Curious about salary in IT (networking and network security)

[DogmaticStoic]

I used to work as a network administrator for about 5 years (4 in the military) I had the Cisco networking and switching cert as well as security+. This was now 8 years ago. I’m certain I can repass those exams if I take them.

I’m wondering if there’s any money in it here? Are the salaries higher? Currently teaching public school. My university degrees are in psychology. But if I can work a higher salary in IT while working on my PhD, maybe it’s better to switch back to my old job?

What do the typical salaries look like for this in Taipei?

[meishijia]

In my experience:

Entry level: $40,000 pm
1-2 years experience: $60,000 pm
5 years experience: $75,000 - $125,000 pm

All NT dollars.

But this is highly dependent on the company, particular role, and skills of the applicant.

I’ve also seen people pass this pay threshold considerably with less than 5 years experience.

@olm may be able to offer his insight?

[slawa]

Have a read here, somewhat similar:

Feasible to work as IT Consultant (permit, salary, pension)

Hi, I’m thinking about moving to Taiwan and to look for a similar job like I’m doing in Germany currently, namely IT Consulting with a focus on IT Security. Now I have some questions: The IT Security business is pretty regulated in some countries- does somebody know about restrictions (for example for government jobs etc) in Taiwan? I’m currently working in a multinational company, which would also be my preferred option in Taiwan. Oh and would it be realistic to just enter on a 3 months v…

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Feasible to work as IT Consultant (permit, salary, pension)

Can someone capable go and work for Zyxel? Fix their router crap and everything else! https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/02/zyxel-fixes-0day-in-network-storage-devices/ Holden said given the simplicity of the exploit — which allows an attacker to seize remote control over an affected device by injecting just two characters to the username field of the login panel for Zyxel NAS devices — it’s likely other Zyxel products may have related vulnerabilities. WTF. How can they be so terrible? …

Feasible to work as IT Consultant (permit, salary, pension)

Can someone capable go and work for Netgear? Fix their router crap and everything else! Manufacturing occurs primarily in mainland China and Vietnam, with pilot and low-volume manufacturing in Taiwan on a select basis. 1996 Called, They Want Their Vulnerability Back

[DogmaticStoic]

Wow so it’s basically the same as English teaching if not lower

[DogmaticStoic]

Thank you I’ll read through these. I appreciate it

[Marco]

@DogmaticStoic

Wow so it’s basically the same as English teaching if not lower

This stuff starts with English teaching salaries, but goes up. There is no room for upward mobility in a cram school short of owning one.

[DogmaticStoic]

Or public school either. The worst part is public teachers aren’t eligible for government pension since you have continuously resign contracts each year. The pay scale only goes up very little every year and is capped pretty low (though the bonus, free flights and 10,000 extra a month for housing does help)

[Marco]

@DogmaticStoic

Or public school either. The worst part is public teachers aren’t eligible for government pension since you have continuously resign contracts each year. The pay scale only goes up very little every year and is capped pretty low (though the bonus, free flights and 10,000 extra a month for housing does help)

Yeah. Office work starts off slow, but picks up with experience. It also transfers over to other jobs both in and out of TW.

[DogmaticStoic]

So is it low if you have previous experience? Or would the large gap make me basically start over?

I also don’t have any coding experience. I can make scripts in Powershell but I never needed coding for my network administrator position in the military and got no training on it at all

[cats_meow]

@DogmaticStoic

The worst part is public teachers aren’t eligible for government pension since you have continuously resign contracts each year.

This isn’t true, or at least it’s not in my city. I know I get it and I know for sure a few others get it in my city.

[meishijia]

@DogmaticStoic

So is it low if you have previous experience? Or would the large gap make me basically start over?

I also don’t have any coding experience. I can make scripts in Powershell but I never needed coding for my network administrator position in the military and got no training on it at all

I don’t know much about your previous experience, but from what you’ve said, if you speak decent Chinese you could probably get a job starting at 75,000+. No Chinese is possible too, just gotta find the right company.

[DogmaticStoic]

From what I understand, you can get a pension but only after you receive permanent residency or a marriage arc?

But maybe it would be useful to discuss with my school

[TT]

@DogmaticStoic

Wow so it’s basically the same as English teaching if not lower

Supply and demand

@Marco

There is no room for upward mobility in a cram school short of owning one

Another option is side hustles. I have been offered lots of extra work lately and might consider opening a consulting business in the future (education, and ESL).

@DogmaticStoic

PhD

Universities have options for upward mobility if you get this

Not coding and no Chinese seem like big barriers to a high starting salary. At least with ESL you have low expectations for performance and if you’re good a lot of extra time for that PhD

[olm]

@meishijia

Entry level: $40,000 pm
1-2 years experience: $60,000 pm
5 years experience: $75,000 - $125,000 pm

Below is the closest I found from the 2020 Taiwan Salary Benchmark by Michael Page Group:

min / med / max total package per year in Million NTD

Systems & Infrastructure

• System Analyst 0.9M / 1M / 1.2M
• Network Engineer 1.2M / 1.5M / 1.7M
• Security Engineer 1.2M / 1.5M / 1.7M

@DogmaticStoic I guess you would be closest to a “Network Engineer”, but maybe (way?) below that due to “wrong” degree field, and likely also hard to find work if mandarin is not super good already.

As far as I can tell, English Teaching is getting quite good salary in Taiwan - and it is something where non-Taiwanese have a huge head start. Sad, but probably way more lukrative than entry level IT work.

[cats_meow]

Sorry, I thought you meant that public school teachers couldn’t get it at all. Yea, I think you’re right about the permanent residency or marriage.

[DogmaticStoic]

Oh ok I think that’s pretty interesting. Anyway that’s why I thought I’d ask to see what options look like.

Thanks for your help guys!

[DogmaticStoic]

It also doesn’t get added retroactively. It only starts once your permanent residency does. I’m not sure about if it’s the same package local teachers get

[marcopoloTW]

If that ever help, a collaborative spreadsheet of people sharing salary in Taiwan . Many people seems to be in IT : 💲🇹🇼 Sharing Salary in Taiwan 🤔(only paid by Taiwanese company or Local branch, No remote) - Google Sheets