A Master's Degree in Taiwan - is it worth it?

Work Working in Taiwan
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Hello dear Forumosers,

Question for you. I was accepted into an MA in economics and the scholarship program of the Taiwanese Ministry of Education, with school due to start this September. However, while I really like Taiwan, I’m a bit reluctant pursuing the degree - and of course I should make a decision ASAP.

So, a few questions:

  1. As my BA is not a technological profession (I hold a LL.B. - bachelor of Law, and don’t hold a Common Law license), how helpful/necessary is the Taiwanese MA in order for me to get a respectable position here (at least 50-60k a month, international work experience)?

  2. I can work part-time during my studies (up to 20 hours a week). From your experience - is it realistic to get good part-time positions here (mostly in terms of experience - int’l trade related), or will I have to resort (sorry) to stuff like English teaching?

  3. If anyone here did an M.A here (in Chengchi University in Taipei) - how is the level of teaching and the general experience? At 32 - would it be worth it to stop everything for 1.5/2 years, or should I just look for a job and that’s it?

Thnx a lot!

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What are your other options? are you going to jack off 24/7 in your parents basement or would you go to Harvard instead?

That said:
1- 50-60k a month is easy to get with a decent Masters degree. More important is your Chinese level though.
2- Not unheard of but again largely depends on your Chinese ability and your adviser’s connections if you want something longer than a 3 month internship or teaching English.
3- If possible I would advise you to stick to NTU but NCCU is not bad either (from what I heard).

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in taiwan? or in your country?

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If you coming from 3rd world country, then YES it worth it.
If you coming from North America or Western Europe, getting a MA from ur local uni and working locally would get u better salary than working in TW.
If you got a YELLOW FEVER, like most Laowai here, then I cannot help u, ur “little brother” will make the decision for u.
50-60K a bit unrealistic if u have no experience and either overseas Chinese or coming from 3rd world country.

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What do you even want to do? How can we tell you if it’s worth it or not if no one knows what your plan is?

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he comes from Israel.

@Urib, what job do you want after getting MA?
teaching, high-tech firm, or…?

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I guess yellow fever maybe means liking Chinese/Taiwanese culture a lot, but what does the “little brother” mean?

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His wee wee

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He goes with many names… some Spanish language folks called his little brother, Pepe. Some use funnier names, like Wee Wee Pee Pee… but here locals usually called em Little Brother.

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xD

tando, his was one of those posts you like to flag.

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I think if u having Israeli passport, u cannot teach English here. But I could be wrong.

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Thanks guys, I think I understand it.

I usually don’t flag that kind of posts, though.

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He can’t get work visa for it but it is possible to teach on the side.

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I think OP can teach any language with a student work permit. Teaching English may not be what OP wants to do, though.

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I see… not not THAT type… :wink:

banana banana…

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definitely worth it then. Can probably make more than the expected 60k upon graduation.

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You’re legally allowed to if you’re on a student visa + student work permit regardless of passport. If you can land a job you’re legally allowed to work.
Keeping an English teaching job after you graduate won’t be legally possible though, as you need to come from a country where English is an official language to apply for a work visa for teaching.

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Israel has much better universities, but that means more competitive, so you’d have to think about whether you could get into an MA program there.

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Lol:-)

  1. My other option is going back to Israel and working in one of the big law firms over there 10 hours a day for 4-5k USD a month.

I can also stay in Taiwan and look for a full-time job with my current diploma. I know that the local law firms are looking for foreign or local lawyers with common law licenses (US, England, Canada etc.) which I currently don’t have, so it will take a while finding something good - and of course I don’t expect to receive the same level of salaries in Taiwan (but obviously I’m not here to get rich).

  1. My Chinese ability is high-intermediate - meaning, I can converse fluently, but am lacking when it comes to professional terms and/or reading (I read super slow, unless it’s simple texts).

  2. Thnx, also heard that. My girlfriend studied at NCCU:-)

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I’ve graduated with honours from one of Israel’s top 2 universities (Tel Aviv University) - the reason I’m considering to stay in Taiwan is not for money or academic prestige, it’s because:

  1. the people here
  2. the lifestyle here
  3. my girlfriend (but she’s also willing to move back with me, though not immediately)

Regarding the kinds of work I’m looking for - I guess corporate positions such as business development, consultation, account management, marketing etc. those sorts of things.

I have no interest in teaching English here as it can contribute nothing to my career, regardless of my legal capability to do so. BTW, don’t get me started about the local law looking at passport rather than language proficiency - I wrote contracts in English and got 117 on TOEFL, and still cannot teach :slight_smile: