Hi mates,
I’m new in here and may soon join your big family in TW if my application went through.
would appreciate your opinions and advice in this…
I have been invited for an interview with a taiwanese company. They sent me an application form, everything is easily fill-able except for the expected salary portion. I have 4 years of experience in marketing and I really do hope what I’m expecting from them is of industry standard in TW and also not to blow my chances with a unrealistic figure. On the other hand, i don’t wish to be shortchanged.
taking my experience and the lower living expenses in TW into consideration, I’m circumspectly looking at a pay range of USD2800 to 3200.
Is this an acceptable salary bracket for a marketing personnel with 4 years of experience in TW?
No, just salaries aren’t all that high in Taiwan. The cost of living is lower, and there are a million and one Masters graduates who live with their parents and will work for anything because there’s very little in the way of social security and welfare benefits.
Expect to negotiate, though.
(Again, I’m speaking generally as regards salaries in Taiwan. I’ve never worked in marketing.)
i understand the lower cost of living, but the income tax and rent is gonna set one back by a grand monthly. maybe i might be better off in hk or singapore
A grand a month? No. You’ll pay 20% which will go down to 6% after six months. Your rent can be as low or as high as you like. Or did you mean you have commitments in your own country?
As I said, if you have special skills, you may get more, but with four years experience, you won’t be that far ahead of locals. Do you speak, read and write Chinese?
i’m going with my (wishful) thinking that i may get my desired package which will most likely put me at 21% income tax bracket. and a monthly rental of USD400, this would have set me back near to a grand, no?
i can’t say i have any exceptional skills but i have relevant marketing experience but which as u have mentioned, may not be a WOW factor to them.
yep, i speak/write chinese.
The rental figure is a little low and the tax figure too high. In urban Taipei, that won’t get you much, if the convertor at the bottom of the page is to be believed.
It depends what your needs are, I guess. I’m going to bow out of this thread now, because as I mentioned, I have no specialist knowledge of the marketing industry and I don’t want to tell you a load of stuff that is incorrect and turn you off Taiwan.
It’s the middle of the night in Taiwan, so wait until morning, and I’m sure you’ll get some more accurate responses. Good luck, what ever you decide to do.
Taiwanese people who work in general Marketing Executive positions seem to earn around a third of what I would expect people to earn doing a similar job in the UK. So maybe if you take the salary you would expect to earn in your home country and divide it by three that will give you a rough estimate of the amount your employer would expect to pay a Taiwanese person. You can then up your asking price according to your own skills and negotiate accordingly.
EDIT: and it sounds like they came looking for you, so don’t undersell yourself.
DOUBLE EDIT: and, of course, you never negotiate salary according to what you need, you negotiate according to what you’re worth.
Claren -
Wages on Taiwan are severely depressed compared to the “Western” world. This is coupled to the over-abundance of workers for wevery slot available and the low COL here. It is, in most cases, a ‘buyers market.’
Also, what falls under the category of “marketing” is very very ambiguous. Here is where you might have some room for salary growth.
If they are propositiong you - thats a good thing.
If you are chatting them up for a job - don’t expect much.
Is your experience in their field?
Do you have established contacts that will help them?
Is your “rolodex full of good leads”?
Things to consider. You value to them is what is important.
When I moved to Asia, four years ago, I moved only when the job offer gave me exactly the same gross salary (before taxes) as I was getting in the UK. That was based on a similar field of work and experience as you have now.
That might sound optimistic to you but when you negotiate your pay you have to make it clear that the offer has to be worthwhile for your new employers to take you away from your current situation.
Remember that once you move here then the experience you get here will not mean very much when you try to re-enter the job market back home. At 4-5 years experience you are beginning to make a name for yourself in your home market and it is your reputation that will get you to progress up the career ladder more than your CV. If you take a break then many of your current contacts will have forgotten you. I’m not saying that your time here will be completely wasted if you return home, just it won’t be as valuable as your home market experience.
Where experience here will be useful is if you end up sticking it out in Asia for the long term.
The second thing to consider is that the working hours for marketing here are pretty long - expect 60 hour weeks each and every week.
That is why I would recommend that you try to work a deal where you would be financially better off coming here than if you stayed at home. You need to get something extra that balances out what you are losing by moving here.
If you cannot get such a deal because the new employers don’t think you are worth it, then so be it - it’ll be a case where you’re too expensive for this market.
[quote=“Buttercup”]The rental figure is a little low and the tax figure too high. In urban Taipei, that won’t get you much, if the convertor at the bottom of the page is to be believed.
It depends what your needs are, I guess. I’m going to bow out of this thread now, because as I mentioned, I have no specialist knowledge of the marketing industry and I don’t want to tell you a load of stuff that is incorrect and turn you off Taiwan.
It’s the middle of the night in Taiwan, so wait until morning, and I’m sure you’ll get some more accurate responses. Good luck, what ever you decide to do.[/quote]
your insight has confirmed my initial impression what i’m getting myself into; the low living expenses doesn’t work out much merit considering the high tax rates and low pay coupled with long working hours. but nonetheless it is a safe and beautiful country with very ‘热情’ residents which may be a drawing factor.
thanks Buttercup!
[quote=“tomthorne”]Taiwanese people who work in general Marketing Executive positions seem to earn around a third of what I would expect people to earn doing a similar job in the UK. So maybe if you take the salary you would expect to earn in your home country and divide it by three that will give you a rough estimate of the amount your employer would expect to pay a Taiwanese person. You can then up your asking price according to your own skills and negotiate accordingly.
EDIT: and it sounds like they came looking for you, so don’t undersell yourself.
DOUBLE EDIT: and, of course, you never negotiate salary according to what you need, you negotiate according to what you’re worth.
Good luck.[/quote]
wow, 1/3 is a drastic drop. my seconds-thoughts are compounding by the minute
nope, i was the hunter,need a break somewhere. heard of all the good reviews of a taiwanese life and definitely the flip side of a below par work-life balance
yep, i know what i’m worth back in homeland but not here…
so in TW, supply > demand substantially, a competitive mkt where buyer get to choose.
man, I know about the lower pay, hence i was leaning more to matching my current pay, seems like it is still way tooo high.
my experience is not in their industry but the job scopes is the exact same as mine current one
contacts are in homeland, but i believe they shd know this since i’m being imported in
yep, my rolodex back there would be useful if they come expanding their biz into my very land
yay… finally some ‘green shoots’
congrats to you, i believe the expectations of u is then heightened and work hours lengthened considerably? does the 21% income tax affect your decision in any ways?
I see, but with China’s imminent rise in power, why would the value not go in tandem? In any case, I’m intending to stick out in Asia for the long.
the Japanish working hours will take me sometime to adjust and accept, i guess.
couldn’t agree more, relocating is a heavy decision and i have to think twice if i’m plunging on to a lower grounds,
will keep your comments in mind
First off, I don’t know what you mean by “executive.” You have four years experience in an executive position? Or you have four years in marketing?
If its the latter, then you’re basically a rookie. A local in that position will be earning around NT$40k, tops, possibly less, possibly a bit more, but not much.
I worked in a marketing/sales position for a Taiwanese co. My salary was a bit above US$2k per month. Taxes were underreported, so I did not pay a whole lot. As it was not in Taipei, rent was not a major issue pricewise, IE my rent at the time for a 4 bedroom house in a nice area was US$400 per month.
Long work hours, lots of stress, and a horrible work environment were a huge turnoff though, but I slogged through it for one year.
I had no marketing experience when I got the job, however I had 3 years of local work experience and I was absolutely fluent in Chinese.
I would not fill in the “required salary” spot, and see what they offered.
[quote=“sandman”]First off, I don’t know what you mean by “executive.” You have four years experience in an executive position? Or you have four years in marketing?
If its the latter, then you’re basically a rookie. A local in that position will be earning around NT$40k, tops, possibly less, possibly a bit more, but not much.[/quote]
hmm i have 4 years of experience in both marketing and executive position. oh c’mon a rookie sounds like a fresh grad, while i have years of experience under my belt
after 1 year of hellish time, you are back in homeland or found a betta one?
i guess i will just put what i expect, its no big loss to me if they decide not to use me, i need to feel justified for the longer hours
i don’t need a western lifestyle, since i’ve planned to land myself a job here, but hope to to sustain a life within comfortable limits ( ie a roof over my head, decent amt of savings)
got a call from them yesterday, they decided to offer me a package which is half of what i’m drawing now, which upon hearing this, my interest level has plunged tenfold. but they sweetened it with potential earnings from bonus which will in the end match my current annual package.
do i bargain for more? or accept it based on the yearly package?
[quote]potential earnings from bonus which will in the end match my current annual package.
[/quote]
“Potentially” you could I suppose get an annual bonus of eleventy trillion zillion dollars.
As far as I know, though, the only sector in which you could expect anything LIKE a 12-month bonus would be engineering in the hi-tech sector – those guys sometimes get as much as 6 months bonus. Most other places offer from one to three months, usually.
If they’re offering you a year’s bonus to get you over here, I’d make very sure you have it guaranteed and written into your contract.
Edit: Just saw stats for this year’s annual bonuses; the overall average for all sectors is apparently 1.2 months’ salary.
