I’ve worked in Taiwan before, but just accepted whatever I was given and never had to negotiate, so this is totally new to me. Not only do I not know how best to negotiate a salary in Taiwan, but I also don’t know what sort of pay I can expect.
I’m currently interviewing for a technical writing manager job for a tech company in Taipei. I have several years’ senior technical writing experience and I’m a Gold Card holder currently in London.
Does anybody know what sort of salary I can realistically expect for the job above with my experience?
When negotiating, is it expected to start with a salary higher than I’d expect or is this not a tactic people use in Taiwan and might put them off hiring me?
Is it normal in Taiwan that you must go through the entire interview process in several stages and with several tests before you can discuss salary and benefits, or is it just this particular company?
Any other tips for negotiating a salary that are specific to Taiwan?
Would like to input on this more but it’s been a while.
Yes its hard to get salary info out of them but push to see what they are offering. Expect it’s not good if they haven’t mentioned anything. They might say its good for Taiwan whatever that means.
Sometimes going high at start puts you out of the picture if they are very arrogant, but not always.
It’s unpredictable. Its up to you in the end.
Sometimes they will go along with your request by trying to cut it later by putting more in variable bonsues vs performance, which you should resist. I had a job fall through because of this underhanded tactic.
Negotiate for the full annual salary , keep as much of it as fixed salary as possible especially given your role.
Dont quit your job yet., let them know your seroius about moving and will move when agreed, but this way they know you have options.
Some general thoughts, having dealt with this as both an employer and management, not Taiwan specific. To start, it depends on whether you a) need the job, b) really want the job, or c) could take it or leave it, d) don’t really want the job. The further you move to the right on that scale, the more aggressive you can be.
1 - This matters more when you’re either a or b above. If you’re c or d, this is really kind of irrelevant - at that point, what matters is what it would require to get you to take the job.
2 - First, always try to get them to make the offer first (at big companies, this usually won’t matter. at smaller companies, it might); if this is not possible, caveat the f’ out of what you want. Once you have an offer in hand, I prefer to tell, and I prefer candidates to tell me, what number actually needs to happen (above the opening offer, of course - always ask for more) to make the deal - if you don’t feel you can negotiate with a company in good faith, that’s probably not a company you want to work for. However, if you want to go high, I’m fine if someone makes a stupid offer at this point, as long as they’re not an aggressive dumbass about it - but I’m going to largely ignore that number. ;D (But nothing turns me off more than a wet behind the ear grad aggressively telling me how awesome they, how they’re better than others, and how they deserve more in salary negotiations while I’m thinking dude, you’re my second choice, and I have 4 others lined up just as good as you.)
How do you get then to make the offer first? Typically, they ask you what your expectations are. Should you then turn that question around and ask them what they’re expecting?
I’d tell them it’s tough to come up with a stand alone salary number without understanding their full compensation package, so it’d be helpful to you if they could give you an offer with everything factored in. If they don’t budge, pick a number that you’d find great, but tell them it’s highly flexible (up or down) based on the comp package.
But as I alluded to, none of this might matter for a large company. My company asks, but it makes no difference whatsoever to the offer that gets sent out - initial offers are all done via a formula, that is then subject to negotiations. The only reason we ask is to see if someone is so far out of bed that it might not be worth interviewing them (ie if someone wants $300k for a job that tops out at $170k, we probably won’t close the deal even if we really like them).
the salary ranges im familiar with are a little lower, 1.2 mil to 1.5 mil a year.
the other advice mentioned here is good, personally i would say i expect total annual 1,xxx,xxx. if your mumber is too high, they will just pass. in our case , each position has a salary band, if we are budgeting 1mil a year for a position, and you want 1.5, we will just move on.
Normal
if the company sticks to the law, which means you will have very little rights as a FOB foreigner. for example : they dont have to pay 6% towards retirement as long as you dont have aprc, you will start with the minimum vacation days as mandated by law… this will hurt you in the long run. now is the time to.raise these topics and negotiate, not sure you will get them to give you extra 6% for retirement, but you can get more vacation days.
