. I wouldn’t go that far. I was mentioning the basic skills that make a good editor.
I was thinking, for instance, a teacher with ample experience in materials development can switch more easily to English magazine or textbook editing.
[quote]Perhaps things are the same now; maybe you can just walk into one of the newspapers and get a job regardless of real skill (they’ll train ya up). You tell me.
As far as the two-year requirement in your chosen field, there were ways to smoke-and-mirrors your way around that in the past. I assume that creative people can still get around that.
[/quote]
Yep, it was and has always been, as with every field, some loopholes that allow stuff like that to happen. Mostly, in a cut-throat cost-cutting environment, as it is nowadays, quality is thrown out the window.
I really wish they would get better with the paperwork, though. We all suffer the consequences of other people’s mess eventually.
Meh, both are easy.