Working | PhilFAQS

More About Foreigner Jobs in the Philippines

April 22, 2010 By Philly 21 Comments

cebu-jobs This is always one of my popular and searched for items … Jobs for Americans in the Philippines. Personally, if I had to have a J*O*B I’d rather have one in the US, but who am I to tell others what to do.

Jobs for foreigners in the Philippines have traditionally been hard to come by … at least decent ones that pay anything like US-style wages. There are some number of Western corporations with operations here and living allowances with those sorts of jobs tend to be very good … but it’s very difficult to get into something like that from the outside .. typically folks in those positions are workers who have been with the company for years and were selected internally for what is usually regarded as a “plum” position.

An example as to how good working here can be with the right pay and benefits package would be the US State Department folks at the US Embassy. Some reliable info I had last year indicates Foreign Service jobs in Manila are traditionally the most sought after of all the State department positions, and more than 85% of the folks selected to work here ask to extend their tours … but I doubt I have many Sate department prospects among my readers. Also, this information was gathered before the US dollar started down the tubes. devaluation of the US dollar is a real consideration for any prospective overseas worker who is going to be paid in dollars … the ‘greenback’ isn’t what it used to be.

You must have permission to work in the Philippines .. either a specific ‘work visa’ which must be applied for by the company who wants to hire you, or be a legal permanent resident, such as a 13(a), 13(g) or SRRV (Special resident Retirement Visa) holder.

(Important Note: Although the permanent visas I mentioned sometimes do convey the privilege to work here, it is never automatic. ALL aliens must get a working permit from the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) … a lot of foreigners seem to get this part wrong … it’s a common reason for people being deported or sitting in Immigration Jail)

Many jobs are available in the ‘Teaching English as a Second Language” field. In general these tend to be relatively low pay and long hours, as the schools involved cater mainly to students from Korea who are looking for bargain education in the Philippines. 600 to 1,000 Philippine Pesos per day is a common wage and you can plan on 6 days of work per week.

The current ‘boom industry in the Philippines is what’s loosely called “call centers”, which typically come in two flavors, inbound and outbound. Inbound call centers take calls for customer service, online sales, requests for catalogs and information, etc. Outbound centers are mostly in the telemarketing sales area, calling businesses to solicit space in directories, setting appointments for sales calls and making add-on sales to customers who have already bought something from a company.

But the biggest growth area is in BPO … Business Process Outsourcing which covers areas such as data entry, transcription of doctors and lawyer’s case notes, entering sales into accounting ledgers and numerous other ‘back room’ chores that big businesses need warm bodies for.

Foreigners are typically sought as language coaches and trainers and may advance to team leaders and other second-level supervisory positions. 18,000 to 30,000 PhP per month is a ballpark pay figure, normally for 5 day work weeks, but remember that night-time here in the Philippines is when the work needs to be done and customer service style positions are going to require 24x7x365 coverage, so new people are looking at a lot of weekend and midnight shift work.

I recently came across a pretty comprehensive listing of jobs in the Philippines, centered on Cebu, which i am happy to pass on … http://www.cebu-philippines.net/philippines-jobs.html

If working is your think, hopefully this can help …if you are interested in earning money without a job at all, you might like to visit my other blog, www.retiredpay.com or my friend Bob’s on-line Virtual Earner blog.

For more information on jobs for foreigners in the Philippines or jobs for Americans in the Philippines, try the “Search” box on the upper right sidebar.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Finding a Job in the Phillipines — Are You Sure?

January 22, 2010 By Philly 8 Comments

From time to time I get some comments that really deserve a whole article on their own

(by the way, any of you who have the urge to pour out some information, but don’t want to go through the hassle and make the commitment required to start your own blog and web site, are welcome to “guest” here, any time … no prior permission required, just email me what you want to say, and if I like it, I’ll use it … or not, strictly on a no commitment basis)

Anyway, I received a great comment from reader Bruce Hale awhile back, and I wanted to share it with you, along with my own thoughts. The general subject was education, like experience, making your own success, and pros and cons of formal education. (Note, I edited Bruce’s comment lightly to improve the flow, I believe I have changed nothing whatever from his meaning, though … that certainly wasn’t my intention.)

A few months back I was traveling, and took a side trip to visit a nephew that very much was determined and wanted to talk to me . Must admit was a little shocked to hear from him. I did not know him well, from myself being gone in travels/work over the years. His folks were educators in the school system in his state.

He had finished college awhile back (computer software). No-job, loans , clueless-with a degree, and parents that had no clue what to tell him. He was led to believe if had a degree, “you had it going on” , unstoppable in some regards” His folks think in the Box……….

photo credit: cogdogblog

This is a story that can be repeated hundreds of thousand if not millions of time either in the US or the Philippines. Instead of teaching that either jobs or self-employment come from finding a need and learning how to fill it, schools teach that ‘pure education’ is the cure-all to everything. If you lack education and are trying to fill a job which requires it, then of course, you are stymied. But no form of education can teach you the basic fact of life … education is absolutely worthless if you can’t figure out how to apply it. And if you don’t understand that work is the key to all of it … no matter what your educational accomplishments.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” (Calvin Coolidge, 30th POTUS)

He asked me to tell him with full honesty my opinion in dumping more in to the school system was the right life choice for him (and coincidentally going further in debt). The government (USA) was giving breaks in support to do so. The kid was in tears, he was smart enough to realize something was not adding up. Government jobs had become part-time for years. (Editor’s note: or disappearing, the US DoD jobs, even career military jobs, are being contracted out to ‘fire at will, zero benefit’ contractor jobs at a rate that would make your head spin, and even key ‘government only jobs like FAA air traffic controllers and inspectors are going contact at an ever increasing rate) Major company layoffs/reductions(can’t have a job for 25 years retire it seems anymore). Some say your SS will probably not be around anymore in future years. Some say invest in other things as well, and so on so on………..

I told him I was pretty sure he would be able to come up with the answer for himself… He could find his own direction. if he would take a step back and think, really think………..

I asked him in his four years at the University how many hours he spent in class and /Labs in study?

I asked him how many hours a week he spent in homework time(4 years)in study?

I asked him How much he thought it had already cost him/folks for the total of the 4 years of school..???

He was a smart kid proved he could finish this project,and put in the time, But was jobless..

I asked him If he was to do it all over again…

I’d love to be able to interview a whole room full of young people like Bruce’s nephew like this. Or a sampling of older guys and gals who are currently ‘on the cusp’ of going back to school and spending a fortune because “someone” told them that education was the key to everything.

What if it was possible to study the Internet (from most anywhere), use the library (even at the same university with out checking out,or student enroll). Interview people in different fields of interest.

.KNOWLEDGE/ FOCUS IS KEY AND IT DOES NOT HAVE TO COST A LOT IN THE POCKET..

If you believe in yourself, and dedicated the same spent time that you did in class, labs, homework etc. In a 4 year time period You probably could have became a expert in a number of trades/subjects etc. AT VERY LITTLE COST.

Examples:

— 1 year computer study/network /selling on line/marketing,design etc.
— 1 year Finance,investing what to do with the money-long term plan
— 1 year study trends online, all about import/export. What sells online, how are people making money, etc.
— 1 year Learning how to deal with people, customer service,learn shipping lines boat,train, truck,plane etc.

and how to better oneself … inside …

I BELIEVE YOU WOULD LEARN A LOT

Lets say At the end of four years. You were able to get a small business loan,or private,grants,etc.(witch you could have researched how to do)

FOR THE ENTIRE AMOUNT YOU HAVE SPENT ON SCHOOL IN 4 YEARS.

What if mom and dad would have loaned you the money after this four years of dedication and study????

Do you think you would be in a better space than you are now I asked him???????

…. I could do the same thing at 70 if desired (who knows?). There is a difference in making money,then having something grow in the way you wan’t that you are not tied up or married too…..

As you stated before there are many tools in the “tool box” NO I WOULD NOT SPEND THE MONEY FOR COLLEGE WITH TODAYS TOOLS.

You can live good anywhere,it is up to you……
“YOU ONLY FAIL WHEN YOU STOP TRYING”

I pray others will wake up and fight for what they want ……….

remember, this is not a sales message, except in the sense I want to ‘sell’ you on the fact that trying to find an old fashioned conventional job, in the Philippines or in the US, for that matter is likely not what you want to do for your future security.

Recently I had a comment on a similar post that postulated that entreprenuers are born and can’t be made. Well, maybe so, although I don’t agree fully. perhaps there is a spark of pure entrepreneurship that only occurs in certain people based on some gene … I can’t dispute that.

But I can dispute the thought that anyone reading here who has the knowledge to find a conventional job can follow easy to learn steps and make themselves more secure in the future.

The handwriting is on the wall. The question is not what has been written, but rather if you will be astute enough to read it.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Filed Under: Working

Work From Home — No Matter Where Home Is

January 6, 2010 By Philly 6 Comments

Warning: The information contained here-in may lead you, at some point, to a sales pitch, from which I might earn money. However, it may also enhance your life in ways you haven’t thought of yet, and could lead you to financial independence … so, as we say here in the Philippines, whether or not you chose to continue is, “‘Sup to you.”

How many of you reading this consider “Evangelist” to be a word associated only with religion? I think that a preacher waving his arms from the pulpit is very likely the most common thing that comes to mind. And it is not at all a false impression, in some definitions, Evangelist, especially when capitalized, refers specifically to the four authors of the Gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

But when you use a small “e”. evangelism can simply mean one who continually tries to enlighten and teach, no matter if the subject is religious or secular, and that’s the definition I am using here.

One of my all-time heroes of industry, Guy Kawasaki, was known for years as the Apple Evangelist, and in some ways he still is.

And on the Eighth Day God Created the Internet

I consider myself a digital evangelist, or more accurately and Internet evangelist. So many of the people I come in contact with, especially folks who contact me on this blog, seem to consider the Internet as just am interesting toy, irrelevant to their “real” problems, which often include escaping a job they hate, finding a way to support themselves while living in the Philippines, earning extra money to support family in the Philippines and so on.

Well let me pose an alternative view to that held by many of you:

The Internet is the largest socio-economic phenomenon of our century. It changed the way people communicate, collaborate, and live. It also created a whole new type of worker: the online worker. Those are people who work full-time on the Internet. Some make money through their blogs, others leverage affiliate marketing, others yet focus on providing services over the web …

photo credit: SeaDave The Internet will not “change the world”, it already has, and if you aren’t on board, especially on board in something other than playing games or reading Facebook pages, your time is short … the train is pulling out of the station and if you expect to attain your proper degree of success, you better get on board.

The quote above is from Daniel Soccoco, a long-time on-line acquaintance of mine and a very successful blogger and Internet entrepreneur. Daniel is heading up a great new training/support program that will certainly change many lives … I think it has that much value. If you are still dependent on a last century conventional “job”, or worse yet, are desperately searching for one of those “job” things, then you owe it to yourself to investigate this opportunity so you can make an honest evaluation. Here are some pull quotes from a recent article Daniel authored, along with some of my comments to help you tie them directly to the situations that many of you reading this blog have told me “fit” your needs.

1. No more wasted time on commutes

Even if you live relatively close to your work, you’ll still waste a good amount of time commuting back and forth every day. For example, if your workplace is 30 minutes away from your home (either by car or by public transportation), you will waste 60 minutes per day, which translates into 240 hours every year….

Of course for us who are interested in living in the Philippines and still earning a decent living, the “commute” we sometimes face is one of the largest on earth. I know of many fellows who have kept their conventional jobs in the USA while they send money back to support their families living here.

And of course, to many of my Filipino readers, this has, unfortunately become virtually the norm. If you want to earn a decent living, you must flee the country and go to some other country to do work at lobs their own citizens don’t want to. I can sum this whole attitude in one concise, precise word … bullshit.

The Internet allows you to “be” anywhere you want to be for your earning activities, while your body stays where you chose that it be. And think for a minute about Daniel’s estimate of 240 hours wasted on commuting every year. Typically, you are likely to work 40 plus years. That works out to nearly five years of commuting over an average career.

Are you trying to tell me that you figure it’s worth spending five full years of your life stuck in traffic, or waiting for trains, or sucking traffic smoke in the back of a Jeepney? My daily commute is about 30 seconds from my bedroom door to my computer room. About four weeks out of a 40 year career … that alone is a fantastic saving/reduction in carbon emissions/opportunity time, whatever you personally choose to value time with.

2. You can work on your own terms

Imagine being able to wake up without an alarm clock every single day. If you work on the Internet you can work any time you want. Do you feel more productive at night? Then work at night. Do you want to take Wednesdays off to practice a sport? Go for it. …

Not too long ago I recall complaining to someone about a young man who had asked me for help in finding a job. He couldn’t seem to hold a conventional job because, get this, he was 26 years old and he couldn’t get up in time for work.

Well of course, to my 65-year-old mind, especially with 40 years of military conditioning, I found this shocking … sad … “nothing but a damn slacker, that fellow”.

But guess what? Maybe you hate getting up in the am? Have you been told all your life that “the early bird gets the worm” and all those other little brainwashing saying we’ve been taught since childhood?

Well the truth is, those saying are all out the window. The Internet is open for business 24-7. If you want to stay in bed long after sunrise, and work until the wee hours because that is what suits you best … that will be just fine.

3. You can work anywhere

We say “work from home,” but in reality you can work anywhere, and this is a great advantage. The only requirement is a reliable Internet connection, but you can get one virtually anywhere these days. You could work from cafes, parks, and even from the beach if you grab a wireless modem.

For the matter of fact you can even travel to other countries and still work on your websites as you would do if you were sitting on your home office (and many people do just that). …

That’s what I’ve been talking about, folks. Many times I have been received criticism back from people complaining that they asked me for information about a job and I answered them with a lot of “Internet gibberish”. Well, whenever someone doesn’t get the intended message, the fault lies as much with the sender as the recipient. You should really get more of Daniel’s information, maybe he can make it more clear.

You asked how to make a living in the Philippines, and I’m telling you, you are looking at it right now as you read this article.

4. You can network with a lot of people

Online networking is certainly not as effective as face to face networking, but the fact that you get to interact with thousands of people certainly compensates. ….

There are hundreds of cases of people who got hired, found partners and launched successful projects over the web without meeting the other side physically.

Very true, indeed. Many have somehow formed the belief that making a living on the Internet is somehow a solo, mysterious and introverted occupation.

Nothing can be farther from the truth. For example, I keep to myself a lot, yet I have hundreds of folks I can communicate with on a moment’s notice, and dozens of on-line associates I am quite close to.

If I am trying to figure out how to do something, the answer is seldom any farther away than my email program, or an Instant Messaging client. And if I chose to suddenly work from somewhere else … like I wanted to move from the US to the Philipines? I lose none of my friends, associates and readers … I just do it … a freedom that’s extremely hard to find in any other occupation.

5. It is flexible

A great benefit of working on-line is the flexibility. You can create all sorts of websites, explore different niches and try different business models every single day. …

This is one of the most underrated advantages to working on-line that I know of. I’ve run into many people who “have an idea”, but they haven’t acted on it for weeks or months or years. Why?

With the Internet you can crank something up, right now, today, and give it a try. Your actual money investment can be as little as nothing.

Work at it for a reasonable period of time. See what pleases you and what doesn’t. Then if you are happy with the results, build it bigger or branch out.

If you aren’t happy, though, big deal. Shut it down and try the next idea. Hardly like the problems of starting a business in the ‘real world’ (I like to call it the “dirt-based” world), where you need to come up with money, physical space, paperwork, licensing fees and all the other trappings of last century that actually impede the flow of ideas. On he Internet, you just keep trying until you prove to yourself what works.

6. It might be less risky

Many people work 9 to 5 jobs because they believe it is a safer option. A regular job sends a pay check every month, after all, while an online business has many ups and downs.

To a certain extent this is true, but under many aspects having your own online (or offline for the matter of fact) business is actually less risky. For example, if you work for a company you could get fired any day. Sometimes even top performers are fired because the company needs to cut costs.

If you have your own business, on the other hand, no one will be able to fire you. Sure, the business could still go wrong, but that is a risk under your direct control.

Let me beg to differ a bit with Daniel on this one. It “might” be less risky? I disagree. It is less risky in virtually every sense you can imagine. Let’s assume you fit the persona of a number of folks who read and/or write in here.

You’re youngish to middle age … too young to retire. You have a deep need to move to the Philippines, even if it is nothing more than to try out living here … your life hasn’t been satisfactory in all ways so far, and you want to try new things before you get too old to enjoy them. And you have a job back there in the USA, today. Love it or hate it, good pay or bad, you surely can’t afford to just up and quit and move to the Philippines … or so you feel, and so all your friends and family tell you.

Well, as far as I can tell, they’re right. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Be cautious … you could really screw things up if you do the “wrong” thing.

But “being cautious” is exactly what I am talking about when I evangelize about this “on-line” thing. If you take the initiative, today, and position yourself to succeed without that conventional job, only two things will happen.

