Job Discussion Forums

[KaiFeng]

I'll be business-tripping to Taipei in late December, just after Christmas, and thought I'd swing by a few major schools. Is everything slowed down then, class-wise? I'd love to sit in on a train-the-trainer session, if anyone has one scheduled for that period.

I've asked a few old partners, got some mixed messages, and thought there was no better plane to ask then this.

I should mention I spent about 20 awesome years in Taipei ESL, and am curious what the scene is like now. This is more in the nature of market research than newb job-hunting (not that there is anything wrong with that).

Thanks, guys!

Also, can anyone recommend awesome Szuchuan restaurants in Taipei? Thanks a bunch!

[Solar Strength]

what's the most you ever made in a single month teaching in Taiwan as a Language Consultant?

[KaiFeng]

Hi, solar, and thanks for writing. I was going through my old Day-Timers recently, looking for phone numbers for some of my old clients, and remembered fondly the old 9-11 billable hours days. At the end of my career in Taiwan I was making an average of $10K a month. In fact, I've already posted about this at length in previous posts and on my blog- theesllife.wordpress.com, ported from the one I posted here a while back- the-esl-life.blogspot.com.

[Solar Strength]

[KaiFeng]

It's a good point. I was little affected by previous recessions and the Asian meltdown in the late 90s, though. What protected me was the nature of my clientele. So, for example, at one international pharma, I worked with the general manager, treasurer, HR manager, and sales managers: writing, business presentations, Fortune magazine, stuff like that. Even when things were tough, they might cut training for receptionists and folks in the trenches, but never for themselves. Similarly, someone at Kojen once told me that when the economy is tough, people study even more to make themselves more competitive.

Plus, if you have, say, 6-10 major clients (I had about five) and 10 or so smaller ones, the total revenue stream is diverse enough that you're safe when a couple drop out. Plus, remember, there's also editing and translations, which you can do on weekends or at home.

It takes years, mind you, to craft a perfect portfolio, but it is worth the effort. Naturally, I'll be visiting some of them in December.

[gfisher]

[KaiFeng]

GFisher, thanks for writing. I never incorporated, if that's what you mean. Yes, that's pretty much it. The only thing I would add is long-term portfolio planning:

- Selecting high-end markets and woking to get into them through connections and frequent approaches.

- Arranging your clients to minimize non-billable travel time. For me this meant two things. One, getting clients in Taipei in a big square delimited by Min-ch'uen E. Rd., Tun-hua N. Rd., Ch'ang-an E. Rd., and Fu-hsing N. Rd. This maximized work time and minimized travel time. Two, not using a car, since this would have spent infinite hours looking for parking, and that is not even mentioning the aggravation and hassle.

If I were starting over, I would be much more bold about asking existing clients for referrals. I once mapped out how I got my clients over the years, and was amazed to see that three or four people I worked wiith had led to almost all the others. Pure word-of-mouth magic whivch it never even occurred to me at the time to nurture!

As I originally noted, I'll be visiting Taipei at the end of the year for a few weeks, and am already making a list of companies I will visit, with an eye to making contacts now to leverge in a few years. These days I teach ESL at a community college, and when I visit future prospects it will be as a professor in ESL (albeit adjunct). This will open many doors, and I intend to maximally capitalize on it.