how do I make more than 70000 NTD a month?

[sandman]

look for another career in Taiwan that will likely pay a whole fucking SHITLOAD less than what you get teaching,

Fixed. You're more than welcome.

[almas john]

chris1234,
I wouldn't worry about earning over 70K; fact is 60K will more than cover any possible drinking expenses. So, what's your poison?

Not that you need to worry about the filthy lucre - your quals and experience are perfect for landing a cushy gig at an international school where you'll be getting well over 70 thou. The only prob is that there aren't that many international schools here and positions don't come up that often.

As you've already figured out, the buxiban path is a road to loserville. And it's to be avoided at all costs. What might start off as just one year could end up as a life sentence (yes, marriage) and the shackles of wedlock see you stuck in some deadend hellhole running a shrimp-fishing pond.

Have you thought about Hong Kong? Or other locales in the region?

[ChewDawg]

As you've already figured out, the buxiban path is a road to loserville. And it's to be avoided at all costs. What might start off as just one year could end up as a life sentence (yes, marriage) and the shackles of wedlock see you stuck in some deadend hellhole running a shrimp-fishing pond.

I don't know what's worse--playing with rubber sticky balls at 50 or having rubber sticky balls at 50.

[almas john]

As you've already figured out, the buxiban path is a road to loserville. And it's to be avoided at all costs. What might start off as just one year could end up as a life sentence (yes, marriage) and the shackles of wedlock see you stuck in some deadend hellhole running a shrimp-fishing pond.

I don't know what's worse--playing with rubber sticky balls at 50 or having rubber sticky balls at 50.

The Sage from the Great White North poses a riddle for his disciples. I believe it is a trick question - that we can both have and play.

But, wow, the thought of 50-year-olds still playing the white monkey in buxibans after decades of that shite!! A bullet would be a mercy.

[ChewDawg]

But, wow, the thought of 50-year-olds still playing the white monkey in buxibans after decades of that shite!! A bullet would be a mercy.

The Sage from the Great White North is against such mercy bullets. It would mean the English teacher would be reincarnated as an insect doomed to live his life inside the walls of a buxiban---not much different from parts of the previous life.

To end the cycle of reincarnation and pain, teachers must seek to become Sadhus or enlightened professionals notches and notches above their current profession and professional enlightenment levels.

[BigJohn]

I am a triple certified teacher with a master's degree + many graduate credits. I am at the dissertation proposal stage in my PhD (in special education, with a focus on literacy instruction and assessment). I am only at my 3rd year as a full- time teacher, but I've worked in non-profits focused on education for multiple years. I am also certified as an educational administrator (principal/ assistant principal).

I keep seeing posts with people claiming salaries higher than 80,000 NTD a month. However, I have almost never seen a job advertised that pays more than 72,000 NTD a month. If anyone could offer some tips on how to find higher salary options, I'd appreciate it.

Oh, I don't want to work at a buxiban because the years I work as a full-time teacher or full-time administrator count as steps in the USA (for higher salary upon my return). Working as a tutor or part- time doesn't get me any steps.

Thanks much!

With your qualifications you could get work in a government school or private school. Some are good, others not.

But why not just go to job fairs and try to get something decent in the region? China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore etc? If you are highly qualified, don't settle for a measly insulting salary.

[GuyInTaiwan]

If you have a Master's, you would start on 67,925NTD/month in the government system, plus a housing allowance (5,000NTD or 10,000NTD), plus a performance bonus, plus an airfare. This could work out at a package of more than 80,000NTD/month. As has been mentioned, however, you could get something better elsewhere.

[superking]

Whilst the sticky ball thing is hardly something to make you feel proud of your life it is pretty easy work. I can't remember what I was on at Shane, but I suspect it was around 60-70 per month. Rock up, find out what the next page of the book is, play games for 70 mins, do the work book, play another game, send them home. Scarf down a burger and a bai shang lu and rinse and repeat. Not taxing your brain can be an advantage if you want it to be. Of course, for those who aspire to more it can be brain rotting, but there is a certain amount of safety and security in those sorts of jobs. The co-teachers mark the books, deal with the idiot on the front desk, and do all the telephone tests. You just stump up, organise some mayhem, and then bugger off down the boozer at clocking off time.

In Taipei I worked in a real school. Lessons were part of the students day. I got 85k I think, but the out of hours prep, the marking, making tests, going to meetings, just the general blather of Taiwanese office politics, well, that was definitely very time consuming and exhausting. Time in the classroom was wonderful, the kids worked hard, and they really showed improvement, but it was much more of a battle with the other stuff.

You need to find what fits best for you. Being lazy and making 60, or working your ass off for 80. If you want that 80 job you'll need to find out where the real schools are. You probably won't get a full time gig at one straight away either. The school I worked at, three of us worked part time, (Me, Erhu and Loretta) until the other two cut down their hours by getting other gigs and the job was mine, all mine! I also got a free flat to stay in, and as many fish heads and bowls of shit soup as I could get into my system. I also had to put up with TOO MUCH SHIT but that is another story.

[ironlady]

When you stack qualifications up against jobs in an industry in which qualifications are largely not really a factor, logic goes out the window.

For universities these days, there are so many Taiwanese Ph.Ds back from abroad that anything less than a Ph.D isn't going to do much for you. Yes, it will get you some jobs -- not saying there aren't any. But anyway, university pay is set centrally, so there's no way to go up or down except to do more hours -- and a little math will soon show that the best way to make money as a university teacher is to take the minimum number of uni hours (for the visa, if you need one) and branch out with privates the rest of the time. The per-hour just isn't there.

In the buxiban scene, qualifications will likely work against you in some places. They want a pliable, conforming teacher who doesn't ask questions. In Taiwan, there are plenty of children left behind, so the idea of having a SpecEd qualification won't help that much. It's not like the insane total inclusion mentality of the US.

I think the other thing is how long has the OP been in Taiwan. It doesn't really matter what qualifications you have -- expecting to walk into the big-money jobs with little time on the ground and few connections probably isn't very realistic. Basically the formula is as people have said above -- you get a "basic" job to provide a visa (if you need one) or pay the rent/mortgage reliably, then you supplement that with anything lucrative you can find. Edit some English "textbooks". Record some English "listening tests". Tutor, erm, do language exchanges with students who are so grateful they give you red envelopes of cash. Whatever. But if the OP is looking for a job that will pay the big bucks on its own, next thing we'll hear will be silly stuff about "job satisfaction" and "professionalism."

[chris1234]

Thanks for the info, all. That was really helpful. I have been looking at some of the international schools, but most seem to be fully staffed for 2012-2013.

I know that I can get a higher salary in other countries, but I'd like to go to Taiwan for a while. I just want to get as high of a salary as I reasonably can, with the local economy and without killing myself from overwork in the process. 40 hours a week is fine for me.

The schools I've been looking at seem to be public schools, but it's hard to tell since most are advertised by recruiters (I've seen criticisms of them on this forum). Mostly, I've been working with Dewey and trying to do my own searches on sites like tealit. I haven't seen any locality that lists public school vacancies on their own. I'd mostly like to go to Taipei, and I don't see a Taipei Public Schools vacancies page, like New York Public Schools or any American district. A lot of the individual schools just have phone numbers on their websites, which doesn't do me any good, since I'm in the USA, right now.

Does anyone have any tips for finding open FT, public school jobs without having to go through a recruiter?