Not a teacher. Publishing.
I work in trade (high tech) and own a couple of small businesses (F&B) on the side.
If you want to get out of teaching you have to show someone that you can help them or their business make more money, you have to create your own value. No one is going to hand you a 500K/month salary and a house on Yangmingshan because they think you have potential.
I’ve taught in English when I was stuck for a job but work in sales in high tech area for a long time now. Teaching English is a dead-end for most people, even for the talented and hard-working individuals, industry in Taiwan and the general compensation in that industry is in decline, plus working conditions are poor. The earlier most people exit that the better if you want better earning power when you are older.
Tommy, I am very surprised you have never worked for an airline company…I was sure that would be on your resume somewhere the amount of stuff you seem to know about planes and routes etc.
logistics, never been close to a sticky ball 
[quote=“headhonchoII”]I’ve taught in English when I was stuck for a job but work in sales in high tech area for a long time now. Teaching English is a dead-end for most people, even for the talented and hard-working individuals, industry in Taiwan and the general compensation in that industry is in decline, plus working conditions are poor. The earlier most people exit that the better if you want better earning power when you are older.
Tommy, I am very surprised you have never worked for an airline company…I was sure that would be on your resume somewhere the amount of stuff you seem to know about planes and routes etc.[/quote]
Planes is a hobby of mine. Ex GF flew as a stew with CX for 7 years. Cousin flew as a stew with NWA for bout the same. I flew a lot on biz. One of my best friends worked for NWA cargo for upteen years. And some of my buds are pilots.
I have worked in Taiwan since 2000.
Never taught English, however I am not a native speaker, so I would not even try getting into that field.
I have been a financial analyst for a few years, then sales for a Taiwan company, and now I run my own business.
I don’t know if English teaching is a dead end. If you end up a corporate trainer you can make real money; same if you run a buxiban and you are good at it.
There are other things in life besides money, and the average English teacher makes more than the average Taiwan university grad. If you want to teach, and then to whatever you love to do in your ample spare time, good on you.
[quote=“Mr He”]I have worked in Taiwan since 2000.
Never taught English, however I am not a native speaker, so I would not even try getting into that field.
I have been a financial analyst for a few years, then sales for a Taiwan company, and now I run my own business.
I don’t know if English teaching is a dead end. If you end up a corporate trainer you can make real money; same if you run a buxiban and you are good at it.
There are other things in life besides money, and the average English teacher makes more than the average Taiwan university grad. If you want to teach, and then to whatever you love to do in your ample spare time, good on you.[/quote]
A lot of myths there, I had a great friend who has since left Taiwan as he couldn’t make enough money to support a family/lifestyle properly without working all sorts of hours including weekends too. Number of jobs decreasing. Unstable schools and poor management…not good. Buxibans closing everywhere in Taiwan due to lack of students. He was very experienced but could hardly get an increase in pay after many years. I’d say it’s a dead-end for most (not all) who could do something better long-term.
There are other things in life without money until you actually need money…and no working in business does not mean you don’t have time to enjoy yourself or pursue hobbies. Most biz jobs are 9-6 kind of routines with some travel thrown in. English teachers work all types of split shifts and often have to work weekends. Biz people can also move country easily and try new places and get relevant work experience so you can work in your home country more easily.
Sometimes I think TW may only be good for the younger westerners. Unless you are able to work yourself into a more stable earning environment somehow, like your own business or some such. Teaching english long term is hard because there are always the young college grads with no wife, no house payments, etc to undercut you. You become like a legacy carrier against an upstart new airline who can undercut you because they have no pension payments and a young fleet without high maintenance.
Preferably you have a wife with a head for saving money and an ability to make good money. Thats always a good help.
I ran into this young couple here in the bay area. They are both late 20s. They met in college and now she makes big bucks for oracle and hes not done anything worth more then 2000 usd/month so he stays home with their child and she works.
Now i was thinking. Why cant i get some hot lady like that???
So back to the point. Be in a position to have stable meaningful income and hopefully a nice double income (both partners have to pull their own weight in todays world…a couple is like a twin engined plane…have to have both engines running or its an emergency descent).
If you are in an industry where your experience wont count for much against young challengers. You are just an old (and getting older) lion then and eventually you will just starve.
[quote=“headhonchoII”][quote=“Mr He”]I have worked in Taiwan since 2000.
Never taught English, however I am not a native speaker, so I would not even try getting into that field.
I have been a financial analyst for a few years, then sales for a Taiwan company, and now I run my own business.
I don’t know if English teaching is a dead end. If you end up a corporate trainer you can make real money; same if you run a buxiban and you are good at it.
There are other things in life besides money, and the average English teacher makes more than the average Taiwan university grad. If you want to teach, and then to whatever you love to do in your ample spare time, good on you.[/quote]
A lot of myths there, I had a great friend who has since left Taiwan as he couldn’t make enough money to support a family/lifestyle properly without working all sorts of hours including weekends too. Number of jobs decreasing. Unstable schools and poor management…not good. Buxibans closing everywhere in Taiwan due to lack of students. He was very experienced but could hardly get an increase in pay after many years. I’d say it’s a dead-end for most (not all) who could do something better long-term.
