I’m in New Zealand and looking to go to Taiwan.
Taiwan seems to be quite technology enabled, many equipment manufacturers for computer components come out of Taiwan.
I work in the IT field, mainly networking and infrastructure (servers, etc) Any ideas of what jobs for foreigners are like over there in this field?
Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks
I think the key word there is ‘manufacturers’ i.e. lots of factories sticking chips on boards, not what you have in mind I think.
I also work in the IT field in Taiwan, but paid a third of what I can get in my home country, and a lot less than an English teacher.
As for networking and servers, I wouldn’t know… might be possible in a big multinational, I can’t imagine there are many opportunities in small local companies
I am with matthewh on that, not much of inovation here but more on manufacturing.
I work in a related field (telecommunications) but finding work here, as a foreigner, is rather difficult. As well I would suggest to approach big international companies.
there are countless small firms designing and producing IT equipment here. I’ve worked with companies that design servers, for instance.
It’s not all OEM. Small Taiwanese tech companies though are characterized by incompetent, often explotative management. You’d want a fairly high level of Chinese to consider joining them as an employee.
If you’re interested in tech writing possibilities (local firms / multinationals), PM me.
I admit the same, It’s terribly hard to find work anywhere unless you have a gem you can sell. For the economic and trade dept to allow you working in taipei you need a skillset unmatched by taiwanese. That’s not easy. Besides, to fit in the working atmosphere here, one need to be eloquent in Chinese (this is my case), but you’re case may be different, if you are white and blond here, I don’t mean to be racial or anything. You can get off anytime not speaking Chinese. They might impose you on solely speaking English in the office on the ground to improve fellow worker’s English convo ability.
Yes, if you have a gem, that is a special skill you can sell, I repeat, you will not have to worry not finding work elsewhere. It’s a small world after all.
ax
Thanks for everyone’s input thus far, has been very interesting.
In my current role I work with various Compaq Storageworks products, I deal with storage quite often and I understand HP have a storage conference in Taiwan during the month of July.
As well as visiting the conference for refining methods, etc my thoughts/plans are to investigate the local market. This to me will help ascertain whether or not I have something unique to deliver and/or can get work easily.
It perhaps sounds that I am in the enterprise market where it may not have the following? (maybe excluding multinationals)
Any thoughts/ideas on this investigation? Where to go, places to visit etc?
Thanks to all
I think what you mean is that you need a skill which is actually unmatched and accepted/required.
It is not easy (to find such a job offer here).
I think what you mean is that you need a skill which is actually unmatched and accepted/required.
It is not easy (to find such a job offer here).[/quote]
Certainly. I work within an IT organisation and firmly believe that such was my luck in securing this job that once I leave I will find no other employment in my field in Taiwan. It took me 7 months to find a job here and in the end just before deciding to try Singapore I got a call for a position that I didn’t apply for with a Institute I would never have considered. So when that day comes my choice will be to either start my own company or leave Taiwan. It is perhaps one of the main reasons for not leaving my current job.
But, despite a salary of perhaps a third of what my colleagues were/are making in Canada and a certain lack of respect for the field (due in part to a lack of understanding) I can say with no uncertainty that it has been one the most educating work experiences of my life. Very rewarding.
So I wish you luck.
I think that there are some issues involved in finding the ‘ideal job’ in Taiwan to be considered
The visa issue has to be dealt with
A good way to deal with this is to bring over a reserve of cash and enroll at chinese school (bogus or not bogus).
You need a 100,000 NT statement to do this and flight tickets out of the country. After you arrived people could explain easily the different methods. You can enrol at a fairly bogus school for about 7000/3 months…good deal eh?
Real Chinese schools start from 15,000 NT/mth.
Of course learning chinese would be very useful for you but its quite a long process. Enjoyable for more people I think though. Very useful too.
Just don’t expect miracles.
