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What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local?

Tsar wrote:What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local?

You can try call center jobs in Philippines, plenty of openings for a guy with American accent. but the salary and benifits are not as good a teaching english

Tsar wrote:What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local?

Why would any employer pay you a salary some multiple times of a "poor local" just because you think you are entitled to a "better lifestyle"? The only way that will happen is if you can provide something the " poor locals" cannot. Real world 101 as they say....

OutWest wrote:

Tsar wrote:What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local?

Why would any employer pay you a salary some multiple times of a "poor local" just because you think you are entitled to a "better lifestyle"? The only way that will happen is if you can provide something the " poor locals" cannot. Real world 101 as they say....

Can you stay on topic and answer the questions?

1. What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? You did not answer this question

2. Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local? You did not any of these questions

You went off topic and provided nothing of relevance to the thread. Maybe you'll come back and actually answer the questions.

I don't understand why everytime I post a thread asking a legitimate question at least one member of the forum tries to make it all about me no matter what the topic. Whether its about girls, jobs, or whatever at least one member comes in, ignores the questions or topic, and makes it about me in a negative way.

If you actually read my questions you would understand that it involved economics and your point was a personal attack calling me entitled, which is what most Americans call Millennials who seek both employment and that which pays reasonably to provide a decent traditional lifestyle.

Teaching math (opens up higher pay plus it also opens up English speaking countries)
Peace Corps
AID (requires foreign service exam)
State Department grunt jobs (ditto)
Marketing jobs in China
U.N. jobs (pay well)
Merchant Marine
Online poker
Forex trading
Skilled trades for oil industry (underwater welding, etc)

The PhilFAQs website has some good stuff on this topic

The mere fact you are asking tends to suggest there would not be any for you, or that if there are you would just have to stumble onto them.

Tsar wrote:What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local?

Your question is too broad in a sense it very much depends on which location abroad (city or country) and your particular skill set. Specialized knowledge about the particular local would probably be needed to give you a decent actionable answer.

For example:
If you have a documented and solid few years engineering or IT background, you might be able to secure something in China, HK, SP, or Taiwan which starts you at a few thousand USD a month with bonus. But it depends very much on what your specialty is and what is in demand. You can search such jobs online at job sites used in those countries. Some people just go in-country and network. If you have a finance background and an MBA, you might be able to hit the brokerage companies in Taipei, HK, Shanghai, Singapore and get your foot in the door to something which again would start you at a few thousand USD a month but would have lots of upside.

Some call centers in Philippines may pay a premium for people with multiple skill sets. For example, I know a Filipina who speaks perfect English and Spanish plus very good Portuguese who gets paid at least 90,000 Pesos a month (sometimes a bonus is added on top of that) at a firm in RCB Tower. Her language skills plus western work ethic make her valuable and the job actually utilizes all of those facets of her background. Outwest made a good point. However, local productivity in-country tends to be low so a westerner can still command some premium, even for a regular call center job according to what Ava Paige told me. Perhaps same can be said for online English teaching. The more productive and professional Fiipinos tend to often get lured overseas. Worker productivity, wages, and a county's position on the economic development curve are all correlated. Chinese workers (blue and white collar) were much less productive 20 years ago than now. Same can be said for other nations which have enjoyed rapid development in last decade or two.

Philippines probably offers lots of great opportunities for someone with a bit of entrepreneurial creativity. China used to but I don't know if that's the case anymore. If you have some capital, there's a lot you can do here if you are a shrewd and cautious enough investor.

Oilmen have it made in so many places. If you got the right skill set there, you might be able to write your own ticket for a nice list of locals.

Lad used to talk about working in Middle East to earn big money, save for say a year or two, then use it to live several years in Phils or Thailand. Don't know if that model still works.

I know you said besides English teaching. But if you could still consider that option, you might think of teaching 3-5 months a year in Taiwan then using the money saved to live the rest of the year in your (cheap) SE Asian nation of choice.

Lots of decent paid mid level corporate grunt jobs open to expats in Singapore or HK if you get some documented finance, IT, or marketing skills under your belt.

The list goes on. Finding a non-English teaching career in Asia without just happening to be sent here by your company is an out-of-the-box endeavor. Don't know how things stack up in Europe or Latin America.

If your only qualification is being a developed Anglo country citizen with a generic lib arts degree, then you will definitely need to be creative and resourceful to find a non-English teaching job here. For example, you go to Philippines, you get fed-up by how lousy whatever private service industry is, you come up with a better service model, find investors, and run with it (assuming you have some confidence in that field). A lot of Koreans have done that here. Winston used to complain frequently about restaurants and eateries here. Momopi told him to do it better on his own and make a bundle in the process. That's the advantage of a developing country. There's tends to be a lot of holes and inefficiencies which are open to exploitation (or a better term would be improvement) by someone savvy enough to connect the dots and actually implement a solution.

rock how are you gonna get a call center or english job in philippines? you cant work on a tourist visa. And do you really think they are gonna give a job to an american when its one of the poorest countries in southeast asia (save for india and vietnam which BARELY are poorer).

newlifeinphilippines wrote:rock how are you gonna get a call center or english job in philippines? you cant work on a tourist visa. And do you really think they are gonna give a job to an american when its one of the poorest countries in southeast asia (save for india and vietnam which BARELY are poorer).

