I’m looking for a decent job in Taiwan. I got an offer from a Taiwanese company, which imports kitchen and bathrooms from Europe. As their sales, I’d get a 30’000NT/month plus commision, a working visa, fixed working hours, a week vacation/year…etc.
All in all the conditions sound pretty good for a Taiwanese company.
They gave me 10 days to decide. So help me decide, should I take it or not? I’m still hoping, that if I’m patient enough, I could get something better. Why rush into the first job, that somebody offers me? I’m not really into kitchens or bathrooms and I don’t like to sit in the showroom and wait for customers to show up. I got an M.A. in Art History, speak German, English, Chinese, French, Italian… There must be something else around. What do you think??
Don’t take the job. I’m sure you can do better if you are patient. I think with your language skills you could look for a job that required you to travel to Europe several times a year to represent your company at trade shows. Something along those lines.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
They sound pretty standard to me. Besides, “conditions” might change once you are employed.
I was warned about working for a Taiwanese company and while they don’t treat me bad (being the only foreigner and all) it’s mostly true when looking at my colleagues, sometimes short of exploitation I would say.
Call up some international companies instead or foreign represantative offices, perhaps they have some better offers (conditions are usually better, i.e. more benefits, even you work on local terms).
But don’t take a job you don’t really like unless you do it to bridge time or make some money on the side until you find something better.
Does the company know about your language skills? If they do, be careful. NT$30,000/month sounds about right for a salesperson in the showroom selling the stuff.
They’d need to pay a bit more for someone who can communicate accurately with suppliers in Europe.
My gut feeling is that you would soon find yourself doing liaison work for a salesperson salary “as a favour.”
Just be careful.
Yeah, that is what I was thinking also. I guess I could do better. I’m in Taiwan only since about 2 weeks and this is my first real job offer. They import from Germany and Italy and they do know, that I speak German and Italian. It seems that they are trying to get more for less, since I’d have the ability to communicate with their suppliers in Europe and they’d only pay me a sales persons salary. They kind of gave me pressure by stressing, that I am on my own here in Taiwan and that it would be better to have a real job and health insurance soon and that I shouldn’t miss this opportunity…etc…
My boyfriend is saying, that I should just take the job and quit again, once I found something better, but I don’t wanna do that. It’s not really fair. If I’d accept, I’d do my best…
So what do you guys say, take the risk and wait or just do a job I’m not sooo convinced of?
A week’s holiday is the statutory minimum. 30k is a poor salary. I can’t imagine how they’ll get you a work permit for this kind of job. Check to see how many foreigners are working there. Don’t forget a Taiwanese contract is worthless.
[quote]They kind of gave me pressure by stressing, that I am on my own here in Taiwan and that it would be better to have a real job and health insurance soon and that I shouldn’t miss this opportunity…etc…
[/quote]
If they are giving you that sort of BS before you start imagine what they will probably be like later…
Well, they were really nice people in fact, but I guess, they were just trying to convince me, that I should not keep looking around for other jobs and just say yes to their offer. It seems, that with my language abilities they’d make quite a good deal and were keen to get me on board.
There are no other foreigners working in the company and I’d get a one week vacation the first year and then more the following years.
Any other opinions?
By “more” holidays, what they mean is one additional DAY for each YEAR you stay there. I’m serious, that’s the law.
It sounds to me that they are offering you a salary and conditions that’s maybe a few thousand or so more than that of an 18-year-old sales clerk, for a job that should command a starting salary of at least – AT LEAST – NT$50,000 for regular office hours. But it wouldn’t be office hours, would it? My guess is that you’d be there until closing (10:00pm or so) a lot of the time. What about time differences between here and Europe? Will the boss be expecting you to be available at home at all hours to field telephone calls during European office hours? Better ask him.
The commission they’re talking about – is that sales commission or commission you make on deals with suppliers for the company? If its for company deals (you’ll get a good idea by watching their faces when you ask this question – if they smile, laugh and nod, beware!), you could be looking at more serious cash, but if its for how many kitchen cabinet units you can flog in a month? Not really worth enough to sway your decision.
And as Hexuan says, the work permit question. Have you asked them how they plan to swing that? There is NO WAY IN HELL they’ll get permission to hire a foreigner as a sales clerk.
I’ve seen the new work permit application form and there’s a box in which the employer has to explain exactly what you can bring to the job that a local cannot do.
