Taiwan Job Searches

By Brian Brendel

A foreigner conducting a job search in Taiwan has to face a few assumptions, the first being that you will soon leave. So you have to demonstrate why you want to stay. (It helps to be married to a local, but I wouldn’t recommend that as a ploy for getting a job). Also, try to be aware of what stereotypes you may be up against (“Americans are job-hoppers”). If you are of Asian extraction, a whole world of complications, both pro and con, come into play.

If you wish to change careers in Taiwan, another set of challenges may confront you. Even Taiwanese children in grade six know how likely they are to get into certain schools and therefore Western-style dynamic careers are less common here. Telling employers that I, an English teacher, could become a computer product marketer required persuasion and patience.

Eventually, a few expat friends put me in contact with a manufacturer who wanted a technical writer. I took the position part time while I continued to make good money teaching at night. After a few months, I looked again to the English language newspapers and spread the word to friends, promoting myself as a technical writer and marketing assistant in a major local company. That made a big difference, and I was offered every job I interviewed for.

I took a position in a small company as a technical writer and convinced them that as a former English teacher (a factor which had been generally negative earlier) I could edit documents quickly and still have time to cover sales accounts and do some international marketing--my real goal. One of the key factors in the successful interview was my use of basic Chinese and clear, simple English. Nobody will hire a person whom he or she can’t understand.

Because of my time as a foreign tech writer and editor (much needed in Taiwan’s publishing industry), I was able to travel abroad, deliver speeches to multi-ethnic audiences, give product demonstrations, promote product change, and develop a new level of language ability. Now I have returned to the U.S. having added many skills, international travel, sales, and a firm hold on a third language to my resume. I also have something I lacked when I started: strong ties across the Pacific. Now I’m considering a few offers in the States for people who “understand international sales.”

BRIAN BRENDEL currently lives in Michigan after a four-year stay in Taipei. His interests include Mandarin, Spanish and the Internet.