[quote=“ichbinjenny”]Getting a job as a designer with only a degree (no experience or on-the-job training) is a bit of a pipe dream, especially since there are already enough Taiwan-born designers living here who don’t need visa assistance and get paid local wages, not to mention speak Mandarin and have a working knowledge of English.
I’d suggest coming here and getting an English teaching job. While here, study some Mandarin and get a language exchange with a designer…and see where that gets you.
Also, definitely live on your own. If you can, come here before your girlfriend does (even if just for a week) so you can get a feel for the place and build a “yes I can” foundation. You’ll have to struggle on your own, but afterwards you’ll have the experience of doing things on your own. If you start out relying on her for everything (no matter what you say, she’ll become a crutch), it will just add stress to the relationship.
About that 5 year plan: Drop the plan. The time limits only encourage expectations and create stress, especially when one person wants to leave early or not leave at all.
Come here with her, but make sure you live here for YOU.
Good luck. :+)[/quote]
I think this is generally excellent advice from ichbinjenny. But I would add one point that I don’t think has been brought up yet. While finding a job as a designer right off the bat would be unlikely, with a bit of research, it might not be hard at all to find a job in a design house or a company in a related field (fashion/textile/apparel) on the strength of having some design background plus English as your native language. Many Taiwan companies in all sorts of industries trying to compete internationally will hire a foreigner as an “English support person” – the title might be “intern” in the case of a young person who has just graduated in the field – to help them with their paper correspondence, international phone calls, and sometimes even travel abroad with them, to smooth relations with international clients, suppliers, or targets, also perhaps to organize an in-house lunchtime or after-work English class for employees. You might also pick up private classes with company executives, who will be great contacts to build your career in the future. A company like this might not need a full-time person, but perhaps someone who could work half days. This could be perfect as you’d have half days off to study a bit of Chinese, pursue your own further design studies, or so forth. To start off, this kind of job will almost certainly not pay as much on a per-hour basis as teaching English, but should be seen as a stepping stone to career building. You can make friends and contacts in the industry, prove your skills and value and gradually move vertically within the company or skip to another. If you resarch the industry and approach companies directly, you might help them “discover” the need to create a position like this. Something to think about. You should also keep in mind that when you have a work permit through one employer in Taiwan (be it an English school or a fashion house or another business, you are not permitted to work for any other employer unless you apply for and receive a separate work permit for each job). Be very careful not to break these rules if you hope to stay in Taiwan and advance your career over the long term. If you sign up for Chinese classes, you should look into the possibility of getting a flexible student work pemit. (See the Visa and Residence board for discussion of these issues.) If you’re into design, I’d say sure, come to Taiwan, but try to keep moving in your chosen field while you’re young and ambitious. Others in the field will recognize this, and it will look better on your resume in the future than a year or more of teaching English (unless of course you were pursuing teaching as a career).
are there any exceptions the rule? for example special measures, i.e. a larger company believes you have potential to earn above the rate… or something?.. I’m starting to think that the only way forward is a teaching job, I really wouldn’t mind this as I’ve had some experience (plus both my parents are teachers, higher and primary)… But wont I require some teaching degree, or qualification?.. This is confusing me, can I go straight into a teaching job after my science product design degree?..
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). I hope I will get answer for them here as well.