I don’t think it will. It will offer the possibility of teaching in a university.
What is it it you are aiming for? Becoming a teacher of young learners in a public school in Taiwan? That is also possible.
Would you know where the best place is to look for teaching positions? From my research here in the West, most are headed by recruiters or companies offering internships. I used to look on Dave’s ESL cafe, but it is barren now since COVID and only full of copy & paste recruitment messages. I have looked on a website called Teast (English Teaching Jobs In Taiwan (ESL, TEFL) - Teast) but the list is never very extensive.
I’d imagine job opportunities will be easier to come by once I am living in Taiwan which will be great, but this is why I wanted to do the internship first. It’ll help me to settle into the country and then near the end, I can scout out a much higher paid job. I would be happy to cut out the middle man though f it is possible.
University teaching sounds good to me! 
1 Like
It’s not bad. The pay is crap, but the quality of life is good.
Search on here for university jobs in Taiwan. You already have the minimum requirements.
No one has mentioned how much time you will working. I found the buxiban grind to be too much. The schools might give you 25-30 hours of teaching a week but they will also ask you to do prep, grading, communication books, etc.
I think if you can live with $60,000 a month then you will find a good work/life balance. You can grind it up to $90,000 working as much as possible but it’s no life.
NTD80,000 only if you have experience teaching in public schools, teaching certificates.
As far as cram schools are concerned, it really depends on where. I was working 16 hours a week (4 hours a day x 4 days from 1 to 5). No reports, or homework to check. Prep was easy once I had my thing down. Once a semester bang out a bunch of comments and that was it. I was pulling in between 50 and 60k a month. 2 months vacation (unpaid) but tons of time to work a university job as well as privates.
I would suggest looking at private high schools. The salaries there for someone with experience and a masters degree are 80k and over. I’m currently working part time (13 hours a week) in a lower end, private high school and making almost 50k a month. For me it’s enough since my needs are simple and I’m pursuing other things in my free time. They’ve trying to get me to come on full-time but I have no interest because the amount of work and responsibilities aren’t worth it…and I have other stuff I’m doing.
My eventual goal would be to sit at 80,000 a month which is more than plenty for me. If I’m offered more, then I’d take it. But 80,000 is perfect when I’ve looked at my own personal budget for daily living/saving ect. But it’s an eventual goal and not an immediate one after fleshly landing on Taiwanese soil.
I have been basing my current needs at a round 60,000-65,000 until I settle into the work culture and able to be in a position to take more on. I’d hope to get around 80,000 a month after 1 - 3 years of living in Taiwan.
It may sound like I’m being too modest or selling myself short, but I want to take everything one step at a time and make sure I’m happy and comfortable. Because as others have said, a higher salary is more work which I’d like to ease into. I won’t be able to work on Saturdays which will annoy most schools, but it is what it is. There’s enough diversity across Taiwan to negotiate, so I will find something that works for me.
80,000 is starting salary for private schools
Many will grind up to… or over 150,000 a month
1 Like
No doubt that these salaries exist, but they can’t be very common though?
Certainly more common than you think
1 Like
In some of the better private schools it is possible to earn that much. But, it comes with baggage. That said, as others have said, don’t sell yourself short. There’s a general business practice here of exploiting workers as much as possible (especially foreigners fresh off the boat). You really want to prepare yourself for being an asshole if necessary. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and have several options going at the same time so that you can use them as leverage if necessary.
Cram school owners/managers and recruiters tend to be bottom feeding scum so you never trust a word out of their mouths. They will lie, cheat, steal and do whatever to achieve their goals.
Regular schools tend to be somewhat better, but still you have to be cautious. You’ll meet many wonderful and kind people here. But, when it comes to business and money, trust no one.
1 Like
Yes, this is true. I always thought to ask for 5000-10,000 more than I actually want to work for so it can be lowered to my ideal salary. But I won’t budge.
I do actually have a video interview for the TEFL academy internship. They offer up to 74,000, so I will definitely barter for 70,000. Yet I’ll be happy to go down to 65,000 as a final offer.
If that goes well, I could probably find an 80,000 position elsewhere once the internship ends, or as close as possible.
Any kindergarten will have that as full time starting salary
Isn’t it illegal for foreigners to teach at kindergartens in Taiwan?
2 Likes
The only way I’ve found to make more money is by working longer hours. It’s uncommon to find an employer that will actually pay you more for your ability to teach.
1 Like
Even then. I was getting $70,000 a month for 80 teaching hours a week with minimal grading.
Every 6 months I did a 1 month gig at a local primary school for $1000/40min class with 68 classes during the month I worked there. Minimal grading and prep after the first 2 gigs there as I could reuse what I had done previously as the kids moved up grades.
And I picked up other side jobs when I wasn’t at the primary school that paid between $650 and $1000 an hour and they were all temp so not much prep or grading.
No bachelors degree. Just TEFL and a Diploma in Business that no one cared about. And I’m not American (Americans generally have an easier time due Taiwan’s obsession with the US)
@Zhangfu-Jono You just need to be confident when you first meet with schools. They all downplay how desperate they are for teachers but you have the upper hand in almost every negotiation.
4 Likes
This part is key.
Also… I know this may sound discriminatory (but I’m telling how it is). There are many jobs that are open to Filipinos now… but you will notice that they cut the monthly salary by 10,000-20,000 compared with before including them.
The experience is however, if you are a white person from a developed country… you can get the original amount or even higher when asking. The newer salary only applies to Filipinos and (sometimes) South Africans because they are used to poorer living conditions.
I know this may sound awful but it is how it is.
3 Likes