# Long-timers (10+ years) who \*don't\* teach, what do you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Working in Taiwan\ **Created:** [July 16, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606 "2026-07-16T19:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maria156](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@maria156](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/maria156)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/1 "2026-07-16T19:54:51Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![bdog](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@bdog](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bdog)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/2 "2026-07-16T19:57:11Z")
Stripping. ---
**Author:** ![qbert](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/qbert/32/236297_2.png) [@qbert](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/qbert)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/3 "2026-07-16T20:21:30Z")
I’m a mild-mannered public school teacher by day, but masked crime fighter at night. ---
**Author:** ![olm](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/olm/32/91247_2.png) [@olm](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/olm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/4 "2026-07-16T20:23:07Z")
Engineer. ---
**Author:** ![unhelpfulmoth](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/u/bbe5ce/32.png) [@unhelpfulmoth](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/unhelpfulmoth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/5 "2026-07-16T20:34:59Z")
Do you have a work permit for the crime fighting? :no_no: ---
**Author:** ![afterspivak](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@afterspivak](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/afterspivak)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/6 "2026-07-16T20:53:22Z")
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: > [@Share your Taiwan Salary Anonymously](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/share-your-taiwan-salary-anonymously/195852): > > How much can I make in Taiwan? The answer is : “it depends” . Salary packages are often a black box, people never really talk about it. HR team usually hide it to employees, and have strict policies to not share it. When interviewing, we don’t know how much to ask. Taiwan salaries are completely different from salaries in other countries. Did you know a big part of it came from bonuses? If we don’t have data, we can’t make informed decisions . We don’t know if we get underpaid , or could m… Guy ---
**Author:** ![ChewDawg](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/chewdawg/32/174179_2.png) [@ChewDawg](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/ChewDawg)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 10:33pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/7 "2026-07-16T22:33:17Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![afterspivak](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@afterspivak](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/afterspivak)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/8 "2026-07-16T22:36:03Z")
> [@ChewDawg](#): > > It ??? What on earth are you referring to? Guy ---
**Author:** ![forformosa](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/forformosa/32/267982_2.png) [@forformosa](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/forformosa)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/9 "2026-07-16T22:42:09Z")
Journalism. I haven’t taught English in Taiwan apart from two weeks’ subbing when I was fresh off the boat and discovered it wasn’t for me. ---
**Author:** ![bz](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ec9cab/32.png) [@bz](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bz)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/10 "2026-07-16T23:16:19Z")
> [@afterspivak](#): > > > [@ChewDawg](#): > > > > It > > ??? One would assume IT = Information Technology (with an auto-correct that “fixed” the double capitalization). ETA: or an accidental early submission. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![bz](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ec9cab/32.png) [@bz](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bz)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/11 "2026-07-16T23:23:10Z")
> [@maria156](#): > > - 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? I haven’t lived here full-time until this year, but I have been splitting time between here and America \>10yrs, so I’ll respond. - technology 🧙‍♂️ - accidentally 🤷‍♂️ - neither (my work is not location-dependent) 😎 - considerably more than the average English teacher here 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![Hayashi](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/439d5e/32.png) [@Hayashi](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Hayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 2:17am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/12 "2026-07-17T02:17:36Z")
> [@bz](#): > > One would assume IT = Information Technology 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.” 😆 ---
**Author:** ![forformosa](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/forformosa/32/267982_2.png) [@forformosa](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/forformosa)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 2:25am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/13 "2026-07-17T02:25:48Z")
In Taiwan or overseas? ---
**Author:** ![Zllig](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/d07c76/32.png) [@Zllig](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Zllig)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/14 "2026-07-17T04:13:39Z")
> [@maria156](#): > > - 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? - Sales - Being at right bar at the right time - Came to teach. Fell ass backwards into my current job, had no interest in ever doing sales before this. I do still teach PT on the side, because… - Local company, so local salary. Not super awesome, but the job is pretty chill so I don’t mind. The teaching supplements my income so I get to live a pretty comfy life. ---
**Author:** ![Steve4nLanguage](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/steve4nlanguage/32/180867_2.png) [@Steve4nLanguage](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Steve4nLanguage)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 4:26am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/15 "2026-07-17T04:26:43Z")
I don’t teach. Well, I did for 18 years but just retired at the end of June. What do I do now? Whatever I want! Sorry, had to flex a bit there 😀 ---
**Author:** ![ChewDawg](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/chewdawg/32/174179_2.png) [@ChewDawg](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/ChewDawg)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/16 "2026-07-17T04:41:36Z")
I mean those of us working outside of teaching, it was the the land of opportunities. People can ask what we did as long termers, how much we were paid but not really equivalent or transferable to today. ---
**Author:** ![hannes](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hannes/32/161150_2.png) [@hannes](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hannes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/17 "2026-07-17T06:41:27Z")
> [@maria156](#): > > 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? This screams “written by AI” and it’s so generic that I doubt the person is real. Also, the OP is not responding to replies, which is typical for this type of thread. If you, @maria156, are a real person, write something less generic and also tell everyone why you want those questions answered. Oh right, I am exporting auto parts to Nigeria. :whistle: ---
**Author:** ![afterspivak](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@afterspivak](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/afterspivak)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 6:47am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/18 "2026-07-17T06:47:04Z")
The OP has been posting here for eight years, and has a range of topics that looks plausible. Who knows who is a bot. Given my posting, it’s possible for people to conclude I am a parody account, but not a bot—I don’t think a bot could dislike certain things as much as I do. 🙂 Guy ---
**Author:** ![Marco](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/marco/32/179744_2.png) [@Marco](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Marco)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 6:59am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/19 "2026-07-17T06:59:28Z")
I just want to see what beforespivak looks like. ---
**Author:** ![hannes](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hannes/32/161150_2.png) [@hannes](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hannes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 7:01am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606/20 "2026-07-17T07:01:00Z")
Ha ha, I did not do a background check, I just got this impression when reading the post. Getting paranoid, apparently. Trying to tell real from AI is getting harder and harder. At least my wrong assumption was not generated with the help of AI, I swear. [Next page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/long-timers-10-years-who-dont-teach-what-do-you-do/258606.md?page=2)