You can't legally work on a tourist visa about anywhere.

But there are Americans and other westerners working in call centers here. Presumably they apply and get work permits or perhaps there is an under the table arrangement, I'm not sure. Another route is to apply for a retirement visa which gives you broad working rights. But you need to be at least 35 to qualify. It also requires you keep money in a local bank account or buy a condo. I might get around to researching how the white faced suits I see here and there in Makati (many in call center or teaching positions) got their jobs.

I kinda keep to myself but I've met a few expats here. The two white guys I know in my immediate area are entrepreneurial types. Both have had their hands in a number of businesses here over the last few years. And don't forget our HA advisor Mr. S. He has some sort of training job which from what he has said pays a decently. Oh and remember our friend Airking, the pasty faced expat who like me was in Taiwan before? He did bubble tea business in Angeles which he says worked out well...till (something happened lol?). Then he diversified into spy business charging naive whities $495 to have their girls age verified as 18+ and from what Winston tells me, he's back to doing bubble tea business, but far away from Angles City lol.

Rock wrote:

newlifeinphilippines wrote:rock how are you gonna get a call center or english job in philippines? you cant work on a tourist visa. And do you really think they are gonna give a job to an american when its one of the poorest countries in southeast asia (save for india and vietnam which BARELY are poorer).

You can't legally work on a tourist visa about anywhere.

But there are Americans and other westerners working in call centers here. Presumably they apply and get work permits or perhaps there is an under the table arrangement, I'm not sure. Another route is to apply for a retirement visa which gives you broad working rights. But you need to be at least 35 to qualify. It also requires you keep money in a local bank account or buy a condo. I might get around to researching how the white faced suits I see here and there in Makati (many in call center or teaching positions) got their jobs.

I kinda keep to myself but I've met a few expats here. The two white guys I know in my immediate area are entrepreneurial types. Both have had their hands in a number of businesses here over the last few years. And don't forget our HA advisor Mr. S. He has some sort of training job which from what he has said pays a decently. Oh and remember our friend Airking, the pasty faced expat who like me was in Taiwan before? He did bubble tea business in Angeles which he says worked out well...till (something happened lol?). Then he diversified into spy business charging naive whities $495 to have their girls age verified as 18+ and from what Winston tells me, he's back to doing bubble tea business, but far away from Angles City lol.

yeah i wonder how mr. s was able to transition to a working job all these years.

i think being an entrepreneurial person is good but i wouldn't attempt it in the 3rd world unless you could lose everything in the business adventure and still be perfectly comfortable afterwards. Just not worth the risk.

That angeles detective thing actually sounds like an exciting idea but id imagine a lot of drama and other shady stuff could go down not making it worth it. Plus as many gullible foreigners there are it simply isn't large enough clientelle niche to really tap into to live off. I dont know I just can't imagine that many guys even in angeles needed to hire a detective. Most already know the answer deep down they dont need to find out.

A person could always become a gangster to make money abroad. Here is what Winston would look like if he decided to start sticking people up!

Jester wrote:Teaching math (opens up higher pay plus it also opens up English speaking countries)
Peace Corps
AID (requires foreign service exam)
State Department grunt jobs (ditto)
Marketing jobs in China
U.N. jobs (pay well)
Merchant Marine
Online poker
Forex trading
Skilled trades for oil industry (underwater welding, etc)

I was once a Math professor. Where are these Math teaching opportunities?

Try working for a international hotel chain. They always need people with great english speaking skills plus you have the benefit of getting great company perks if you want to travel. Here's a few industries to target:

- travel and hotel
- language
- online gambling
- security
- customer service via telephone

Also, It's really easy to learn some of the local language and increase your job opportunities. Where are you going?

Go to www.FrenchPod101.com they have many language courses available for dozens of languages. It's free to.

Tsar wrote:

OutWest wrote:

Tsar wrote:What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local?

.......The only way that will happen is IF YOU CAN PROVIDE SOMETHING THE " POOR LOCALS" CANNOT. Real world 101 as they say....

Can you stay on topic and answer the questions?
1. What options does someone have for working abroad aside from teaching English? You did not answer this question
2. Are there any and do they pay enough for the person to have a reasonable lifestyle and not be just like a poor local? You did not any of these questions
You went off topic and provided nothing of relevance to the thread. Maybe you'll come back and actually answer the questions.

He did answer the question, quite succinctly. You asked a very generalized question without any specific info about your own situation so he gave you a very general answer. A very accurate answer though if you think about it.