Thanks to Mr. He, Rascal and Blueface for the helpful advice – though I think I’ll pass on the gigolo gig, thanks. A big rotten fish to Alleycay for forgetting that this is a bulletin board and that pointing out typos is lame. As for Salmon … eGads! Give me a break. I asked an honest question as a fresh graduate in Taiwan. I may well have some misconceptions about my job prospects here but you could have at least been a bit more polite.
You’re quite right that I don’t plan to teach for any length of time but that doesn’t belie the fact that I’m committed to the short-term position, for which I was hired on the basis of an honest disclosure of my experience and intended duration of stay, and at which I work conscientiously.
As for salary, while I’m aware of what local graduates make, I do expect to make more. Not because I am a foreigner or take myself to be above my local equivalent or other such nonsense but for the simple fact that in the Taiwan market job-seekers with the equivalent of my abilities are still quite rare: However meagre a qualification my Arts BA may be, in Taiwan the ability to function in English is a major job qualification whatever your nationality. Now, no doubt the majority of employers are not going to think a native English speaker with mediocre Mandarin and a foreign perspective is worth more than an otherwise equally qualified local with fluent English, native Mandarin and the ability to seamlessly conform to local business practices; hence my question: What fields do require or prefer native English speakers and in what capacities?
I understand, given a lack of qualifications beyond my BA and English the, that my list of opportunities is going to be limited (to editing or translation work of one stripe or another); but I’d still like to know what others have found out there and how they went about making the switch from English teaching to another field. Is anyone employed, for example, in a human rights related position or as a research assistant in the humanities? In publishing? For those in marketing, what have your experiences been? Etc.
As for salary, again, my apologies if listers find my thinking NT$50k to be indicative of no real financial ambitions is some sort of slight on locals or anyone else making less. I say this only in the understanding that there are non-teaching jobs available for Arts graduates with native English, good Mandarin, some editing and translation experience in the Taiwanese market, and not a heck of a lot else, and that these positions typically begin at about NT$50k. Likewise, while I accept that most companies would prefer to hire long-term employees, I still believe that there must be short-term positions available, in part because I don’t think I am uncommon in intending to stay for only a year or so, and moreso because of the project-centered nature of a lot of editing and translation work. Now, I may be wrong here; if so, polite advice is welcome.
