Could some experienced Taiwanese/Expat engineers currently living in Taiwan tell me what an entry level Electronics Engineer should expect as a salary (from a local company, not an international company).
I don’t have any industry experience, but I have just started applying for jobs and I already have a couple of job offers. They have told me how much they’re willing to give me and it seems a little low… Or maybe I’m just being too precious.
Can somebody give me a rough ball park figure of what I should expect? I am a native English speaker, I don’t have any relevant experience yet, but I got good grades at school (not that anybody has asked me yet).
Tai Da grads start at about NT$35K/mo, on a 14 month year.
Less reputable schools’ grads get less.
Try to remember there are practically as many double Es on the island as there are taxi drivers.
And it’s doubtful your English ability will factor into any offers.
no shortage of local engineers in TW. might be best to wait until the next big public works project kicks off and they hire a load of foreigners (like the HSR). Usually a few don’t work out and if you are around and qualified they might pick you up. Taipei is building more lines for the MRT, this might be your best bet. Forget about a local firm, unless you like 70 hour work weeks for less than 35K/month.
In the meantime you should consider spreading God’s word and teach the Taiwanese about the book of Mormon, not great pay, but you’ll have a whole new outlook on life. Foreigners in TW are keen to hear this message as well.
[quote=“Deuce Dropper”]no shortage of local engineers in TW. might be best to wait until the next big public works project kicks off and they hire a load of foreigners (like the HSR). Usually a few don’t work out and if you are around and qualified they might pick you up. Taipei is building more lines for the MRT, this might be your best bet. Forget about a local firm, unless you like 70 hour work weeks for less than 35K/month.
In the meantime you should consider spreading God’s word and teach the Taiwanese about the book of Mormon, not great pay, but you’ll have a whole new outlook on life. Foreigners in TW are keen to hear this message as well.[/quote]
They don’t use foreign engineers on MRT projects anymore.
I don’t recall a single one of the HSR engineers not finishing his contract, and they’ve pretty much all gone now.
If you were to get “picked up” on one of those projects, it would be for the local rate anyway.
One of these companies is offering me a 40 hour working week with a 1hr lunch break every day, for a salary of 30,000NTD per month. how does it sound to you?
the company looks quite professional and my instinct tells me they’re not going to give me any shady dealings… and they were quite candid and honest about the pay, working conditions, and holidays (or lackthereof) and how it compares to western countries.
[quote=“bumclouds”]I understand what you’re saying Funkymonkey, but I think I need to invest in my future… Even if it means living it rough for a while…
What do you guys think?[/quote]
About average, maybe a tiny bit low.
Hell, you’re the one who’ll be livng on 50NT bientangs and TB brown bottle, knock yourself out.
Seriously, you’ll have one advantage, and that’s that their offer is as shitty as everyone else’s, so you can walk with a clear conscience should the need arise.
And trust me, the need will arise.
Do you speak Mandarin/are you ethnically Chinese?
I’m assuming that staying in Taiwan is a top priority for you, as you’d probably meet the immigration requirements for New Zealand or somewhere like that, and command a far better starting salary (if you can pick up a job).
However, just staying within Taiwan you can probably find a job which parlays your native speakerness into a bit extra on top. I know within my company the one EE guy who deals directly with overseas techs in India and Europe speaks good (but not native-level) English, and makes a premium for doing so. 30k sounds low, even in a notoriously low-paying (at first) profession. Shit, zero-experience office drones in Taipei fresh out of tourism college make close to that. But if it’s for a year or two, and a progression to bigger and better things, then knock yourself out.
As the chief says, with money that crap you can always drop it at a moment’s notice if something better comes up/they piss you off.
Oh, and 40 hours a week is never 40 hours a week, not in a Taiwanese tech company.
Yup, local companies don’t pay the best. The offer you have been given sounds fairly normal (albeit at the low end) if you are looking at it as the local rate. Recently graduated from uni NTD30~40,000pcm, Senior engineer/leader from NTD5~80,000pcm both based on 14mth salary.
The potential avenue to higher wage would be working as an engineer for an oversea’s company, who needs a rep or project manager to interface between local and oversea engineering teams, downside to that is a need for Chinese.
As Taffy just mentioned, 40hrs is not 40hrs in Taiwan… what that really means is you will only get paid 40hrs regardless… many engineers I have worked with will regularly stay working in the office till 8~9pm.
Specifically what engineering are you looking at EE/ME or FW ?
The company is effectively offering you NT$188/hour IF you work 40 hours a week, and believe me you will work more. Any mention of overtime pay, holiday entitlement, bonus, housing, annual flight ticket, meals, etc.?
I’m not quite sure what you mean when you say ‘invest in my future’, but it does not sound like a sound investment to me. Even if they offered you NT$30,000/month and covered basic expenses like rent, electricity, meals, etc. the offer would still be mediocre.
You will be earning US$6/hour, which is around a thousand US/month.
Well, he says that he’s just out of school and has no experience. I’d guess that investing for his future involves getting into the industry and getting some experience so he has a better chance at getting a better job. Jobs aren’t easy to come by these days, particularly if it’s your first one.
You wouldn’t get an ARC with that little money, as the government don’t give them out for less than 42k a month or something, don’t remember the exact figure, but it’s in that region.
Could some experienced Taiwanese/Expat engineers currently living in Taiwan tell me what an entry level Electronics Engineer should expect as a salary (from a local company, not an international company).
I don’t have any industry experience, but I have just started applying for jobs and I already have a couple of job offers. They have told me how much they’re willing to give me and it seems a little low… Or maybe I’m just being too precious.
Can somebody give me a rough ball park figure of what I should expect? I am a native English speaker, I don’t have any relevant experience yet, but I got good grades at school (not that anybody has asked me yet).
-A[/quote]
Don’t expect a great starting salary as an electronics engineer, but they are known to pay out generous bonuses, when the going is good.
You’re competing with taiwanese engineers, who have atleast a masters degree. That’s what you should be aiming for, if you aren’t.
Could some experienced Taiwanese/Expat engineers currently living in Taiwan tell me what an entry level Electronics Engineer should expect as a salary (from a local company, not an international company).
I don’t have any industry experience, but I have just started applying for jobs and I already have a couple of job offers. They have told me how much they’re willing to give me and it seems a little low… Or maybe I’m just being too precious.
Can somebody give me a rough ball park figure of what I should expect? I am a native English speaker, I don’t have any relevant experience yet, but I got good grades at school (not that anybody has asked me yet).
-A[/quote]
Don’t expect a great starting salary as an electronics engineer, but they are known to pay out generous bonuses, when the going is good.[/quote]
Depending on exactly to whom you’re referring by “they”, those days are largely a thing of the past.
Could some experienced Taiwanese/Expat engineers currently living in Taiwan tell me what an entry level Electronics Engineer should expect as a salary (from a local company, not an international company).
I don’t have any industry experience, but I have just started applying for jobs and I already have a couple of job offers. They have told me how much they’re willing to give me and it seems a little low… Or maybe I’m just being too precious.
Can somebody give me a rough ball park figure of what I should expect? I am a native English speaker, I don’t have any relevant experience yet, but I got good grades at school (not that anybody has asked me yet).
-A[/quote]
Don’t expect a great starting salary as an electronics engineer, but they are known to pay out generous bonuses, when the going is good.[/quote]
Depending on exactly to whom you’re referring by “they”, those days are largely a thing of the past.[/quote]
You know exactly “whom” I’m talking about, assuming that you work for one of “them.” We aren’t that far off from “those days.”