I am from the U.S., a Taiwanese-American mix, fluent in English, Mandarin, Taiwanese and knowledge of Spanish (have been fluent, but have not been used for the past three years, may be a bit rough in the language). I don’t want to be restricted to teaching English privately or through a corporation. It’s not the kind of skill or job to last one for a lifetime (career sense).
I have my citizenship so I do not need a visa. I do not want to be stuck working in restaurants either since I’ve already done that for the past three years in the U.S. as I studied through college. I don’t have enough experience to enter an international/foreign corporations. I would go online to the job websites, but my literacy in Chinese is not THAT strong. I am currently taking night classes for immigrants in learning [Traditional] Chinese, 4th grade level.
I am living with my retired mother and a very old grandmother who is well into her 90’s. Please tell me, how I can find a job?
Second, decide what kind of work you want to do and start meeting people who do it to learn what education… training… credentials… sacrifices (if any) they needed to get to where they are today
(your post reminds me of someone holding up a Will Work For Food sign)
Eldest Grandchild: LOL! I just might consider that!
[u]Breakfast Store Laoban:[/u] Considering the economy, my guess is that it comes down to whatever opportunity comes.
Maitreya Bhuddha: I definitely couldn’t agree more with what you said, but as I’ve found out here, generally to get into the media, it takes introduction and connections to influential people, unfortunately. I’ve looked into the possibility of working for the I.C.R.T. broadcast station, unfortuately though, there’s no MRT that goes there. My sole mode of transportation is bicycle (I doubt that anyone would dare ride from Tien-Mu to somewhere as far out as their location), getting on the bus, or the MRT.
Memorized My Password: That’s one of the reason why I’ve moved back here to Taiwan: people keep telling me that I am in high demand, so I listened and came back. Now, it’s either I’m over-qualified for the job, or underqualified (lack of experience in the field[s]), or would require taking an exam (entirely in CH, which I’m not THAT fluent in [literacy]). Apparently, getting a volunteer job also requires taking an exam - even if the position calls for ‘all English’.
I really wonder, with all this blocks, what’s left for me? I don’t want to be stuck teaching English, I’m really against this being as the only alternative for Westerners in Taiwan. There has got to be a better option. Anyone with recommendations or know anywhere/anyone looking for someone fully fluent in English with fluency [communication] in Mandarin (and knowledge of Taiwanese)?
This is very unfortunate. You are just starting out, and already you have resigned yourself to settle only for what others might give you :no-no: Who wants to live like that? Especially when one already has obvious talent to offer! :aiyo:
Decide what you want, and then figure out what you need to get there. In the meantime, get out from in front of your computer and get some experience. :s
I would if it wasn’t for my lack of literacy in the language… I am doing what I can to improve, I’m taking four classes so far to improve myself, these that I’m taking on a daily basis. Three have already finished for the year and will have to wait for a few more months before they start again, and the last one still continues for the next few months.
I really would like to get out there and get my feet wet. A LOT of the jobs require applicants to go through an examination, some with the company, and other the national exam. Both, however, are all in CH. I can manage a bit, however, it only applies to conversation (characters) and not 文張. They’re both completely different and I’m only halfway through the conversation (writing)… Not to say that it’s not helping, it definitely helps me when I’m watching TV programs or news and understand what they’re talking about.
What would you suggest for me? Do you know any job or fields I could get into without having to take such exams? Let me know if you’d like to get a look at my resume to have a better sense of what I have to offer. (Just PM me with your e-mail)
I tried applying for government jobs and they require exams in both Chinese and English and while I did ok on the English part (there are a lot of grammar stuff and subjective things that can make things difficult even for a native speaker) but the Chinese part is really out there. If you are not a scholar in classical Chinese literature or being educated in Taiwan you will not get over 10% in that test! In my case I got 2% on the Chinese part.
Unfortunately a lot of big companies require exams in Chinese for entry level positions, often because if they have 100 positions available 10,000 people will apply for it, which is why they got difficult exams that often has nothing to do with the job they’re applying for in order to weed people out.
I was told something like international trades (if you are the business type) is good for a bilingual person, but those jobs often demand very long hours and pays little, but I hear they may have good bonus if they do well, which due to the current state of the economy it doesn’t happen. Travel/tour guide is good but I hear the competition is extreme, and I don’t know much about media jobs like newspaper/TV.
There are millions of Taiwan SMEs that may be interested in hiring you for sales and marketing role, probably wouldn’t pay much first but you need experience, that’s the key. Everybody has to start somewhere.
