Relocating to Taiwan

Hello there,

For very personal reasons my life is focused on moving to Taiwan asap.

The more I research the more I realise what a difficult task this may be and if I look at some of these postings my wish seems even more daunting… :frowning:

I am currently trying to find a job in Taiwan and I have started to learn Chinese here in the Netherlands.

I would welcome any advice or comments?

Maybe if you were more specific about your questions/fears, we could be of more help.

Basically I want to rellocate to Taiwan and would like to know how best to do this.

I think it would be easiest to quickly find any kind of job there (eg. giving English lessons etc.) and then look for a job in my area when I am in Taiwan.

I am a fresh MBA graduate with roughly 3.5 years prior telecoms experience (with Ericsson), a native English speaker, fluent in German (lived there over 18 years), with intermediate French.

I would just like to know what my chances are (I know the market isn’t that great at the moment).

Does anyone think it is easier to look for a proper job from here in the Netherlands or try and get a visa and look for a job whilst in Taiwan.

Could anyone tell me what my options and chances are, or give me tips how to start?

cheers…

P.S. I was born and grew up till I was 12 in Jamaica.

[quote=“coami”]Basically I want to rellocate to Taiwan and would like to know how best to do this.

I think it would be easiest to quickly find any kind of job there (eg. giving English lessons etc.) and then look for a job in my area when I am in Taiwan.

I am a fresh MBA graduate with roughly 3.5 years prior telecoms experience (with Ericsson), a native English speaker, fluent in German (lived there over 18 years), with intermediate French.

I would just like to know what my chances are (I know the market isn’t that great at the moment).

Does anyone think it is easier to look for a proper job from here in the Netherlands or try and get a visa and look for a job whilst in Taiwan.

Could anyone tell me what my options and chances are, or give me tips how to start?

cheers…[/quote]

As has been said, over and over again throughout this forum…and I think I speak for most, if not all the regular posters here…get a visa, get on a plane with about $2000.00USD and get over here. You will have a good job in no time. Don’t believe the hype about there not being many jobs here. The market is wide open. You can start looking here. There are a number of opinions about this school here.

Bear in mind that this school prefers to hire teachers that are already on the island…if you have any questions, you can PM me…

And I am still not a recruiter. :laughing:

Need a teaching job: TeaLit.com, post yourself on TeaLit

Want a professional job: www.104.com.tw, Taiwan’s largest job bank… get a friend that can help you translate chinese or use an online translator program to find your field of work.

I think the market is good here, teaching and non-teaching. All that stuff on high unemployment is due to companies not willing to hire ppl with no work exp. MBA helps alot, but pay goes by years experience in a company so expect to start with a lovely bottom salary in the low NT30K/month range… my friend with a newly minted MBA from a New York U is only getting 32K/month cuz she’s got no exp.

[quote=“Gener”]Need a teaching job: TeaLit.com, post yourself on TeaLit

Want a professional job: www.104.com.tw, Taiwan’s largest job bank… get a friend that can help you translate Chinese or use an online translator program to find your field of work.

I think the market is good here, teaching and non-teaching. All that stuff on high unemployment is due to companies not willing to hire ppl with no work exp. MBA helps alot, but pay goes by years experience in a company so expect to start with a lovely bottom salary in the low NT30K/month range… my friend with a newly minted MBA from a New York U is only getting 32K/month cuz she’s got no exp.[/quote]

Sorry to say, but you are wrong. There are plenty of 55,000-60,000 NTD/month jobs out there. Even for non-experienced teachers with simple 3 yr. Bachelor degrees.

Tealit is also a minor source of job info. Great for finding, erm,…companionship (so I’ve heard)…so-so for jobs. Nothing beats good old fashioned shoe leather. Come here…walk around…talk to people…you’ll thank me in the long run. Please take advantage of the fact that most of us have had that shitty 1st year contract…all of us recommend just coming here and going on 10 or 20 interviews. Get to understand the system by getting inside it without a major commitment.

Bear in mind that you won’t be able to legally teach English wothout a passport from the USA, UK, Canada, SA, NZ or Aus.

Brian

It’s not hard to get a job paying NT$60k a month - even if you don’t want to teach. How long do you wish to stay here? If it’s for 1 year I would not learn too much mandarin, if it’s for 2-3+ years, you might want to spend some time teaching a bit on the side and studying Chinese the most of the day. Knowing the language will make your stay much easier.

Easily nailing a 55K-60K/month non-teaching/non-English related job in Taiwan and having never been here or worked here before?!? Uh, i don’t think so…

Let’s not set the guy up for a huge disappointment. Well it might be possible if you land with a big company and get stock incentives/bonuses, but let’s be honest, I think it is quite difficult to do, especially if you don’t know the language.

Non-legal teaching… happens all the time, a shitty contract is ok especially if you’re not planning on teaching long, you just wanna make sure you get paid… If you don’t have a killer accent, you can advertise yourself as North American or British.

TeaLit is a good place to start and advertise yourself, especially if your not in Taiwan yet. Post that your CAN/USA/UK etc and you’ll get calls, helps more if you have a local number that they can call.

