Hello,
Been lurking around intermittently for the past few months and finally got around to clicking pictures of buildings or fish or trees to post here! (by the way, just curious, are there other themes apart from fish, buildings, and trees…?)
Got a call in the early morning before office hours, and which turned out to be an immediate interview. Had woken up less than five minutes before the call came, so was tangled up in the sheets in a complete state of undress, while trying to shut off all the sixty alarms (yes, by the minute. Just in case) on my spare phone and the clock (two alarms were going off) hastily while answering questions about my intended career path. Anyway, it wasn’t very convenient to talk more, so we scheduled a second interview.
I’ve been reading quite a number of previous posts, and yes, I generally get that (1) no one gives a rat’s ass if you’re a native English speaker with an Mandarin-speaking linguistic ability (2) the minimum wage for white-collar jobs is NT $47, 000 + (3) Low pay (4) Have you considered teaching English?
And… I’m currently a writer based in Hong Kong (I write in English); am Chinese, moved from an Asian country to Hong Kong a year ago; yes, I’m a rat’s ass, English, Chinese, understand Taiwanese, all that; three to four years of work experience on a variety of media platforms; have a university degree; in my early twenties, so I’m very grateful that I managed to get a chance to work abroad so far. The job which I applied for is in communications (English writing), and at a Taiwanese MNC (I’m stating this because I’ve seen quite a number of posts decrying Taiwanese companies and their salary offers, and suggestions to other posters that they look to MNCs instead).
I’ve been re-reading this thread: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … =21&t=2623) since apparently salaries haven’t changed for more than 10 years. Also read another post where someone said to get the company to state that they’re paying you 50k, but they actually pay you less, yet another post said that that’s stupid and shouldn’t be done. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the general idea I’m getting from the multitude of posts I’ve read that engineers/computer science professionals with Masters can sometimes find it hard to even get NT 50k, and locals get about 20 - 30k. Right, so exactly what salary would you guys recommend I ask for?
I’m slightly confused, but two friends who have worked in Taiwan previously (one’s a Taiwan national) said I could possibly ask for 40k negotiable if I am brimming with confidence (not sure if any of you are :roflmao: already…). Also saw a post with a link to this, although am not sure how useful or inaccurate it is: michaelpage.com.tw/websitepd … _FINAL.pdf
Could I perhaps get some perspectives on what an appropriate salary would be, in my position? If you’re asking what I’m looking for, or that it is also dependent on my comfort levels… well, it’s not been a breeze financially in HK, and I don’t expect that it will be in TW too. But I do get by in HK and yes, in the beginning it wasn’t easy (I wasn’t transferred; I went to HK to look for a job myself, and got one. Still am paid slightly, very slightly higher than locals though), but of course it just means that I don’t fling money indiscriminately at the bartender/cinema counter/whatever entertainment outlets, and I live in a shared unit/shoebox in rent-crazy HK, but I’m cool with that. I understand that although salaries are low in TW, living expenses are relatively low too. I’m fine with it though; figured that it’s sometimes a trade-off to get outside and learn, and more importantly, grow in a different city, and umm being in my early twenties, it’s best to get out now than in the future where there are more stakes to be given up on (e.g relationships, desire for stability, whatever. Not saying that I will actually want these things, but people and priorities change). Apologies if you think I’m waxing lyrical about y00th and life and all that. More apologies for this lengthy post, but just wanted to give you guys a little more about my background/my expectations/an understanding that well, life ain’t gonna be easy in TW with a certain kind of salary.
Also, I didn’t just want to post “hey, what salary can I get as a comms writer?” and leave it as that.
Would be great to get some perspectives too. Thanks for sharing if you will! I definitely have to answer that expected salary question really soon. Thanks once again, y’all.