There are other things in life without money until you actually need money…and no working in business does not mean you don’t have time to enjoy yourself or pursue hobbies. Most biz jobs are 9-6 kind of routines with some travel thrown in. English teachers work all types of split shifts and often have to work weekends. Biz people can also move country easily and try new places and get relevant work experience so you can work in your home country more easily.[/quote]
What myths? Mr He’s not a native English speaker. Not a myth. He never taught English. Not a myth. He was a financial analyst, then a salesman, now runs his own business. Not a myth. He doesn’t know if English teaching is a dead end. Not a myth. If you end up in corporate training you can make real money. Absolutely not a myth! If you run a buxiban well you can make real money. Totally not a myth. There are other things in life besides money. Completely myth-free. The average English teacher makes more than the average Taiwanese uni grad. SO not a myth.
You’re talking shite.
[quote=“sandman”][quote=“headhonchoII”][quote=“Mr He”]I have worked in Taiwan since 2000.
Never taught English, however I am not a native speaker, so I would not even try getting into that field.
I have been a financial analyst for a few years, then sales for a Taiwan company, and now I run my own business.
I don’t know if English teaching is a dead end. If you end up a corporate trainer you can make real money; same if you run a buxiban and you are good at it.
There are other things in life besides money, and the average English teacher makes more than the average Taiwan university grad. If you want to teach, and then to whatever you love to do in your ample spare time, good on you.[/quote]
A lot of myths there, I had a great friend who has since left Taiwan as he couldn’t make enough money to support a family/lifestyle properly without working all sorts of hours including weekends too. Number of jobs decreasing. Unstable schools and poor management…not good. Buxibans closing everywhere in Taiwan due to lack of students. He was very experienced but could hardly get an increase in pay after many years. I’d say it’s a dead-end for most (not all) who could do something better long-term.
There are other things in life without money until you actually need money…and no working in business does not mean you don’t have time to enjoy yourself or pursue hobbies. Most biz jobs are 9-6 kind of routines with some travel thrown in. English teachers work all types of split shifts and often have to work weekends. Biz people can also move country easily and try new places and get relevant work experience so you can work in your home country more easily.[/quote]
What myths? Mr He’s not a native English speaker. Not a myth. He never taught English. Not a myth. He was a financial analyst, then a salesman, now runs his own business. Not a myth. He doesn’t know if English teaching is a dead end. Not a myth. If you end up in corporate training you can make real money. Absolutely not a myth! If you run a buxiban well you can make real money. Totally not a myth. There are other things in life besides money. Completely myth-free. The average English teacher makes more than the average Taiwanese uni grad. SO not a myth.
You’re talking shite.[/quote]
If I’m talking shite you’re talking diarrhoea! There’s a myth about loads of free-time,there’s a myth (for most people) of more to life than money, especially in a country with no social benefits such as Taiwan. Why does the country hasve such a high suicide rate?There’s a myth that Buxibans owners will make it big (again for most people)…so yeah… diarrhoea. Face it it’s a job with no prospects for most people, poor benefits, no progression, the sooner they realise it the better for them, especially as the idea of a job is to make money!
Are you seriously saying that for most people there is nothing more to life than money? 
Cuz, for me, life without trains is meaningless.
Whoo Whoo! 
No A does not refute B, B does not refute A. In case you haven’t noticed money is the basis of living these days…I don’t need to explain anymore it is self evident.
To post back on topic and not involve feces, movies, or boobs (for a change from my usual behavior), I’m a foreigner in Taiwan not teaching English, I am an engineer in a professional industry sent on a 3 to 5 year agreement (not a contract as I was and probably will return to being company staff).
In my experience here and in Thailand, there are only 4 main ways a foreigner works long-term in Asia:
- English teacher, eventually possibly a part-owner in a school or pub
- Sent over by their company from back home for a contract term
- Marrying a local
- Own their own business, usually first by coming as 1, 2, or 3 above and either bringing or saving the moolah
In my experience, one thing that does NOT work well is coming here one way or the other and then trying to find western paying jobs by hunting for them on-site here (or in Thailand). Sure some people do it and luck out, and some people make connections while they’re here and sort-of luck out that the opportunity appears, and maybe in some industries that works more than in others. But anecdotally and personally speaking, it aint easy being green.
Circus performers down south Taiwan, Russian dancers in bars, some foreign models, Philippines maids, diplomats, people working in computer industry, construction workers, people who were looking for Thailand but ended up in Taiwan…
I’ve worked as a personal assistant, accountant, English teacher, writer, and now sell diapers and swimwear. My friends include a doula, a children’s music and movement teacher, an architect, a personal trainer, and a health food producer.
There are some Chinese-speaking Caucasians who, with little more than a BA and an incredible amount of drive, have gotten into stock research or sales here and done quite well for themselves. A few of these guys briefly taught English at first … but that was when Taiwan’s financial services industry was very formative and breaking in was easier. It is considerably tougher now, though not impossible for someone who is focused and driven. The Head of Bank of America’s (Merrill) research is an American guy … he’s called ‘Mr. Taiwan’ by the popular press … and he’s known to have a splendid house on Yangmingshan.
My fiancee and I are both from the US. His American company has one of their offices located in Taiwan, so he’s here for a few years doing business development.
Right now, I’m just on summer vacation. After I graduate (from a university in the US), I’ll have 3 science degrees … I’m hoping to find a science-related job instead of wasting those degrees teaching English. But I highly doubt that labs here would pay the $50k+ USD salary I could get back home, and I hear native English teachers get paid a lot more money than scientists … so I might have to suck it up and teach English for a bit!
You can look at job openings in ITRI, Taiwan industrial development board. The pay is comparable or better than English teaching for researchers and managers.
Same here.
Wait… We have the same job, same reason to be in TW, and same taste in beer. Wow, are you my long lost brother?