Finally I am beginnng to see that there are opportunities to make a living outside of English teaching. I am curious how other people with only a B.A. degree got out of teaching.
Well, those are two different questions. I found one of my jobs when an English student at a buxiban told me that the editor at the company where his wife worked was leaving Taiwan, and he encouraged me to submit a resume. I found the other editing job in the newspaper classifieds – they wanted someone with a Master’s and ideally with a Ph.D., and I’m ABD (almost Ph.D.) so they were eager to hire me. Similar opportunities exist without those degree requirements. Just check Taiwanted and all the local classifieds regularly.
I am hoping to get a job in the travel industry.
Writing for the inflight magazines or copywriting for the marketing dept. or something similar?
No, providing up to date travel information and reviews for a company.
I see. That’s how the MA in Professional Writing is going to tie-in.
Sounds like a good idea to be moving forward with.
I didn’t get the job yet. I did land one job writing product reviews to enhance the ability of Taiwanese companies to sell their products internationally.
How does that work, exactly? I get that kind of info with a couple of mouse clicks. Is there money in it? Or you get to travel a lot on the company dime? That might be cool for a few months, but I would think the constant travel would start to get on my tits pretty quick.
Why do so many people seem so desperate to get out of teaching? I have taught both science and English. It’s quite fun to teach and the hours are pretty good. I only do it part time but I find it rewarding. I hear such comments as “I was a teacher once but I got out of it a long time ago okay I really did I promise”. It’s not like being in jail or having leprosy.
One man’s meat is another man’s poison (rarely used idiom alert for any students reading this 
).
I’ve done several other jobs and teaching English is far better than any of the others. I think that teaching is a vocation, not a job, and consequently you really need to enjoy it and find it rewarding. It’s not a job where you can just turn up, go through the motions and collect your pay check for a long period of time. That would be soul-destroying. Fortunately, there appear to be a lot of avenues for those who don’t enjoy teaching EFL to move into - especially if they have acquired good Mandarin Chinese.
I actually tell people I work in the illegal kidnapping of young girls to be sold into sex slavery, sometimes work poaching endangered species for Chinese medicinal purposes, freelance for a Columbian drug cartel, lent a helping hand to Slobodan Milosevic with his “ethnic problems” in the former Yugoslavia (and am now on a retainer for the Sudanese government) and have been involved in mercenary operations that have toppled several democratic governments and installed brutal dictatorships in the developing world. It’s more respectable and people actually want to talk to me at dinner parties.
I actually tell people I work in the illegal kidnapping of young girls to be sold into sex slavery, sometimes work poaching endangered species for Chinese medicinal purposes, freelance for a Columbian drug cartel, lent a helping hand to Slobodan Milosevic with his “ethnic problems” in the former Yugoslavia (and am now on a retainer for the Sudanese government) and have been involved in mercenary operations that have toppled several democratic governments and installed brutal dictatorships in the developing world. It’s more respectable and people actually want to talk to me at dinner parties.[/quote]
now that does sound like someone I know namely my dad lol
One man’s meat is another man’s poison (rarely used idiom alert for any students reading this ).
I’ve done several other jobs and teaching English is far better than any of the others. I think that teaching is a vocation, not a job, and consequently you really need to enjoy it and find it rewarding. It’s not a job where you can just turn up, go through the motions and collect your pay check for a long period of time. That would be soul-destroying. Fortunately, there appear to be a lot of avenues for those who don’t enjoy teaching EFL to move into - especially if they have acquired good Mandarin Chinese.[/quote]
Yah different horses for different courses. Different strokes for different folks.
Teaching can be very fun and editing is soooooooo boring. At least in teaching I get lots of young women stroking the hairs on my arm that never happens in an editing office. Well bouts of cyber sexing may be an option it has to beat Forumosa.
I actually tell people I work in the illegal kidnapping of young girls to be sold into sex slavery, sometimes work poaching endangered species for Chinese medicinal purposes, freelance for a Columbian drug cartel, lent a helping hand to Slobodan Milosevic with his “ethnic problems” in the former Yugoslavia (and am now on a retainer for the Sudanese government) and have been involved in mercenary operations that have toppled several democratic governments and installed brutal dictatorships in the developing world. It’s more respectable and people actually want to talk to me at dinner parties.[/quote]
That is pure bullshit. If it was true, we would have met before.
sandman: Maybe we have, but I was using an alias. I was the small Puerto Rican guy with the Polish surname and the Rhodesian passport.
Bastard! I want that wallet BACK!
Sorry, I already returned it to tomthorne by mistake, since he bore a remarkable likeness to the ID photo.
Yeah…absolute tosh. Everyone knows that it is Fred Smith who works for the CIA, not you
I hope the CIA weren’t checking his expenses…tough work getting through those wine lists.
Well, that does bring up an interesting set of questions, which I will start a new thread about!