I’ve read in the paper that there were companies here that are partnered/associated with Dutch affiliates(do some online searches) but I’m not sure if your Dutch company would permanently post you here.

[quote=“Gener”]Easily nailing a 55K-60K/month non-teaching/non-English related job in Taiwan and having never been here or worked here before?!? Uh, I don’t think so…

Let’s not set the guy up for a huge disappointment. Well it might be possible if you land with a big company and get stock incentives/bonuses, but let’s be honest, I think it is quite difficult to do, especially if you don’t know the language.

Non-legal teaching… happens all the time, a shitty contract is ok especially if you’re not planning on teaching long, you just wanna make sure you get paid… If you don’t have a killer accent, you can advertise yourself as North American or British.
[/quote]

Why are you such a doomsayer? He can walk into any Kindy and practice his demo and negotiation skills…once he gets good at it (2-3 days), he should have no problem landing even 65K/month…legally…

And if kids ain’t his bag, I know my school starts FOB’s off at 53K and we are hiring…

Not legally. Sounds like he/she has either Dutch, German or Jamaican passports, so can’t teach legally. Important to know.

Brian

Not legally. Sounds like he/she has either Dutch, German or Jamaican passports, so can’t teach legally. Important to know.

Brian[/quote]

Ohhhmmm? (Zen for Uhhhmmm? :wink: )

Are you 100% sure about him having to have a passport from one of the big 5? First I’ve heard of this. I thought degree and a foreign passport coupled with a passable accent (to get the job in the first place) were all you needed. I, of course, defer to your knowledge on the subject…just want to be sure you’re sure.

Enlightennally yours,

Toe

[/quote]

Why are you such a doomsayer? He can walk into any Kindy and practice his demo and negotiation skills…once he gets good at it (2-3 days), he should have no problem landing even 65K/month…legally…

[/quote]

Hey Toe Save, re-read my post -> non-teaching/non english related job

No “professional job” in Taiwan is gonna pay 65K/month to a guy straight out of school even if it is a foreign MBA, especially if he just stepped out of CKS airport and unproven that he can adapt to the life here. (hey caomi, you know that most jobs here in Taiwan are like 50-60hours/week jobs right?!?.. damn i miss my 37.5 hour/week job back in Can. )

But for a teaching job, anything goes here, you can get paid peanuts or gold… just a matter of finding the right school.

To teach legally you need a passport from the big 6 plus a copy of ANY bachelor’s degree.

To work(not teach) legally you need to meet one of the following:

  • Technical degree + 3 years document work exp
  • Bachelor degree + 2 years…
  • Masters degree + 1 year…
  • PhD degree + 0 year…

So with an MBA, i think 1 year documented work exp in that field will qualify you… you can always fudge that document since the gov’t here just needs something to stamp to give you your work permit.

Yes. UK, USA, Canada, NZ, Aus, SA, Ireland.

Brian

Yes. UK, USA, Canada, NZ, Aus, SA, Ireland.

Brian[/quote]

I said big 5 and you go and name 7 countries…

I must save face…Canada and the USA are pretty much the same, as are New Zealand and Australia…hmmm…while I’m at it, Hexuan, you don’t mind if I lump Eire in with the UK do you?

Oooops…That’s down to 4 now. Damn!

Gener…sorry…missed the fact that you were talking about non-teaching jobs…However…I don’t miss making minimum wage in Canada…I am working 27.0 hours and doing alright…much better than a humble, retired thespian could ever hope to do in Can’t-ada…Peace, mon frere!

So…to summarize…you can work illegally and do visa runs or take Chinese classes…make quite a bit of money if you work your ass off unless…

You have a passport from one of these alleged countries.

Toe is now done with this thread.

No worries dude. I left Canada for two reasons, gf and bloody high taxes. I’ve told people before, if you’re single, don’t work in Canada, just not worth it, whether you make alot or a little. I’ll definitely return later after i get married and plan on settling down though.

But in the meantime, I too do ~20 hours a week and make decent cash teaching, but I’m gonna jump back behind a desk soon and probably pull a 50 hour work week(and only make the same as teaching but with double the number of hours :frowning: ) since I need to keep my skills sharp when I do decide to head back.

Hey everyone, thanks for all your input.
It seems that teaching isn’t one of the easiest options for me at least if its to be done “legally”.
I’ll try and approach either a large multinational here in Europe or try to find something on www.104.com.tw. I have a friend in Taiwan so maybe they can be of help there. Of course there are all the people on forumosa :wink: I’d like to thank you all again for you input. Hope to meet you all in Taiwan sometime in the future.

Yes. UK, USA, Canada, NZ, Aus, SA, Ireland.

Brian[/quote]

I said big 5 and you go and name 7 countries…

I must save face…Canada and the USA are pretty much the same, as are New Zealand and Australia…hmmm…while I’m at it, Hexuan, you don’t mind if I lump Eire in with the UK do you?

Oooops…That’s down to 4 now. Damn![/quote]
You forgot Scotland, Sealand, and both Inner and Outer Qwghlm.