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teacha
Joined: 25 Aug 2005
Posts: 186
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 Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject: The best way to get a Good Editing Job with an ARC. |
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| I made this thread but I have no suggestions other than online ads. Maybe you do. |
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ramakentesh
Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Posts: 145
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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sure - there are many schools out there that will supply anyone who is eligible with an ARc without actually being employed by them - I got two offers for this before I had been in Taiwan for two weeks when I suggested to certain people that I was interested in editing - since professional writing was my background.
Its pricy - some are cheaper than others - one technique is to have a registered and qualified teacher as your fiancee - to keep her employed most schools will offer anything - and legal confines are quickly ignored...
Its illegal and probably totally immoral -  - But in editing they treat you as a person with skills, not just a skin-colour.... |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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In most cases editing work pays less than teaching, but if you really want to stay out of the classroom then there is legal editing work available.
To get this work you must qualify for an ARC based upon editing work. Part of this qualification is meeting the governments requirement of being able to document at least two years of relevant experience in the field. This is pretty standard for professional work in Taiwan, and goes back to the concept of justifying why a foreigner should get the job over a local.
This is one of the reasons that most foreigners end up teaching English as local Chinese can't generally claim native English speaking status. |
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teacha
Joined: 25 Aug 2005
Posts: 186
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Its pricy - some are cheaper than others - |
You mean you gotta pay the schools to pass around your number? How do they benefit in keeping a certified teacher? I don't get it? Thanks for the info though yo ! |
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teacha
Joined: 25 Aug 2005
Posts: 186
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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| clark.w.griswald wrote: |
In most cases editing work pays less than teaching, but if you really want to stay out of the classroom then there is legal editing work available.
To get this work you must qualify for an ARC based upon editing work. Part of this qualification is meeting the governments requirement of being able to document at least two years of relevant experience in the field. This is pretty standard for professional work in Taiwan, and goes back to the concept of justifying why a foreigner should get the job over a local.
This is one of the reasons that most foreigners end up teaching English as local Chinese can't generally claim native English speaking status. |
Yeah but don't native English speaking status people naturally qualify as better editiors than native chinese? I think so. I wish other people did. It would evolve the Taiwanese economy tremendously. |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| teacha wrote: |
| Yeah but don't native English speaking status people naturally qualify as better editiors than native chinese? I think so. I wish other people did. It would evolve the Taiwanese economy tremendously. |
I certainly agree with this is one regard, but not entirely.
I agree that a native speaker can edit conversational style pieces quite well as we can easily spot obscure language usages. The better trained among us (as well as those with relevant experience) can also spot and explain grammatical inconsistencies and problems in that regard. The average foreigner though I don't believe really has much more to offer than a good local as far as editing goes.
One thing that the locals have over us is a good understanding of the governments requirements in regards to curriculum in government schools and the like, an appreciation of required vocab from word lists, and ultimately a good eye for spotting troublesome words and phrases that many of us foreigners take for granted without even thinking about it.
As far as foreigners being worth more, well most foreign editors would get paid more than their Chinese counterparts, but often less than what a foreign teacher can earn. For example, a Chinese editor may get NTD30,000-35,000 a month for full time work, while a foreigner in exactly the same position may get NTD45,000-50,000. A foreign teachers however, working part time in a buxiban and half the number of hours of the editor could probably earn around NTD65,000 based upon an hourly rate of just NTD600 per hour. Add to this privates and the like that the full time editor probably has no time to do and you can see that a teacher generally has more flexibility and earning power than an editor.
Also worth consideration are the responsiblities of full time office staff, that most of us foreign teachers don't have. Sure they get paid typhoon days, weiya company dinner and the like, but they also generally get less holidays, less flexibility on when to take holidays, have to pay into compulsory travel funds, and also have to work one Saturday every two or three months to make up for lost time due to the fact that they are paid monthly but the actual work hours each month vary.
I have worked as both a teacher and a full time editor/writer and I would recommend sticking with teaching for most people. I think that it is a personal choice but I doubt that many people are suited to editing.
Many of you think that I am anal, well you should have seen some of the foreigners I worked with when I was editing. Oh my god!!!!  I remember one guy was particularly religious and he wouldn't allow anything through that suggested evolution as he wanted to respect the rights of creationists. This meant that sentences such as 'Dinosaurs have been around for millions of years' were not allowed in any of the childrens books we were working on!!  |
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ramakentesh
Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Posts: 145
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:50 am Post subject: |
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Good points. As Clark explains you need two-years of documented experience in a field such as editing before they will sponsor your ARC.
That being said, the guys I work with are nearly all on student visas since the place I work does not offer ARCs to anyone.
Editing does have its benefits as well as its downers.
The work is generally time-consuming and dull - thankfully most of the work ive been doing allows me to actually write, rather than simply edit a document where the author uses the word 'honourable' twice in every sentence...
If you get a part-time contract that pays you buy document rather than by hour, you can earn super big money - Where I am working there are guys who are earning $8000 NT per document and they are editing/publishing around 3 documents a day.
The big plus for me was that there doesnt seem to as many sharks or dodgy employers around - the working conditions are pretty relaxed - I can work at home or in the office as long as my work meets deadlines - and the work isnt particularly hard if you have a strong grasp of english and grammar.
In my short time in Taiwan Ive dealt with a lot of schools, most of whom i wasnt willing to work for, and two editing companies - one which paid more than the other, but both of whom seemed straight-up, without catches and seemed reputable and respectful.
I guess what Im trying to say is that the editing employers seem to value your expertise and time, whereas I didnt get that feeling at all from the schools here - primarily from the fact that they have a surplus of teachers to choose from...
My fiancee is a qualified teacher with TESL and loads of experience - but the bushibans are often only interested in experience in taiwan or an american accent at all costs - so she was lucky to find a school that only wanted to employ qualified teachers
Id agree that some of the people you meet in editing seem rather odd/anal - but there are a lot of odd expats in Taiwan period. But there are a lot of people in editing who are doing it because they didnt like the ESL situation in Taiwan and would rather work for an employer who provides them with decent working conditions - without all the BS and underhanded tactics that permiate ESL in Taiwan. |
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teacha
Joined: 25 Aug 2005
Posts: 186
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:29 am Post subject: |
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| Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I wanna work there !!!! |
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Welshguy
Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 143
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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I've been interviewed for editing posts that have paid in the region of 140000 NT which is a bit more than I got blagging in kindergarden. I've actually been paid 1500USD for a single document with a couple of coaching and presentation sessions thrown in. Most of the work is concentrated on technical writers who do manuals for all of the electronic goods that the island makes. Students and professionals are obviously the target market and there are nearly as many people editing who havent got a ~~~~~~~ clue what they are doing as there are teachers, so its doable certainly.
Securities and broking houses will use your services as will legal firms with international clientele and people seeking scripts for websites. Be wary of these as they just break the job up and request a different 'sample' from each sucker. I always reply requesting a sample of the local currency.
Good luck |
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ramakentesh
Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Posts: 145
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 8:12 am Post subject: |
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| Teacha - my advice is 'no you dont...' |
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