I just graduated and I got my visa extended for 3 months to look for a job.
I started at the beginning of September and people keep calling me from 104.com for insurance jobs. I got called for an interview for a full-time position that became in the few next emails a part-time and then a job on the side (for 150ntd, 5 hours a week more or less). An English school wants me to teach adults, be the owner’s secretary and marketing assistant for 25000ntd and, of course, they offer a work permit! But only after three months.
Another company called me for an interview but they’re in the middle of nowhere in Taouyuan and I can’t leave my apartment now.
I’m looking into marketing and teaching because that’s where I have experience, my Chinese is intermediate but not at a business level and I’m not a native English speaker. I’m not giving up because I have a serious reason to stay in Taiwan for some more months, but I’m seriously losing hope day by day.
In general you should ignore third-party recruiters who are paid each time some naive FOB takes one of their crap job offers, and either seek out direct advertisements from the actual institutions (check their websites) or cold-call places themselves.
You say you’re newly graduated. If you just got your bachelors and don’t have any real teaching experience, you should be prepared to settle for an average cram-school job though. You’re starting at the bottom of the totem-pole and have to climb your way to better jobs through hard work, connections and accumulated experience; that’s the reality.
(150 NTD an hour is ridiculous though, even for teen Family Mart clerks. Forget that shit.)
I have a master degree and in the last two years I worked part-time in a company and in an English school for respectively 300 and 700ntd per hour. I get that I need to start from the bottom, but 25000 per month? I could barely go by with that.
Also, I thought that with a working visa they need to pay me at leat 48000ntd. Or did I misunderstand?
If it’s education, TESOL or an English related masters that will certainly help a lot.
You should never work for 300 an hour. That’s just a rip off.
I don’t know if there’s some rule about how much you should get paid if you have a working visa, but I DO know 48k NTD is a very small wage. And 25k NTD?? Forget that. That’s exploitation, plain and simple.
Most people here would consider 60k NTD a month to be their cut-off. Anything below that is not really worth considering, imo. With a masters you could get a nice job that pays above 60, but you need to get a teaching license and probably need to commit to a year-long contract.
If you graduated from a local university, the employer only needs to pay you 37k. To help you find a job,says the government. So 25k is still falling short.
As you are not a Native English speaker, bosses at cram schools or buxibans will not pay you top dollar. Or you will be stuck with illegal deals like kindergarten. Not worth it nor enriching to your resume.
My recommendation is look for office jobs. You are in the right area, marketing, social media. Gaming industry and tech stuff like medical devices and solar are hiring. Unfortunately as you have noticed most are located in Zhonghli, Taoyuan or Hsinchu. A move or at least a long commute might be in the works.
You’re right. I liked teaching but I did mostly because I needed the money. I would prefer to find something on marketing or media but it seems impossible.
Try to find an adult class you can teach (not one that only pays you 25k NTD). Maybe you can snag some kinda Business English or Public Relations teaching gig.
If you graduated from a local university, the employer only needs to pay you 37k.
Go figure, lol. Still, I don’t think they know, do they? One was horrified when I asked for 40.000. Anyway, could you please share the link with this info? I would like to read it. Thank you!
Crap, I can’t believe the low wages being discussed here. The OP’s written English is very close to native and quite clear. And he speaks some Chinese. I can’t imagine not getting a job here. Companies are hiring fairly unqualified locals for jobs dealing with the outside world that the OP is definitely very qualified for.
As a Native English speaker, you are practically a shoo in for any job, regardless of qualifications. However, we who are not, are usually paid less and have less chances, in spite of any and all qualifications we may have. That is Taiwan’s job market.
Salaries hence reflect this. Another example: English lessons 650 group, 1000 individually. Any other language, no matter how rare, 300, 400 or less. That is the market.
Bosses know and exploit this. I have seen them doing this to European graduates, engineers, no matter. Not just graduates from local universities. It gets worse, no better. The tendency as it has been pointed out is to replace capable foreigners with even cheaper locals. Or Google Translate.