— 1., You’ll succeed … after time and work, mind you, I never promote any get rich quick stuff. If your on-line efforts get to the point you are confident you can trust them, great, you’re home free. You can then tell your boss to stuff it and make your move. Or you can just keeping earning until you have plenty more in the bank to make you confident that when you do decide to make the move, you won’t be struggling to account for every peso and centavo.

— 2., Conversely, you might fail. Nothing shameful about that, virtually all successful people have many failures behind them. In fact more than one rich person has bene quoted as saying something like, “If you aren’t having failures, you aren’t trying hard enough”. Point is, you will have risked little or nothing, and just like going to school, you’ll have a now valuable set of additions to your ‘experience bank” that you use day in, day out to make life decisions.

Risk? I see very little at all. And if the model I quoted above is wrong …perhaps you are one of those folks who no longer has a job, well then there is no risk at all … you have to do something.

Your choices are to learn something new and move with the times or else plod from HR office to HR office, handing in applications and begging to be taken back into the same environment that has already “chewed you up until the flavor is gone and spit you out.” Are you insane, to allow yourself to be treated that way? One definition of insanity is to do the exact same thing over and over and expect a different outcome.

Getting another conventional job, if you can, is also a very high risk proposition, because you’ll be the “guy on the bubble”, “last hired first fired” and so on … where the hell is the security in that?

7. You get to be your own boss

It would be tough to find a person who never had an annoying boss, right? Even if your boss is a nice guy, taking orders from someone else sucks.

By working on-line you’ll solve this problem for good. You’ll still have customers, readers and advertisers who will demand your attention, but the level of stress in dealing with those is significantly lower when compared to having a boss.

I think this is one of the advantages that needs the least commentary. I’ve had a lot of bosses over the years, and many of them were even good ones. The others? Not so good.

What was the most common thread between all of them? Easy. They were human and thus, by nature, thought differently, had their own set of values and goals, and never could really be on the same wavelength as me. It’s the way of the world.

Also, something very few people seem able to talk about openly … every day that goes by, you are a day older (Way to Go, Captain Obvious). Why does that make a difference? Let me answer that with a question:

Have you ever had a boss significantly younger than you? Well if you haven’t yet, it’s getting closer, literally by the minute. Every day that you age, you become, especially in America’s unstated but very real mindset, less and less useful.

One of the chief reasons I retired from my last real job (somewhat reluctantly) was that I spent my last 3 or 4 years there, after I passed the magic age of 55, watching people with less experience and often significantly less knowledge of how to get the job done, get promoted while I stagnated.

Often, these were people I had trained in their early days on the job. What did they have that I didn’t … the unspoken, but truthful answer was youth. And even though my bosses would never admit that was a defining reason, it was … and I don’t hold a grudge against any of those bosses.

If you were running a business, who would you “invest” in? The guy who is already past retirement age, and who could leave in one afternoon if he chose to, or the young guy who’s moving up fast and you have every expectation of getting 20 more years of good service out of? Anybody but a fool would pick the younger employee, all things considered.

I mean the law says you can’t discriminate, but laws are paper and the real world? Well it ain’t always fair.

Want to know who can promote someone over my head in my current on-line business endeavors? Absolutely no one, that’s who. Want to know how long I can work, continue to grow (and build more Social Security benefits, by the way?) … absolutely as long as I feel like it, and then not one day longer.

If you are 50 or 60 something, you know I am telling the truth here. If you are younger … food for thought as you ponder upon risk and security.

8. You get to develop business skills

Every website that is built with the purpose of making money can be seen as a small business entity. You will have to manage resources (e.g., web hosting, domain names), people (e.g., web designers, writers), clients (e.g., readers or customers) and so on. You’ll also need to plan the business model, the marketing activities and so on.

In other words, you’ll develop important business skills along the way, and this is something very valuable.

Thinks about this for a few minutes. Undoubtedly, virtually all of you reading this have, at one time or another, been advised to “go back to school” to increase your earning power.

And there are any number of honest studies out there that prove higher income levels and higher educational levels go hand in hand. Moot point.

But did you consider this important alternative? Instead of taking time off from life and miring yourself ever deeper in debt to try to make those statistics about having an MBA come true … start your own endeavor and get paid to learn.

I can assure you, building an on-line endeavor is not only fulfilling, not only can be profitable (remember, YMMV), but it is absolutely a learning experience. And even the most conscientious, modern post secondary school can not keep up with the speed of the Internet … whatever you pay for will be at least partially outdated before day one of the course.

In contrast, learning online can even pay, and there is no better way to keep current that presently exists.

9. It might grow into a big business

Most websites start as a hobby. If your idea is good and you put enough work on it, however, it might grow into a big business. Just consider blogs like Tech Crunch. It started as a one-man show, and today it employs several writers, editors, and it generates millions in revenues every year.

And you don’t need to go to the very top to see this pattern. There are hundreds of web design, affiliate marketing and consulting firms that were started as a hobby and turned into profitable businesses over time.

This may be the most pie-in-the-sky part of Daniel’s article. Or not. There are literally thousands of success stories out there, proving the truth of the statement that “It might grow”.

How about the blogging software that made it possible for me to crank out these posts? Designed in his basement by a young-twenties kid who wasn’t even looking to make money. How about things like Facebook? Again designed literally by a one man effort to increase and keep track of friends … worth millions and millions. The list can go on and on.

It might not happen to you. But then again, it certainly might.

10. Your work will go into something you own

We believe there are no shortcuts to success. Whether you work for a corporation or have your own small business, if you want to succeed you’ll need to work your butt off.

The difference of the two scenarios above is quite a big one, however. On the first one you’ll be putting your heart and soul on someone else’s business. Sure you might get a good salary in exchange for that, but the fact that someone else owns the whole thing and will collect most of the profits remains unchanged.

If you have your own online business, on the other hand, all your sweat will go into something that you actually own. If you hit a home run, you’ll collect all the profits, and you can also decide to sell the whole business down the road.

This is the last reason, and as a good writer, I think Daniel saved the best until last.

What do you own, outright, today? A car that is depreciating every day that you slave to make the payments on? A house that has lost 50% of what you assumed its value to be? A job that pays very nearly not enough? (wait a minute, we already established something, you sure as heck don’t own your job). Your job (and your boss owns you)). Anyway, get the drift?

Decide now to learn .. just put aside your “I can’ts”, and “It won’t work” prejudices and learn for yourself what this on line world is really all about. You may be very glad you did, but if it turns out you aren’t so happy, think of the knowledge and confidence you will gain.

Here’s a very useful (and completely free) first step … see you on the journey.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: Live in the Philippines, Living in the Philippines, work in the Philippines

Foreigner IT Jobs in the Philippines

October 22, 2009 By Philly 4 Comments

OK I am not going to swim upstream any longer. People continually write to me about, and search for, jobs for Americans and jobs for foreigners in general here in the Philippines. So, I’ll write more abut jobs for foreigners in the Philippines … although. as always, I still think it’s a losing proposition.

Here’s a place you should check out before you make a lot of headway in your research. See what some of the ‘upside’ potential is, should be lucky enough to land a job in the Philippines:

Wage freeze, paycut, retrenchment…
Has the economic turmoil cast a gloom on your paycheck?

Find out in the 3rd edition of the ZDNet Asia/activeTechPros IT Salary Report.

ZDNet Asia, in partnership with activeTechPros is inviting IT professionals across Asia to register and view the 2009 IT Salary Report. This invaluable resource will provide insights into average annual salaries, top 10 most popular IT certification and types of IT experience.
As a member, you’ll also be able to use our interactive salary benchmark charts and compare salaries in real-time. Join 100,973 Asia IT professionals who have benchmarked their salaries. Stay well-informed on how much you are worth. Join us today. *The information you give is confidential. Only aggregated data will be used.

Enter your email to begin:

Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Tell a Friend | Email us

I already did the Philippines legwork for you, if you are pressed for time. Average Philippine IT professional annual salary for 2009? PhP 411,000. Remember, you won’t get paid in dollars, you wanted a job in the Philippines, correct? That is about $8730 USD a year … a bit of $727 USD per month, give or take.

That’s the way things are here, and don’t forget ..if you can get the proper visa and permissions to work, you will be subject to Philippine income tax and also, of course, liable for tax on your world-wide income via the US IRS (likely you’ll get credit for the Philippine taxes you pay, so possibly you won’t get taxed double. Try your luck, the water’s fine. See why I say in 2009 a “J.O.B.” is a losing proposition?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: Foreigner jobs in the Philippines

Why Do People Snicker When They Say T-n-T?

October 19, 2009 By Philly 4 Comments

When I use the abbreviation T-n-T here, in spite of what the ever-watching NSA “Carnivore” guys think, I am not talking about that well-known compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene. Sorry to have to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but every foreigner who lives in the Philippines isn’t thinking about bombs.