After you regularlise yourself here you have time to send out resumes, try and meet people etc. There are few openings in multinationals in Taiwan. I dont personally know anybody who works for these. I do know quite a few people who work for small, medium and large Taiwanese firms. To be honest most of us would prefer to work for large multinationals where you might get a bit more time off and westernised workplace. The time off thing is quite a big issue if you are from Europe or a place that gives generous vacations. Due to the rather american system here time off is officially not guaranteed the first year. In practice people are often given one weeks paid leave. NOT A LOT OF TIME you’ll agree. Every year you work you get an extra days paid leave. So often you will have to take unpaid leave which might eat into your earnings. It’s also often impossible to get Xmas or certain holidays off. Different culture can be tough sometimes. If you can negotiate better holiday packages (some people are successful, some not) that is a great bonus.
The money isn’t great (average 50000 to 80000 NT/mth), 1-2 mths bonus. Hours generally 9-7pm Mon-Fri. Sometimes less, often more.
Work is fairly relaxed but long hours can be tedious. Taiwan has probably many locals who can do what you can do cheaper but they do like to have a western face and somebody different to work with. They will probably treat you very well. However it can be isolating if you are the only foreigner. If you work for some colleagues that have studied abroad , international experience etc. that makes things easier. They can see things from your perspective. It is very hard to make friends with Taiwanese colleagues in my experience. You can be friendly but making friends is a different ballgame, in general you wouldn’t go with them to a pub for some drinks after work, if you see what I mean.
That might not be true for all foreigners in Taiwan but in the majority it would be (including long termers here) . It sure is an experience though!
Most people end up doing copywriting and sales and marketing type jobs who work in technology here. Its a logical progression…it’s the skills we have that they don’t . It’s hard to get the ideal job when the police are breathing down your neck as your visa is expiring…
Sometimes you go through a succession of jobs and find one right for you.
Often these type of jobs are not available in Taiwan and you have to adapt to the needs of the job market…who knows you may enjoy a different type of job. I’ve already worked at three completely different jobs here. While living in Taiwan you have to adapt to your circumstances. If you have your heart set on only one type of job you may be disappointed.
The economy is not what it used to be but its still pretty dynamic compared to many other countries.
Taiwanese companies also seem to be rather americanized. They use timecards and insist on puncuality. Not all but the ones I know. They are not very social in general after hours as people spend enough time at work already and to be honest they don’t do much on weekends. However in Taiwan it’s quite easy to meet girls to keep you amused…just try not to get locked down before having fun! (very important bit of advice and difficult to follow)
The opportunities here are good for traders in IT and people who stick around a while. You can also use it as a launching pad to mainland China.
Compaq and HP are huge here but of course they are the OEM people more than anything else. You will see how they are good businessmen in a cost down what can be do quick sort of way. This is changing rapidly though and you will often have convesations with managers and businessmen about how they are changing their business model to do more R&D, top line stuff. You might even get hired on this type of premise.
Often work can appear pretty chaotic. Shareholders change , businesses collapse, whole divisions of companies move to other divisions, profits shoot up and down. It’s pretty fast living business wise.
Get lists of companies off the internet and go to trade meetings in the WTC and meet people…something will come up.
My Taiwanese gf just started her new job(systems integration engineer) at BenQ in Taipei on Monday YAY!
Pay is only average but there’s a full exercise room, indoor racket courts, basketball courts, pool, 20NT$ lunches, cheap masseuses, overnight accomodations for long nights(yikes) plus other perks, including playing with the latest toys…so jealous!
[quote]You need a 100,000 NT statement to do this and flight tickets out of the country. After you arrived people could explain easily the different methods. You can enrol at a fairly bogus school for about 7000/3 months…good deal eh?
Real Chinese schools start from 15,000 NT/mth.[/quote]
Sorry, off topic, but just wanted to correct some wrong info. If you come in on a 60-day visitors visa you don’t need 100000NT or return tickets to enrolin a Chinese school, and real Chinese schools start from 4000NT a month.
Brian
my thoughts concur exactly with headhoncho II. if you are an engineer, you are most likely to end up doing “sales engineering”, which is rewarding, flying around sorting out people’s problems. If you are not I suggest sales/marketing roles are best. Working for Taiwanese companies is a brilliant, tough, enhancing experience. It is there where you understand how to do business. But as regards quality of life there’s only so much you can take before you will be yearning for a cushy Western number.