Always give a range, not a price. Also, pad what you’re saying with “based on my research and from asking other people in similar roles”. So it’s “based on my research and from asking people in similar roles, it seems like the salary range for a position like this is typically somewhere between xx and yy”. It lets your interviewer know you’ve looked into what someone like you could make, but you’re not giving them a specific number. But yeah, it sucks to be asked for salary expectations and not be given a number to work with.
Taiwan was my first taste at negotiating salaries and I think I have a knack for it. Low level jobs already have a comparatively high minimum wage in Oz. And, many mid level jobs in Australia offer salary plus bonus/performance/sales splits so any attempts at negotiating are met with ‘well just perform better and you earn more money’. - Tough because often the bonus schemes don’t form part of your contract so it’s hard to know if the bonus scheme is any good/achievable or not until after you start.
Anyway my advice generally (but not specific to tech) is
Play it cool but not arrogant.
Start high, be confident, up front and leave the impression you can get what you want elsewhere.
Negotiate more leave if they want to give a lower salary, statutory leave here is reallyyyy low.
Go in with the mindset they’re trying to rip you off, they likely are.
Remember employers (especially large employers) can always pay more. Always. They can get the money if they need to, this is not your problem. ‘Its not in the budget’ is a piss weak excuse cos budgets change all the time and I’m sure meeting some sort of targets are part of the budget.
Don’t bring up personal desires/financial goals. Make it about what your worth to the company and what you feel is competitive.
Get EVERYTHING in writing. I’ve found employers here do not feel as if they are bound to the law or contracts they’ve drafted. This is good advice for anywhere in the world anyway
Controversial but I like to bring up salary early on in the conversation (often before the first face to face) otherwise it all can end up a huge waste of everyone’s time. I’ve gone through 5 step pain in the ass recruitment processes to be offered $0.50aud above minimum wage. I wasn’t pissed off at the low offer, but at the time suck. (Actually this was an offer from Janine who was on AU shark tank, no wonder she’s rich)
You have open work rights as a gold card holder, this is a large advantage. More power to you, they may not admit it but they KNOW you can go elsewhere. If they really want to hire you, they will give you a decent offer that people who require sponsorship may not get.
Thanks for the detailed reply! On this point, I’ve been told it costs a lot of money for a company to sponsor someone who needs a visa and, so, those of us with open work permits are cheaper and easier. How much money exactly would I be saving them? I’ll definitely factor this in.
It doesn’t actually cost them much money nor is it very difficult. They just can’t be bothered or don’t know how to do it. Their ignorance or laziness as the case may be is your pay cheque
And you’re free to leave and work for whoever you want whenever you want. People who have their visas sponsored don’t have as much freedom so their negotiating power is lowered.
It’s actually very easy to hire foreigners and get work permits for them in Taiwan. Just a few bits of paper really for an established company if you already have a degree and work experience. They don’t need to know that.
But yeah its the saving of mafan whicn is nice for companies.
The unsavory buxibans and agents like to get newbies on work permits to control them. Different industry.
Recently heard a guy had a trial in tw company in Germany. He contacted me to help with this matter. Job was highly tehnical, so they wanted a 2 month paid trial first. Being paid per day.
Company insisted to pay per day. So they transferred money for like 43 days, but guy worked for 45 days. He send pissed off email, a deal is a deal, please give me what is mine. Accounting, financial team are Taiwanese, probably messed up, but boss feels lose of face or maybe think guy is trouble maker.
So in the end they didn’t take him, and refuse to pay 2 days. Saying package was already super generous. Keep in mind this is known Taiwanese company. His lawyer already contacted them. And ofc they will pay hefty fine.
Avoid situation like this. Say I talked to experts my friends, who worked in this industry in tw, the yearly range salary is 1.5 to 2 mio. I have golden card so there isn’t any problem for your HR with extra work.I would like to work for you, but at the same time can ask somewhere else. Put range 1.3 mio 1.7 when you really want to work there.
