Job Discussion Forums

[Baz]

In the interests of fairness, I should mention:

Yes, Univ. jobs pay less than buxibans, but:

1) The hours are shorter.
2) You get a guaranteed 1 1/2-month New Year bonus.
3) Paid 5-week New Year and 10-week summer vacations.

You come out ahead at a uni.

[forest1979]

Salary is not the be-all-and-end-all. What of professional development? Personal and vocational ambition? A willingness to get on and move up and through the employment ladder?

If you are a Phd holder, new to the Taiwanese higher ed system and you are ambitious about professional development then ultimately you do not come out ahead if you work for a university. Instead you will be brought face to face with a lack of research culture, lack of encouragement to publish, and lack of time too due to teaching so much, plus will have problem getting funding for research projects. Whilst long holidays might be great they do not add much value to a cv and even the 6 weeks CNY bonus in many cases tops up the salary to a level many buxiban teachers are earning with a few private hours of teaching thrown in. So, come out ahead? That depends on what you want from the job.

[Baz]

forest, yes, these are all things to consider. But salary was the topic I was addressing!

At a few places, such as NTU, the research/career development climate is a bit better, but you're right about most unis in TW.

[forest1979]

I don't disagree about Tai Da but how many MA holders are employed there? In fact, how many westerners are employed there who are first-time employees, have no research record, publications, etc?

I also don't really get your point about wages? Ok, less hours but less pay too. So the bonus of having time off means the need to fill them with work to boost the pay packet, right? And lengthy summers, nice sure, but at that time you're picking up less than US$2000 a month.