Welcome to taiwan’s middle class with a degree. Since you don’t have one you may be SOL
haha yeah that might be true 
…its weird cuz here professional work experience is highly an advantage. I mean hell I managed to get myself into a Senior management position with AT&T without a degree! But I realize Taiwan seems to look at education more so. It’s understandable in some ways and im some ways degrees aren’t worth the paper they are printed on haha
haha yeah that might be true …its weird cuz here professional work experience is highly an advantage. I mean hell I managed to get myself into a Senior management position with AT&T without a degree! But I realize Taiwan seems to look at education more so. It’s understandable in some ways and im some ways degrees aren’t worth the paper they are printed on haha[/quote]
It is very different, but if you can give them a skill like translation you might be ok. Here, degrees are worth a lot. Being an engrish teacher is ok. More money less hours but things are a little tight these days. Also remember THIS IS NOT THE USA.
Thanks so much for your replies and answers! 
freethinker, the first guy was way too pessimistic (according to his profile he’s an artist and english teacher; what would he know about corporate positions?). One can definitely land a non-teaching job in Taiwan earning substantially more than the numbers mentioned above. There are jobs here for foreign lawyers, engineers, finance people, country managers, VPs, etc.
The requirement to have an advanced degree is not a Taiwan peculiarity. You may have worked up to a fairly good position in your company back home without a degree, but in general one DOES need a relevant degree to advance in ones career anywhere, especially in these times where jobs have been slashed by double-digits and there are multiple applicants for each position. Of course it’s impossible to work as a lawyer without a relevant degree. Same for most other “good” jobs.
Of course work experience is very important too, but if I could hire a guy with 10 years of good experience and no degree, or 10 years of good experience and a degree, I’d almost certainly hire the latter. Wouldn’t you? It’s just one more sign that the applicant has the ability to stick with it and persevere to achieve a goal, despite the boredom, difficulties and other hardships.
Regardless of the above, I believe Taiwan’s govt may require foreigners to have a degree to land white-collar positions here. I’m not sure, though, so maybe someone else can clarify.
Anyway, best of luck to you.
No, you only need a degree to be an English teacher.
Your only 26, and you’re already in a senior position at AT&T?? You certainly must be bringing something of very unique value to them - and as such your value may not easily transferable to other companies – no matter either in the US or Taiwan.
In terms of a degree - it may depend on where you work - I work for a company in the Science Park in a technical position, and they did require a degree and transcript as part of their work permit application package.
For pay, expect to get around 1/3 of the salary of what a person with your credentials would normally make in the bay area if you work for a Taiwanese company. International companies do tend to pay more. The cost of living is cheaper here to offset that, but if you ever plan to move back to the states you have to consider that your savings even after taking the lower cost of living into account will also be reduced.
You also may want to check out hirecruit.nat.gov.tw/english/index.asp . They usually have a job fair in the bay area in springtime, and have open interview sign-ups.
I worked in Taiwan for a multinational and earned about $250K - I do have a degree but it wasn’t instrumental in getting the job. I transferred from another country stayed for 2 years and transferred out again. Might be worth asking around at AT&T whether they have subsidiaries or other interests in Taiwan that could use your skill set?
Alternatively the Country Rep or Front man for US based trade may be the way to go. The advantage of this would be frequent trips home and the ability to operate primarily in English.
There is stuff out there and you are young enough to change. We hear stories from tie to time of people who became engineers or stock traders simply because they asked the right person in a bar whilst they were in Taiwan - everything is possible.
Good luck.
Thanks everyone. You all have been helpful and very nice. I look forward to being a part of this forum for quite some time 
:discodance: Btw Thanks for the links also!
[quote=“peanut”]Your only 26, and you’re already in a senior position at AT&T?? You certainly must be bringing something of very unique value to them - and as such your value may not easily transferable to other companies – no matter either in the US or Taiwan.
In terms of a degree - it may depend on where you work - I work for a company in the Science Park in a technical position, and they did require a degree and transcript as part of their work permit application package.