Actually I’m referring to Tago ng Tago, (literally, in Tagalog, “Hiding and Hiding”. This is a very common Filipino “short cut” to define an illegal immigrant, hiding out in some country overseas, trying to find work and stay one step ahead of the immigration authorities.

Now in the US, and perhaps a number of other countries, illegal immigrants have a sort of chameleon history. If “they” are people like the Japanese in December 1941, they don’t even have to be illegal to be persecuted, assaulted in public, rounded up and imprisoned .. even if they are legal … all they needed then were to have slanted eyes.

Today, someone who looks Japanese walking down the street is hardly going to raise any eyebrows, and very few people are going to think about checking that obviously Asian person’s immigration status.

photo credit: davidsonscott15

But if that same person were to look Mexican and have a Spanish surname? Oh wow … even local sheriff’s departments, who obviously might be better occupied taking care of their local citizens than trying to “round up Wetbacks” (oops, no I’m sure sheriff Arpaio never said that (in public at least), he or she had better be watching over their shoulders constantly … and be carrying proof of citizenship with them .. something no “Caucasian American” never thinks of. Their potential crime? Having brownish skin, that’s their potential crime.

A controversial federal program that deputizes state and local law enforcement agents to catch illegal immigrants is expanding under the Obama administration, despite changes announced this summer intended to curb alleged racial profiling and other police abuses.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to report Friday morning that a small number of the 66 participating agencies have dropped out because of the new federal requirements, officials said. And those losses are offset by applications from 13 additional police and sheriff’s departments, a federal official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.

In the Washington area, sheriff’s offices in Frederick, Loudoun and Prince William counties intend to continue to participate, according to local officials.

Nationwide, the program identified about 60,000 illegal immigrants for deportation over the past year, the highest number since the program was expanded nationwide in 2006. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in July said agencies that receive federal grants and training under the program would have 90 days to agree to new terms aimed at ending controversial police practices identified by congressional auditors and civil rights groups. Critics cited cases in which police conducted roadside stops and neighborhood sweeps aimed at Latinos and other ethnic groups, often arresting minorities for traffic and other minor offenses in pursuit of illegal immigrants.

Changed Focus

Instead of scaling back the program, as its critics wanted, DHS has reshaped it. The agency has reined in local police units that target illegal immigrants at large, directing the units instead to focus on those who commit major drug offenses or violent crimes, especially those already incarcerated. Most prominently, the agency cut back authority it had given to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to Arpaio. His operations in the Phoenix metropolitan area had led to charges of racial profiling and three federal investigations.

Although those and similar tactics had drawn the most controversy, they accounted for a small fraction of the 135,389 illegal immigrants caught under the program, according to new federal data obtained by The Washington Post. The vast majority — 94 percent — were found by checks at local and state jails. DHS is moving to expand jail checks, adding such agreements with eight new agencies, a federal official said.

“We’ve refocused the program on identifying and removing serious criminal offenders, whether in jail or on the street,” said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because final decisions had not been made. The official said the new rules show that the Obama administration is intent on enforcing immigration laws against dangerous illegal immigrants and upholding civil rights. …. The rest of this report, especially the profiling thrust to throw more minorities in jail for the main purpose of confirming their immigration status makes interesting reading.

Now what does this have to do with the Philippines? Well, it could have a lot to do with Filipinos in the US without documentation. To someone who sees people as white and not so white only, the skin color of many Filipinos can be detected at 100 yards, and many Filipinos have surnames of Samish derivation.

In 2007, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas placed the number of Filipinos abroad at 8.7 million – 900,023 of whom are said to be “irregular,” meaning those who are not properly documented or who have been overstaying in a foreign country.

Even though there is a pretty well developed and long standing “underground railroad” of Filipinos helping TnT Filipinos in the US, these new and broad ranging programs are liable to change things a lot. Of special interest is the funding available for local law enforcement to jump on this racial profiling (sorry, protection of true white blue Americans from terrorists) bandwagon.

A lot of things can motivate a sheriff or chief of police, but betting on the almighty buck never misses.

If you know people who are TnT, or know people thinking about TnT in the future, it might be wise to have a little heart to heart with them.

Also, strange that I mentioned the issues with US security clearance issues in a recent past post, Make Sure You Know The Security Rules, I came across this tidbit just yesterday.

A man who had a job that did not require as US government security clearance woke up one day to find out that his company had decided to bid on a government contract and now he did require a clearance. He applied,was turned down, appealed and further turned down. Why? A dastardly, permanently disqualifying crime:

Guideline J – Criminal Conduct & Guideline E – Personal Conduct
2.a., 2.b., 3.a. and 3.b. The Applicant is knowingly harboring two illegal
immigrants, his spouse and his step-daughter, in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii).
Under 8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(B)(ii), the Applicant is subject to a “fine” and/or imprisonment
for “not more than 5 years.” …

Paragraph 6 of the new adjudicative guidelines sets out the security concern
relating to Foreign Influence: “Foreign contacts and interests may be a security concern
if the individual has divided loyalties or foreign interests, may be manipulated or induced
to help a foreign person, group, organization, or government in a way that is not in U.S.
interests, or is vulnerable to pressure or coercion by a foreign interest.”…

In light of all of the circumstances presented by the record in this case, it is not
clearly consistent with national security to grant Applicant eligibility for a security
clearance. Eligibility for access to classified information is denied.

So if you know somebody TnT, and you decide to live with them, marry them, or even harbor someone in your home who is TnT, you might be staring five years in the Federal pen in the face, as well as disqualifying yourself for any sort of work that would ever require a security clearance.

TnT, in other words, is no longer ‘cute’.

When I get inquiries on Security Clearances and Security Clearance Attorney issues I usually refer folks to our sister site, Retiredpay.com where we often cover these issues in grater detail.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: can marrying a Filipino affect your security clarance, philippines and security invstigations, security clearance

Make Sure You Know The Security Rules

October 16, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

I’ve been doing some research for a legal issue on a subject that isn’t usually too much interest to most readers here … US personal security clearances. But I’ve come across some issues that really opened my eyes … I’ve been working with government security clearances for years, and I thought I knew a lot of the answers, but a lot of rules have changed, so I thought I would toss a little of this information out for discussion.

Remember, I am not a lawyer, (I don’t even play one on TV) and if you have any issues, or even thing you might have any issues, you need a lawyer. And you need a specialist lawyer who deals in security clearances … most of the rules in this business aren’t taught in law school, and they have changed a lot in the past few years so make sure you deal with a security clearance lawyer who actually stays current.

One thing that amazed me in my current research are the vast number of US jobs that now require a security clearance. It’s not just people in the military or the nuclear industry or some esoteric work area like that. Vast numbers of relatively mundane US jobs now require national security clearances. And vast numbers get turned down every year.

I held several levels of security clearances for the mid 1960’s until 2003, and for the average guy or gal, there wasn’t that much to it. If you stayed away from drugs, didn’t commit any crimes, reported foreign travel and generally followed the rules, no problem.

Today? Some big problems, especially with what the books call “foreign preference”.

Paragraph 6 of the new adjudicative guidelines sets out the security concern relating to Foreign Influence: “Foreign contacts and interests may be a security concern if the individual has divided loyalties or foreign interests, may be manipulated or induced to help a foreign person, group, organization, or government in a way that is not in U.S. interests, or is vulnerable to pressure or coercion by a foreign interest.”

photo credit: eisenbahner

People with “significant others” from overseas are looked at with a very high level of scrutiny. and after just having read through more than one hundred case transcripts that involved appeals of folks denied their clearances because of alleged “foreign preference”, my layman’s opinion of the way the law is applied is, it’s going to be a big surprise to someone who gets themselves in this position.

The government does not have to prove any sort of wrong doing ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, as they would have to in any sort of criminal trial. They only have to show ‘substantial’ evidence, which in the law’s own definition is “More than a scintilla” (which means not much at all).

Also, the regs regarding security clearances are essentially backwards compared with our usual laws. You are guilty until you an prove yourself innocent … once a government investigator alleges wrong doing, with even a ‘scintilla” of evidence, it’s up to the applicant to prove the government wrong. Not an easy task.

In particular the cases I have just been looking at regarding “foreign preference” and denied clearances (which usually men “no job” for you) that turned out badly for the applicant involved owning property or having bank accounts in a foreign country, and cohabitating with someone in a foreign country who is already married.

Sorry to have to say this, but in the 10 years or so that I have been intimately involved with folks wanting to move to the Philippines, I would have to say a huge number have been guys who met a girl from the Philippines and have decided to come to the Philippines and live with her.

We’ve discussed before that in some cases this can get you in big trouble under Philippine law … now I see this can be a big problem under US law too, if a security clearance ever becomes part of your life.

If you think you need a security clearance attorney, better get one. Here’s a comment I saw numerous times in transcripts of appeals where guys and gals who tried to handle their own cases and didn’t like the outcome… :

The record provides no reason to doubt that Applicant’s decision to represent himself was knowing and intelligent. Having chosen to represent himself, Applicant cannot complain about the quality of his self-representation.

This is a modern, politically correct way of saying, “He who acts as his own lawyer has a fool for a client”. So if you need a security clearance for you current job … or you think you might ever need one in your future career, better learn the rules.

When I get inquiries on Security Clearances andany Security Clearance lawyers issues I usually refer folks to our sister site, Retiredpay.com where we often cover these issues in grater detail.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: Live in the Philippines, Living in the Philippines, security clarance attorney, security clearance philippines

Another Guy Who gets It … Well Almost

October 6, 2009 By Philly 6 Comments

Here’s a new online acquaintance who pretty much has his poop grouped as far as what to do with his life and how to earn a living … he is not yet up to speed on the Philippines… hence the “well Almost” in the title, but everything else he’s working on certainly makes good sense to me….

… Now that I don’t have a job (or won’t in less than 3 weeks), I’m pretty much free to go anywhere to work. So I’ve decided to live the dream. I’m going to work full time, 14-18 hours a day for the next 3-6 months on IM, and then leave Canada for Asia to live abroad for a few years. I’m going to travel around and live in different places across Asia (Taiwan, China, Japan, Tibet), (You Forgot the Philippines, Ben My note added)working on my niche websites and mastering landscape photography. It should be VERY interesting. Who doesn’t want to be a professional bum. Now, you hear a lot about loser foreigners bumming around in Asia because they can’t make it back here in North America (or the UK/Europe). These types usually end up teaching English. My goal is not to go there poor though — I’d like to be making between 15-20k USD a month. The only sort of bumming around I want to do is in my various rented penthouses and… we’ll I’ll stop there. But, good times ahead. Provided I can keep Google away from my properties. There’s always that…

If you really want to know some secrets about how to make money living in the Philippines or elsewhere, read Ben’s essays on Using SEO and Internet Marketing to Make Money Online. This is not something I am selling, nothing to buy here, and no real secrets … just the nitty-gritty on what it takes to become independent and not have to worry about where your next dollar is coming from or what side of bed your boss got up from the morning.

Those of you who keep badgering me about Jobs For Foreigners or who write and say, “It’s so easy for a Westerners, how can a Filipino earn money online” should really go here and read this post of Ben’s or else some from my friend Griz who probably knows more about Making Money Online For Beginners than any 10 so-called experts … and also sells nothing.

Like Ben, who was hobble for years devoting his time to a conventional dead end job, you are missing the opportunities that are sitting there waiting to be put to use right now … while you wait for someone else to give you permission.

For those who don’t know about it, I also run a site Called Retired Pay World, where among other things I have had very good luck with teaching seniors and retirees how to empower their retirement. You’re welcome to drop by even if your aren’t a senior or retiree (yet … you will become one someday, if you are lucky) and learn something about making money with AdSense or other opportunities that currently beckon.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: jobs in the philippines, live in the philippies, Make money in the Philippines

10 Reasons You Don't Want A Job In The Philippines

September 29, 2009 By Philly 8 Comments

1. As a guest here it isn’t even legal except under specific circumstances.

2. The pay is extremely low in comparison to what you think is ‘low’ in your home country.

3. There are millions of Filipinos who need a job, why should you come before them in their own country?

4. What makes you think you are qualified … hint: even simple things like writing a letter ot making a phone call are different … it is a foreign country you know?

5. You’ll subject yourself to Philippine income tax (foreign income (including online income) is exempt, money from the Philippines is not … this most assuredly includes foreigners).

6. You may know the langauge well enough to get by … most if us don’t … but you don’t know the ways of interacting with people that are uniquely Filipino. “Good enough” may not be “good enough” for formal business situations.

7. Many things here revolve around family connections. Who’s your cousin? Do you know what influential families are important to your work and who can be ignored?

8. What school did you go to and who are your batch mates? A lot of business happens not because of anyone’s qualifications but because of who went to school with whom.

9. Do you live in a prestigious enough address? Appearances and often very shallow-seeming things are very important success factors here.

10. Perhaps the most importasnt point: Why on earth would anyone want a job when they can set themselevs up independently for more income, more security and a more honest reward for their efforts?

This fellow says it better than I could, but I would have written this article if Steve already hadn’t written. “10 Reasons You Should Never Have A Job.”

So feel free to write any time, on any subject that moves you … but don’t expect me to be much help in finding a job … it’s a losing proposition.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: Live in the Philippines, Living in the Philippines, work in the Philippines

There’s More To Life Than “If Only”

September 22, 2009 By Philly 4 Comments

This article really has two intended audience segments.

The first is that segment of all backgrounds and citizenships who continually pine for a way to earn a living that is independent of where they live … in many cases so that they can move to/live in the Philippines instead of where they live now.

The second group is Filipinos with similar desires and goals?

Why would I separate the Filipino readers from the larger group? Am I some sort of racist? Well, not really, but I’m a realist.

In the nearly 10 years now that I have been working directly with people who want to make their home in the Philippines I have encountered about every sort of argumentative naysayer known to man … but no one except a Filipino has ever told me, “There’s no opportunity in the Philippines”.

So if you are the garden variety “Doubting Thomas’ and just want to tell me I am wrong because opportunities to earn a living online just don’t exist … well so be it. The fact that there is plenty evidence, including me, who prove you wrong will never change your mind. Perhaps the next article will be more to your liking.

But if you are one of those convinced there is no opportunity here in the Philippines, or even worse convinced as many of my Filipino relatives and friends seem to be, that Americans seem to possess some sort of in-built talent that allows them to take advantage of opportunities while Filipinos are damned to always come in second best, perhaps you will like reading this:

Make Money Online Success Story

September 16, 2009 by ChiQ

To Continue Downloading and Using my Themes for free, you are now required to Subscribe via RSS or Email . Thanks!

(editor’s note: You are certainly advised to subscribe to ChiQ’s RSS Feed. You are also welcome to subscribe to mine where I try to answer common answers about living in the Philippines)

As you might already know, I am a Freelancer and I Make Money Online creating WordPress Themes, Blogging and Affiliate Marketing. I own around 50 Niche-Based websites using 3 GoDaddy Accounts and 3 Web Hosts. Some websites I announce publicly, some are just lying around giving me monthly passive income and others, I do for fun.

So if you are still having doubts if it’s ever possible Making Money Online, leave your address below and I will gladly come visit you and personally kick your *&&(*. Truth is, this isn’t a blog post to persuade you to Make Money Online and then leave a bunch of affiliate links for you to sign-up. The purpose of this blog post is to inspire you that if you have just started blogging, then just continue with it and you will be able to reap and enjoy your benefits pretty soon. If you have been working day and night using Odesk and GAF to get clients with your web/graphic design and coding skills, well then I assure you, you’re on the right track. … read the rest of ChiQ’s Make Money Online Success Story here (recommended)

You might also enjoy a glance at these sites: House on a Hill, Carl Ocab, YugaTech and probably about who knows how many thousand more I have read over the past few years. What’s unique about them? Several things.

First, they all provide something of value … Connie’s erudite opinions, Carl’s page one advice, Yuga’s comprehensive market news, etc.

Second, every one of them is written by a Filipino who knows what s/he is doing and who competes, successfully with the rest of the world, “heads up”.

What about you? Is this your day to “believe” the evidence that is right in front of you, or is it yet another day to hang back, wait, and be sure everything is right before you make a move?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: earn a living in the Philippines, Live in the Philippines, Living in the Philippines

Philippine Living — Online English Thoughts 4

September 19, 2009 By Philly 2 Comments

I hope the last three articles in this series have been of some value. I wanted to acquaint many who have the idea that English teaching is only for the professional educators with the realities … especially on line. Everyone who reads this blog already possesses a valuable commodity … their language skills. For some, it putting those skills to use may provide a real earning opportunity.

photo credit: Sarah M Stewart

I’ll wrap things up with some resources that may be very useful. Thanks, and big tip of the blogs hat to Maeve Maddox at the “Daily Writing Tips” blog. When mentioning resources, Maeve and her writing tips should always be at the top of the list .. a recommended daily read for sure.

Resources:

For Our ESL Readers

from Daily Writing Tips by Maeve Maddox

Sometimes readers write asking for basic English instruction that lies outside the scope of this site. This post is for them and for our readers who teach ESL.

Many good ESL sites exist online. The English Club seems to be one of the best.

The English Club is a site based in Cambridge, England. It was begun in 1997 by British-born Josef Essberger. Access to all parts of the site is free. Content is targeted to ESL teachers as well as to students.
The site offers a huge amount of content that includes:

lessons
games
videos
lesson plans
forums
lists of idioms, sayings, slang, etc.

The English Club has four companion sites:
Easy English offers quizzes of varying degrees of difficulty.
TEFL.net offers help exclusively for teachers
eslAdmin.com information for school administrators
eslDepot.com ESL resources available for purchase

Some other ESL sites of interest
English pronunciation
Learn English Through Pictures
English Vocabulary Games with Pictures

Popularity: 4% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: earn a living in the Philippines, Live in the Philippines, Living in the Philippines

Philippine Living — Online English Thoughts 3

September 18, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

When I mention the opportunities in online learning I notice that a lot of people seem to try to make this whole process way, way harder than it has to be. You can, of course make it just as hard as you want it to be … that’s your prerogative, but if you want to start making dollars, today, then this is one strategy you can implement for very little more than you already have invested in a computer and internet access.

These techniques will work no matter if you are US born, Filipino born or “made in” any other nation, and they will work equally as well from the Philippines, from the US, or anywhere else.

Step One: Forget about business partners, services and other places where you sign up and they take your income. This is a low dollar, grass roots, hands on effort and I want you to keep all the profit. By the way, nothing in this article is an affiliate link or anything else that I profit from … just so you know.

Step Two: You need a way to receive money, so pen a PayPal account. There are other online money transfer providers but PayPal is the largest in the world and now, bingo, you are set up with a banking service and a way to accept credit cards.

Step Three: You need a way to interact with your students so open a Skype account. Presto. You now have a way to interact by voice and/or video with your prospective students

Step Four: Decide what to charge. prices I have seen here in the Philippines average around a couple hundred pesos per hour … you can learn more from the next step. (hint, here in the Philippines, Koreans wanting English tutoring typically pay around P1,000 per hour. Don’t start too low.

Step Five: Type in a phrase like “learn English online for Koreans from a native English speaker” (try both with and without the quotation marks) and start exploring. You will learn a lot from following up some of these offers. You’ll see freelancers, online school, books and other learning aids available, and more (don’t succumb to buying shiny objects).

Step Six: based on your market research above, decide of a name you want to be known by and got to www.blogger.com and start posting about your new business. What do you write? Simple, I just gave you the outline for the first six posts, write about your experiences and the good, the bad and the ugly about getting your feet on the ground in this business.

Step Seven: Write a blog post that mentions your business, hours of operation, how much you charge, etc. Don’ write ordinary “blog post” stuff, this blog is your business website by another name.

Step Eight: Get 1,000 visitors to your blog. Here’s a way to do that for free. (remember, don’t buy anything!)

Then keep building traffic.

So far you are in a position to accept money, have away to communicate, are building an online presence and you are learning the ropes. Total investment so far? Zero dollars and no cents.

What are you waiting for now, an engraved invitation? Or perhaps you need a “Round TuIt” … you know, one of those things that everything is always on hold for until you get around to it? This could be the day you started being a success, but it absolutely will not be if you don’t make a move. You are guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Thanks > Kollage Kid

If you need some more technical and business guidance:

OK, I looked this over since I posted it, and I also have some questions from many people who aren’t really clear on a couple concepts. One question I have had several times is, "If this is so easy, why aren’t you doing it, Dave"? Well that’s a very good question. part one of the answer is, I didn’t say it was easy. I said that anyone with normal spoken English skills and a computer and the free program Skype can do it, but it’s work.

It;s a legitimate business opportunity that you can pursue from anywhere you live, and it requires virtually no investment .. but … like any conventional or self-employed venture, it requires effort. I’m 65 years young and I enjoy being retired. that’s one reason I don’t teach English online as a business (Although I was really, really tempted to bu7y that example site I showed you earlier )

The second reason is, like any successful business, it requires a certain amount of setting up, planning and developing specific techniques for the market … and I spend way too much time on other profitable on-line ventures as it is … I don’t care to start something else again from scratch. I’d rather build the properties I currently have to be bigger and better.

But I di the next best thing. I found those of you who are interested in a sensible, doable way to make real money online for performing a necessary and useful service, a complete package on how to set up a working business, step by step, written by an American living in Japan who earns money teaching English online.

An online English teaching journey and how you too can teach English online and get money

My name is John Buchanan, and I’m an online English teacher. I love to travel and help people.

In 2005 I moved to Osaka, Japan with thoughts of meeting new people, witnessing the culture and exploring the other mysteries that awaited. I never thought I would become self-employed after being hired by a Japanese conversation school by the name of Nova.
With them I taught English to Japanese students from all over Japan by using a computer and the Internet. For myself, I paid attention, learned a lot, and eventually adapted a working strategy that paid nicely. …

I did all of my teaching with a webcam, microphone and their special software. The setup was pretty neat because it allowed me to show pictures, play audio recordings, write with a typing tool, as well as the ability to draw with colors.

Pretty cool! I got paid to sit and talk and teach English and draw funny pictures for students.

After I got to Japan, I was blown away by how much money students were paying on average for a 40 minute one-on-one private lesson over the Internet.

Guess how much?

About $70.00 for one 40 minute English lesson was the average! My eyebrows flew off my face when I heard that number. …

If you want a no BS look at the details facts and figures of how one man does this, for real, and you want a professionally written step by step course, complete with custom video instructions on things like how to set up Skype to do this teaching professionally, then I suggest you read John’s Teaching English Online sales page.

I find his facts, figures and conclusions are very believable, based on personal experience, and best of all, the offer is completely risk free .. if it ain’t what you want, you get back very penny. A no nonsense
course in how to make teaching English online, from anywhere, work for you.

Will you make a move, or will you wait and see if the government makes things better just for you?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: earn a living in the Philippines, live in the philippies, living in the Philippine

Outsourcing From The Philippines — Conclusion

September 16, 2009 By Philly 2 Comments

As you’ll recall I mentioned a program that an online friend was promoting that centered on making money by online sales sites and outsourcing all the work involved to employees in the Philippines. The first article in this series about Philippine outsourcing is here, in case you missed it.

The next step I promised you was to review a podcast from the actual proprietor of this service, Mr. John Jonas, so I could give you a better feel for the value this offering might have. I’m writing to inform you I only completed half this mission. And to further inform you I won’t be completing it. Why?

Simple. Having listened to about half Mr. Jonas’ presentation I feel like Popeye … “That’s all I can stand, I can’t stands no more”. I paused for awhile here, and now I am back and my whole post is re-written in my mind. Much shorter and to the point. Some tips:

First of all, I don’t advocate people giving their business over to others. This is sheer and utter nonsense and a recipe for disaster.

There are several cartoons that have circulated over the years that mostly show a student at the blackboard trying to solve a complex equation. Down at the bottom, near the answer, hidden among all the mathematical symbols are the words “and then a miracle occurs”. That, in a few words, is the manner Mr. Jonas seems bent on promulgating. Very big with superlatives and lofty statements, extremely “skinny” on verifiable or proven results.

If you are going to hold yourself out as an expert involving a particular country, then at least learn the basics of what “makes that country tick”. The vast majority of Americans are completely clueless about the rest of the world and these folk seem to be Mr. Jonas’ target. The very fact you are reading this review takes you out of his candidate pool. He’s trading upon the estimation that you will be as internationally unsophisticated as he seems to be.

Talking about people as if they are your dog or some sort of possession is degrading, even if you do feel you are vastly superior. Hint. You probably are not as superior as you think you are.

Denigrating entire countries (India, according to Mr. Jonas) is also pretty racist and ill-informed. The point where I stopped listening to the recording was where Mr. Jonas started ranting about how the entire subcontinent of India had no language skills of value to online entrepreneurs did it for me.

My fiend Bob did a lovely post a few months back about the many different ways Filipinos might say “yes” and why you shouldn’t always take a “yes” at face value. When I told my 80 year old moth-in-law about the sixteen or so ways Bob had suggested there were to say Yes in the Philippines, mother thought a few moments and said, “I think he missed a few, there are more”

Mr. Jonas claims this is a problem with the Indian culture that you won’t have in the Philippines. This post is already too long so let me be efficient. Bullshit!

As I mention in my last post I have serious concens with some of the procedures Mr. Jonas recommends. They may very well violate Philippine employment law. Or maybe not. The problem is, I don’t know and the techniques mentioned are at best “sketchy” so no lawyer could really evaluate them either.

My point is the labor laws here in the Philippines are vastly different to those in the US and recruiting people for work on line is something the government of the Philippines has a lot of interest in. You need to be very; very careful in how you proceed along these lines.

As an American (or any other nationality), when you do business in the Philippines you are subject to the laws of the Philippines. Is your business entity licensed and registered to conduct business in the Philippines? Are you ready to keep the required records and file your business tax declaration with the Philippine BIR? Are you prepared to pay these folk’s Social Security, make provisions for their health care and pay them benefits such as their “13^th Month Pay”? That’s just a few of the things the law requires you to do for (again I quote Mr. Jonas) “full time employees”

Also, when you set yourself up as a business in the USA, such as a corporation or an LLC, and then you hire actual employees overseas (and Mr. Jonas makes quite an issue at times that he advocates overseas workers being your “full time employees” rather than the more common idea of independent contractors or “free lancers”), then you may also put yourself under the control of another whole set of US laws that most of us, who are not international employers, don’t even know about.

Just one simple example. As an employer, in either the US or the Philippines, you are often liable for injuries your employees cause. Does your existing business liability insurance cover acts by your “full time Philippine employees”? How would you know for sure?

As some general interest comments: The quality of the audio presentations is poor. The sound is “muddy”, the volume level is too, low, and there are an inordinate number of “pops” and other sudden noises that boom out of the speakers when you have the volume high enough to hear Mr. Jonas’ words.

Why take the time to record a presentation and then not make use of a decent, free tool such as The Levelator to make your presentation easy enough to listen to that people might stay until the end.

OK, Bottom line: I absolutely do not recommend joining Mr. Jonas’ “outsourcing membership site”, not for either his quoted $97 a month price or for any other price.

I feel he is presenting himself as an expert on subjects he seems only to have a vague knowledge of.

There are recognized, licensed, legal agencies in the Philippines who deal with supplying employees. I highly recommend you take this approach rather than trying to circumvent Philippine law.

There are also legal “freelance” sites, which put willing independent contractor freelancers together with folks who want to pay for the freelancer’s talents.

Mr. Jonas claims they are too much work. As someone who managed contracts for a living for years, I can tell you that the successful ones had the work put in, up front, defining the goals and deliverables, the ones that failed where the ones where those letting the contract didn’t do the work … the rule in contracting is just like in programming, garbage in, garbage out.

These sites are by far the way to go as far as legal liability. One of the reasons I closed my “dirt based” business in the USA was that I was at the stage where I needed to think about hiring employees and (could not stomach the liability and the expense). If you don’t want to have employees in your home country, you sure as anything don’t want international employees.

A single legal mistake here could be disastrous for your business … international business isn’t an online video game.

Not recommended.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Working

Outsourcing From The Philippines — Pluses and Minuses

September 15, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

Yaro Starak is a fellow blogger and a well know “a-list” blogger at that. I have know Yaro and corresponded with him from time to time now for many years. I have even promoted some of his efforts in the past and still highly recommend several of his offerings, like his Blogging Blueprint, one of the absolutely best free blogging resources, bar none.

A day or so ago Yaro release this post promoting a service by an Internet Marketer named John Jonas which claims to provide a source of talent for online web work from the Philippines, training of Philippine staff, online monitoring of project performance, etc. I’m not yet fully cognizant of everything John’s service is really going to offer … I’m researching that at the present time and you can be sure I’ll write more later.

But when a major online entrepreneurial figure promotes hiring professionals from here in the Philippines, you better believe I am going to be paying attention.

I recommend you go read Yaro’s post and listen to the John Jonas interview first, before you read my comments below. If you have no time and want a very quick synopsis, my overall view is this service could be a great thing for both people in the Philippines who want work, and people online who want skilled helpers, but I also have a couple serious concerns. So ….

How John Jonas Outsources To Full Time Staff For As Little As $200 Month

Download the MP3 [ 73 Minutes - 113 MB ]

John Jonas and I spent several months trying to connect to get this interview done, but it was worth the wait.

I was referred to him via Adam Short from Niche Profit Classroom as a guy who has a unique insight into a particular type of outsourcing online – in this case, hiring people specifically from the Philippines.

Why the Philippines? Well there are many reasons, most of which John outlines in this interview, and by the end of it I’m sure you will be rushing to look into this method yourself.

This is a really, really good podcast interview. It’s one of those discussions where the person being interviewed is willing to share the exact steps used to get something done. If you have ever considered doing any outsourcing online to help grow your business, listen to this call….. (Again, I recommend you read both Yaro’s thoughts on Philippine outsourcing and also listen to the interview … there is a lot of value in both)

My thoughts? Let me do a brief list of pros and cons in this post, since there is no doubt I’ll be writing more, especially after I am able to review John’s service in detail.

Pro:

As an internet professional as well as a full-time resident of the Philippines I am particularly happy to note good publicity regarding the Philippines and also the outstanding skill level of professional expertise that is available here.
Both gentlemen point out the difference in cost of living/wage expectations here in the Philippines compared with most developed countries. Although a few of their estimates seem on the low side to me, the prices quoted are certainly possible.
The government of the Philippines (in my opinion only of course) has been focusing way to much effort in pushing Philippine professionals out of the Philippines (in various Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) schemes) and way, way to little emphasis in helping people work anywhere in the world from here in the Philippines, using the power of the Internet. (The exact strategy I continuously have advocated for foreigners who wish to earn a living while living in the Philippines). Efforts like this new service can only help.
The majority of people I know of who try to run their own business, on line or off, fail, often because the amount of work becomes just overwhelming. Any program that helps teach people to empower themselves by multiplying their efforts and providing employment at the same time can surely not be all bad.

Cons

As a person who works on a daily basis with various technical professionals in the Philippines, I feel that Mr. Jonas is perhaps “overselling” the skill levels readily available here. In spite of the resumes he points us to online the reality is that finding a writer/Internet business promoter and decision maker is not nearly as simple as he makes it seem to be.
Philippine labor laws are significantly different to labor laws in the US and perhaps many other developed nations. In particular the concept of “work at will” and independent contractor relationships virtually do not exists here. Especially as Mr. Jonas himself frequently refers to the folks he has helping him as his “full time employees”, I perceive some potentially serious employment law liabilities. I could be wrong, of course, I’m not a lawyer, but I certainly would not employ anyone here in the Philippines. A foreigner friend who does use Philippine labor resources regularly tipped me off long ago to a known, safe, source. Using a licensed SEC-registered Philippine company to provide staff. This is the only route I would take, myself, even though costs and flexibilities may not be as desirable.
The cost estimates and overall expense discussions seem to completely ignore foreign exchange issues. Numerous times the podcast goes into converting Philippine Pesos to US dollars, yet never once seems to consider a very real fact of life about living here in the Philippines … foreign exchange. Just in the four years I have lived here the rate of the Peso to the US Dollar has swung fr0om a low of 40 to a high of very nearly 50. That’s a swing of over 20% and must certainly be factored in, one way or another. There are also significant obstacles to moving money between the Philippines and other countries that would have to be addresses as part of the process of having ‘full time employees” in the Philippines for a foreigner.
During the podcast Mr. Jonas displays, again in my opinion, a disturbing naiveté in doing business (trusting total control of his company’s finance to others, allowing others to take potentially libelous or legally detrimental actions using Mt. Jonas’ own online credentials, etc.) He explains this away rather dismissively, by ascribing a level of perfection to Philippine employee trustworthiness which belies, by far, realities of doing business here in the Philippines. What Mr. Jonas feels comfortable in doing personally is, of course, his business, but to recommend this level of employee trust leaves me wondering just how authoritative his advice would be in other aspects of business.

Well, those are my initial impressions. As I mentioned above, I’m going to make an effort to give a forthright and honest review of Mr, Jonas’ new service at my earliest opportunity.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: Living in the Philippines, Philippine outsourcing, working in the philippines

Live in the Philippines — Online English Business Thoughts 2

September 14, 2009 By Philly 2 Comments

Yesterday I told you, yet again, why I thought those of you seeking “real”, dirt-based, fixed income jobs were barking up the wrong tree. Let’s take a look at come current Philippine language learning facts. You might like to read the whole article I cite below, (just click the title link) or else just follow along and I’ll tell you what I think some of this really means to foreigners who want to partake of language training opportunities.

Koreans Flock to the Philippines to Learn English

A Korean student, second from right, together with her Iranian and Chinese classmates listen to a teacher give a lecture during a students’ group discussion at De La Salle University-Manila’s Center for Language Learning.

/ Courtesy of DLSU-Manila

By Jonathan M. Hicap
Korea Times Correspondent
MANILA ? They come in their thousands every month, eager to learn what is considered as the language of some 1.8 billion people worldwide.

For South Korean students, the Philippines is now a haven as far as learning the English language is concerned.
The last five years saw the phenomenal rise of the Philippines as the prime source of English education for South Koreans.
Whether they come to the Philippines to study English or sit in front of their computers at home in Seoul and learn the correct pronunciation of English words from a teacher in Manila, (my emphasis) South Koreans are bent on learning English as a second language as part of the globalization plan implemented by the government. …
De La Salle University, one of the Philippines’ top universities, is one of the schools accredited by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration as an English-language learning center for foreigners.
The university’s Manila campus has the Center for Language Learning (CeLL) that provides year-round short English courses. The length of each is three weeks, ranging from basic grammar to conversational English. …

Experts have also noted that there are no regulations that serve as teaching standards when it comes to ESL.
Qualifications for teachers are also not regulated. In many online job and classified ads sites, applicants need not be college degree holders in order to work as online English teachers. They only need to possess an “American accent” to qualify. (my emphasis)

Some online English teachers have noted that ESL centers in the Philippines offer below-standard wages despite the fact that they charge hefty fees for Korean students. …

Again the full article on teaching language in the Philippines, online or off line is recommended reading. I learned a lot and newspaper articles don’t always stay online for ever, so you might want to cope this for yourself for future reference if you are at all interested.

Now, what can those of us who are interested in earning a living in the Philippines or earning a living while living in the Philippines but from some other source (not the subtle, but important difference here) learn from this article? Well a number of pretty important facts seem to jump out.

First, the government of the Philippines is 100% begin the language learning initiative. This is important, especially if you are one of those who insists upon as ‘dirt-based’ conventional classroom job. Of course, to work legally you’ll still need to go through all the permanent visa (with work permit … a permanent resident has the right to work, but permission is not conferred with the permanent visa, it’s a separate process), or work visa, pay your taxes, commute to work and so on, but you won’t be totally swimming upstream. Those of you with formal teaching credentials might be able to find work with prestigious employers like De La Salle University, and not have to put up with the working conditions at the provincial “De la Cruz Language School and Sari-Sari Store Inc.” that many foreigners have endured.

Second, the article confirms what I have mentioned a number of times. Many foreign students are interested in on line education rather than face-to-face schools, and at this time there are really no regulation, requirements or other obstacles to entry in doing online instruction on your own.

Some, especially those with formal credentials may feel this is a bad thing … and certainly you can feel that way if you wish. You can even start a campaign to change the law if you wish, but the operative fact is that, as of now, there is no reason any individual residing in the U.S., in the Philippines or in most other countries can’t do this sort of informal language tutoring on their own.

The current lack of regulation makes this aground floor opportunity. And you don’t need much to take advantage, right now, today. Doesn’t matter if you are already in the Philippines and either a foreigner or a Filipino, if you are living in anther country and planning to stay there permanently, or if you are like many readers here, a foreigner interested in figuring out a way to be self-sufficient in the Philippines in the future.

Tomorrow I’ll continue with some tactics and cost figures you might want to roll into your own plan.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: jobs for foreigners Philippines

Live in the Philippines — Online English Business Thoughts 1

September 13, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

I’ve gotten some recent feedback from some of the articles I recently have written on earning money online. Some people are especially interested, as I am, in how a person could make money teaching English, online. I thought I would throw out a few thoughts and further clarifications.

First of all, let’s look at the online/off line question. Many people, even though I meet them online, are particularly doubtful … occasionally even hostile … toward the idea of making money online. OK, with me, fair enough, because everyone has freedom of choice … but I am not interested in off line ‘dirt based’ jobs. If you do a simple search using Google or whatever your favorite search engine is, you will find dozens of sites that are focused on conventional jobs in the Philippines … along with all the attendant downsides … visas, commuting, taxes, low pay, long working hours, poor benefits, et al. You’re welcome to drift on in that direction but just fair warning that you won’t get much info here on those sorts of jobs. Don’t have one, don’t want one, ain’t interested.

The other day I had a phone call with a PhilFAQS regarding some business ideas. The reader (who is involved in a number of labor-intensive “dirt based” businesses back in the USA, and likely works a lot harder than I do) tasked me what I was doing, business-wise, commenting that they noticed I had some “web sites”. I replied that was my business and the response was a bit of a disbelieving, “Oh, I see”. Totally uncomprehending. Hardly a clue. If I don’t go to an office every day and have other people deciding how much I earn it must not be a business.

I don’t work that hard and I don’t consider my online businesses a full time income at this time … I don’t want a full time business … but I guarantee I make more than a lot of independent business folk in the US, especially those still trying to milk dead cows like the real estate market, investment counseling, etc. And I certainly make more than many who have jobs … especially those who are laid off or on furlough and who hope they still have a job. I don’t fill up applications, I can not be fired and I won’t be laid off … period.

That is why I’m much more aligned with the on line world. It’s pretty simple. You really should start thinking this way too. You can set your own hours, you can pick what line of work you want to do, if you want to teach, you can teach who and what you please and whatever money you make is yours, not some rich middleman who will be retired in Hawaii while you are trying to make ends meet. An example.

A fellow I know pretty well moved to the Philippines from his home country with little or no monthly income. He had relatively little trouble finding a job, right off the bat, as a classroom teacher in a school of English that catered strictly to Korean students. Korean students who came to the Philippines specifically to learn … more correctly to improve … their English. Most have no interest in the Philippines and were marking the time until they could return home. Now why would they come to the Philippines if they had no real interest in living here?

Simple. The conventional language schools for foreigners here in the Philippines are _c_h_e_a_p_. Koreans of means send their children to schools in Korea, those who can’t afford “good” schools send their children to the Philippines as a second or third choice. Anybody here have any experience in retail, especially the service segment of the industry and people who shop strictly by price? Yep, you’re right. You get a class of people who are mad because they know they had to settle for what they perceive as second rate. People who don’t want to be here, and people who aren’t particularly happy either dealing with Filipino businessmen collecting the tuition or various other foreigners teaching English ACAP .. As Cheap As Possible.

This is not at all an environment I would like to be in. My foreigner friend didn’t like it either. He worked (Illegally, of course … an illegal immigrant with all the baggage that goes along with that …. 6 and 7 days a week for about $10 USD an hour (actual classroom teaching hours, not 8 hours a day)) … only long enough to save enough money for tickets home for himself and his family. He flew back home with a bad taste in his mouth, a depleted bank account and no desire, ever, to return to the Philippines.

Again and again people write, telling me how much they hate their current jobs and how much they want a job in the Philippines. Again and again I tell people they probably don’t want a job here, since jobs here tend to be a lot worse than the job they are currently i, and if you hate jobs, as I do, then what makes you think you’ll suddenly like working in the Philippines … even if you do find a legal job?

Tune in tomorrow for a better alternative.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Filed Under: Working Tagged With: jobs for foreigners Philippines

Make Money In The Philippines — Doesn’t Matter Where You Live

June 3, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

Usually I write about business in the Philippines and making money in the Philippines on Fridays and/or Saturdays, but this one has a short lead time … it’s an opportunity that will be gone by Friday. Will you look at this and say, “Yeah, right , Dave” and then move on to something else? … or will you take advantage of professional education to teach you about something that you can earn from, at no risk, whatever your nationality and wherever you live.

If you prefer a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) way of life, this is not for you … but if you want to learn how the big boys do it, join in … the entire cost is you giving up an hour of watching TV drivel or playing on your Facebook page for yet another hour … we all can afford an hour less of that stuff.

There is nothing like ‘free’ to catch my attention. What about yours?

After the word ‘free’ catches my eye, I then look to see what what the source is … and when it’s Trump University, I generally take advantage and see what ‘the Donald’ has to say. (by the way, Donald Trump is bullish on the Philippines, I’ve written about it here before) Stop chasing imaginary dreams and thinking of reasons why you can’t and instead dig in and make your own future.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

Filed Under: Phils Business, Working Tagged With: earn a living in the Philippines, Live in the Philippines, Make money in the Philippines

1. No more wasted time on commutes

2. You can work on your own terms

3. You can work anywhere

4. You can network with a lot of people

5. It is flexible

6. It might be less risky

7. You get to be your own boss

8. You get to develop business skills

9. It might grow into a big business

10. Your work will go into something you own

Wage freeze, paycut, retrenchment… Has the economic turmoil cast a gloom on your paycheck?

Find out in the 3rd edition of the ZDNet Asia/activeTechPros IT Salary Report.

An online English teaching journey and how you too can teach English online and get money

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Wage freeze, paycut, retrenchment…
Has the economic turmoil cast a gloom on your paycheck?