If he even mentions your language skills (which it seems he would have to), you’re immediately out of the “sales clerk” salary bracket.
IMO they are definitely trying to take advantage of the fact that you are new here and (they think) don’t know your way around yet. Take the job, get the work permit and ARC, and look at what it says on it. I’ll bet you NT$1,000 it wouldn’t say “sales assistant.” It would say “consultant” or “foreign buyer consultant” or something like that.
It would make your boss happy as hell and give him something to brag about to his friends – having a multi-lingual foreign consultant on his staff and only having to pay her a sales clerk’s salary.
Think very carefully about this and thank the good lord above for Forumosa.
Thanks for your explanations sandman. That is somehow what I thought too. I’m first of all not into kitchens and bathrooms and I don’t wanna have a sales job, where I actually have to wait in the showroom for customers to show up. Sounds arrogant, but I think I deserve better. The salary is very low too, that I am well aware of. So yeah, I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t take the job. Wish me good luck for my continuing job hunting then…=)
A tip to help you succeed in sales: You have to really believe that what you’re selling is absolutely what your customer needs. If you don’t then your insincerity will show through and you won’t be making any commissions.
On the other hand, what are you going to do if you don’t take this job? A girl’s gotta eat you know, and 30,000 is enought to support yourself. Then, when you find the better job, you will realise that they own you because they got you an ARC. I’ve been there and it’s no fun. Avoid it if you can and find a trading company.
I know you think Taiwanese people are all soft and cuddly, but the guy who is going to pay a multi-lingual foreigner 30k to do a sales job, well, I’m thinking “pointy teeth”…
If you can speak even rudimentary Chinese and the guy has any sort of business at all this job is worth about 80k. If it wasn’t bathrooms but computery/hi-tech stuff I’d say 100k.
[quote=“hexuan”]I know you think Taiwanese people are all soft and cuddly, but the guy who is going to pay a multi-lingual foreigner 30k to do a sales job, well, I’m thinking “pointy teeth”…
If you can speak even rudimentary Chinese and the guy has any sort of business at all this job is worth about 80k. If it wasn’t bathrooms but computery/hi-tech stuff I’d say 100k.
Why are you so negative with respect to Taiwanese companies? Have you had bad experiences personally? If you are specifically talking about Buxibans, then you shouldn’t generalize because there are good companies with good people out there.
80 to 100K sounds more like salary for a manager at a foreign company, or if you have extensive experience or expertise that a firm needs. Of course as a salesperson you can get to this level if you include commision. If you do not have any relevant experience or is fresh out of school 30K is typical, regardless of other skills that you may have.
You deserve triple that wage, at least. Hold out. A month long job search is nothing. Maybe you should get in with a headhunter. PM gus about that. He may have connections for you in that realm.
During your search, you may want to pick up private classes teaching, to hold you over financially. People say Tealit is the place to look. You could also post an ad for teaching german, english or french for the time being.
It’s not fair but that’s the way it’s done in Asia, people jump from job to job all the time - no such thing as loyalty here. They get a better offer, they are gone. And most local people I know are always looking for that better opportunity.
You can take the job, make some money and still do your best - but if you aren’t committed to / interested in selling kitchen stuff I would reconsider and perhaps not take the job as it will easily bore you and reflect on your performance (read: no commission, less money).
So unless you are desperately needing this job I would support the suggestion to wait and continue searching in other areas.
Thanks for all your advice. I don’t think I’ll take the job. I guess, you guys are right. They’re just trying to rip me off. I can live on my savings for a while or get some teaching job until I find something else. So there is really no need to rush into something I’m not convinced of. Thanks again…
I wouldn’t give up so soon. You shouldn’t turn it down, but rather go in and tell them the skills you bring are worth more than the first offer. Since you’ve already decided the job isn’t worth it, you have nothing to lose at this point. It may be a bit uncomfortable, but the best that can happen is they say they will pay you more, and the worst that happens is you decline and walk away, and you’ve already reconciled yourself to the worst.
Hmm, if their starting offer is NT$30k, then you need to negotiate with a bottom line at NT$50k. Also get the vacation in.
However the mindset you will encounter is that this is Taiwan and that if you don’t want to, then you can walk. If they were serious, they would start higher and offer more vacation time, benefits and the like.