For pay, expect to get around 1/3 of the salary of what a person with your credentials would normally make in the bay area if you work for a Taiwanese company. International companies do tend to pay more. The cost of living is cheaper here to offset that, but if you ever plan to move back to the states you have to consider that your savings even after taking the lower cost of living into account will also be reduced.
You also may want to check out hirecruit.nat.gov.tw/english/index.asp . They usually have a job fair in the bay area in springtime, and have open interview sign-ups.[/quote]
Hi Peanut
Thanks for your post. The information you provided is very useful. And yes I managed to climb the ladder with AT&T fairly quickly I am very happy about it We do have an AT&T Office in Taipei. I am going to visit the office during my vacation there in March. who knows what might happen from there
[quote=“Edgar Allen”]I worked in Taiwan for a multinational and earned about $250K - I do have a degree but it wasn’t instrumental in getting the job. I transferred from another country stayed for 2 years and transferred out again. Might be worth asking around at AT&T whether they have subsidiaries or other interests in Taiwan that could use your skill set?
Alternatively the Country Rep or Front man for US based trade may be the way to go. The advantage of this would be frequent trips home and the ability to operate primarily in English.
There is stuff out there and you are young enough to change. We hear stories from tie to time of people who became engineers or stock traders simply because they asked the right person in a bar whilst they were in Taiwan - everything is possible.
Good luck.[/quote]
Hi Edgar!
Thanks! AT&T does have an office in Taipei and will visit it while I am there in March. I know Google and Apple are both there as well. For the fun of it I put in my resume for a job opening I am qualified for with Google. They said degree is preferred but did not say required. So lets see what happens!
I thought in order to get an ARC to stay in Taipei long term you still need a sponsor and two years of working experience after a bachelor’s degree or one year experience after a masters? So without the degree are you able to be employed outside the teaching sector?
I remember people posting that it’s possible, but in that case you need something like seven years of experience. Or maybe it was five.
Yes many here do not have degrees but have ARC’s mostly in senior management and some head of country positions.
Yes many here do not have degrees but have ARC’s mostly in senior management and some head of country positions.[/quote]So is that on the basis of seven years’ work experience, or somehow on account of being senior managers?
You can obtain a work permit with a BA degree and 2 years experience in the field, or an MA and one year’s experience, or a Ph.D and no experience. I believe there is some provision for getting hired with no degree and six years of experience, but this is a hazy memory. Someone would have to check. And you would need to be hired in the same field you have your experience in. If you do not speak Chinese, I can’t see why a telecoms provider would hire you in Taiwan – unless they were actually bright and hired you to handle business for foreigners and business visitors, stuff like that. That would actually make sense and help the customers, though, so I wouldn’t count on it happening. 
With enough money you could also set up a corporation in a cheap US state, then set up a representative office for your corporation in Taiwan. I’m not sure of the capital requirements, but it seems to me they are not enormous. You then have the problem of making a living, but private English students should keep you eating, at least. Oh, and making some money on paper so they don’t negate your business license. But one thing at a time.
[quote=“ironlady”]
With enough money you could also set up a corporation in a cheap US state, then set up a representative office for your corporation in Taiwan. I’m not sure of the capital requirements, but it seems to me they are not enormous.[/quote]
A while back I helped a friend from the US look into setting up an office in Taiwan, and the “rep. office” option was by far the easiest way to go. If you should decide to go that route, here’s some more info. from the MOEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs) that outlines the procedures and requirements:
dois.moea.gov.tw/tig/english … d=3&page=1 and
dois.moea.gov.tw/tig/english … =3&page=17
Dunno, maybe things have changed since I did it, but I think Iron Lady nailed it.
To get a non-teaching job you’ll need all of the below plus some language ability or some mad skill that can’t be sourced locally. The be prepared to possibly pay some dues for a couple of years. The good side is that while the starting pay may be lower than teaching English, there is a lot of upside.
I am living in Taiwan for some time now. I just got laid off because of the poor economy. So now I am looking for a new job. Since I do not read or speak mandarin, databases like 104 are not useful to me. Where do I look for a new job?
I am German with a mechanical, sales/marketing and some IT background, open for anything reasonably paid besides english teaching - there are enough poor (native) english teachers around already. 
Try this: