Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

After years and years on Dave's I've found a lot of info about employers and it seems like there are a few better than average employers that keep coming up in the posts for TEFL teachers. These places don't usually require PhDs or teaching licenses. Some of these employers I've found out about through other posters such as maruss, jonniboy, simon_porter00, hrvatski, PierogiMonster, s smithrn1983, kazachka, Kofola, Shalana, Moore, Grimace420, yaramaz, coledavis, and ecocks and others have posted their adverts here on the job boards.

Be sure to research options carefully. New management, immigration rules, or the country's economy can all change and make a good job bad and vice versa. This is not intended to be an all inclusive list, just a list of schools to help people out. Talking to other teachers and looking on forums like Dave's will also help you in your job search.

Cyprus
private secondary and primary schools where the first language is English

France
Baby Speaking
Ministry of Education

Latvia
LinguaFranca
IH franchise

Poland
Lincoln in Krakow
Interlang & Text (ILT)

Russia
Bonne International
British Business Language Centre, Russia, ~25USD/acad hour. you can get higher rates from schools in Moscow, this school doesn't complain when you refuse to teach a class because you have a private student at that time.
Guvernior

Slovakia
American University in Trenč�n

Spain
Athena in Valencia
English Tower
Freeway in Valencia
Language Solutions - pay isn't life-transforming, but they're a very decent bunch of people and always always pay on time, which isn't always a given here.
Ministry of Education
Orange Tree

Turkey
Bilgi
British Side in Istanbu
Coastline Community College
Coşkun primary schools in Istanbul
EF
ENKA
Ko� in Istanbul
Sabanci University about 3000 USD though
Şehir uni in Istanbul
TED

UK
Edwards Language School, Ealing, London coledavis

Ukraine
LSE London School of English chromium

Worldwide Organisations Bell
British Council
EF
Being an IELTS examiner
International House
Wall Street
Open English: teaching online

[spiral78]

Were the posters above aware that you were compiling their information for public posting?
What year(s) are represented above?
A school that had a good rep 3 or 4 or 10 years ago may not be one to count on today.

[jonniboy]

Spiral has a point. You can scrub English Time from the above list, they haven't kept up with other schools in terms of pay.

[Sashadroogie]

As for Russia, Bonne is more of a governess agency than an EFL employer. Sure, language teaching is a part of it, but I don't think that it would be an option for many posters here.

And BBLC's 25$ an academic is not much at all, even for the right to refuse a scheduled class. Well below the average school rate of friends and colleagues that I know. Especially as other matters like visa support and flats are just as important economically as hourly rates.

[naturegirl321]

[Sashadroogie]

Yes, $80 is great. That is for an academic hour - 45 mins - though, isn't it? Because if it is for a lesson - usually 2 academic hours - then it is about average for a private lesson, easily picked up anywhere.

Still, I'd be wary of endorsing or recommending a school, institution or place if I hadn't worked there recently, or even been in the country itself recently. Unless I had close friends or contacts in the region or school, and even then, the info is still third-hand by the time a reader here gets it.

[Xie Lin]

[Daktari]

Hey, I think NatureGirl did a great job putting all these lists together. Sure, maybe some entries can be queried, but it's a great place (especially for newbies) to start from.
It's not meant to be definitive, but it might prod one in the right direction.

Chapeau!

[spiral78]

I've never lived or worked in Asia, but maybe it would be a good idea if I compiled information from other posters in the region and put it up on the boards. Or maybe Latin America....I'll think about this as a possible project if/when I've got time. Apparently, this could be valuable to some people, even though it's all second or third hand and from some undetermined time(s) in the past....

[naturegirl321]

YOu don't have to experience things firsthand to know about them. That's the whole point of research. For example, I didn't have to work at McDonald's to know that I don't ever want to work there. I can interview people, send out questionnaires, observe people, etc.

[spiral78]

Yeah. I'll title it:

"Information for unwary newbies
from a region I visited for six months over a decade ago,
where I heard (from an uncited source at an unstipulated time)
that ABC was a great employer"

Research is a very different proposition than compiling hearsay.

In actual research, sources and dates are cited in relation to each entry to which they contributed. This way, the reader can get an idea of 1. how reputable the source is and 2. how likely it is that the information cited is still true - (older information of the nature of this post is actually quite UNlikely to still be true, as others have already pointed out).

The OP post above cannot accurately be termed the result of 'research.' It's hearsay, and therefore would not generally be considered credible.

[spiral78]

[GF]

Original message deleted.

[spiral78]

I object to misleading info offered under the umbrella of 'helpful.' Particularly, as others have pointed out, by someone who's got very limited experience in the region in question, nor has had even that for many years.

To me, it seems more about setting up as some sort of guru rather than actually trying to be helpful. Posting outdated, second-hand info is just as likely to mislead (harm) as it is to help anyone.

[Teacher in Rome]

I'd like to add a few points.

Naturegirl asked me for info on Italy, which I felt unable to provide (for the same reasons as many have already said: outdated, hearsay opinion; varied conditions across the country; rapidly changing conditions etc).

But I still think it's useful to have a guide that gives rough info country by country. It's especially useful for those wanting to compare countries for overall opportunities, though in the case of Europe, perhaps less useful as most people who ask about working here tend to be those that legally can't...

I think it would be helpful for those posters who originally contributed (and those who have commented) to perhaps revisit this thread yearly to report on changes.

At the same time, I think it's telling that despite Italy being the third most popular place to work (if you are to believe tefl dot com's surveys), not one teacher could contribute. Not sure how many people Naturegirl asked, but I know that very few people post in the Italy forum. Perhaps we're all too busy trying to scrape a living (or too busy enjoying the many delights that Italy offers) to help.