Most people I know came to Taiwan and started out teaching.
Most of them began teaching in buxibans, and some eventually moved into public or private schools.
Some ABTs came back and joined a family business (usually something real-estate or import/export related).
In a different life, I earned a biology degree with a business minor. I worked Stateside before coming to Taiwan. The original plan was for this to be temporary. I was going to spend a year or two to learn Mandarin and visit family members.
Eventually I got a job at a cram school near my grandparents’ house. Back around 2014, NT$60k/month was OK, especially considering I didn’t pay rent or bills.
A few years ago, I figured that if I was going to keep teaching, I should at least make use of my biology degree. I was lucky in that I found a place that was willing to hire me while I did a teacher prep program. Then I got hired at a private school that does Bio classes in English. The pay is OK I guess. I’m not getting rich, though.
So I’m curious about the people who’ve been here for the long haul (since the early or mid-2010s) and aren’t teaching.
What do you do?
How did you get into it?
Did you come to Taiwan specifically for that job, or did you transition into it after arriving?
If you’re comfortable sharing, what’s your rough income range?
An interesting snapshot of what we’re up to, and what people earn—now a few years old, but still very interesting—can be found in the google doc in the first post in this thread:
It was a different time. Eclectic mix of horn dogs, folks with fake degrees, Canuckistanrrs in debt , Vietnam vets that never left….less careerist, less woke.. yet the opps were plentiful
I borrowed from the library a DVD of the Michael Jackson movie, “This Is It”. The elderly librarian handed over the DVD and, wanting to appear sophisticated, read off the title as “This is I.T.”
