Job Discussion Forums

[r-heyluer]

Can anyone help me...?! I have just completed my CELTA and now plan to move to the Netherlands as soon as possible, to be with my Dutch fiance who lives in North Brabant, near Tilburg. I realise that finding an English teaching job in the Netherlands is not an easy task, but if anyone has any experience or advice they can share with me, I would be eternally grateful! I'm British and have a degree etc, and I got a 'B' for the CELTA if you think that might help me.
Although I'll be living near Tilburg I'd be willing to commute as far as Den Haag, Amsterdam etc if necessary. I've written to Linguarama but have been unable to find any other language schools in the country! I have searched high and low, but I know there must be others, particularly for Business/Academic English.
Any help or information would be gratefully received.
Thanks very much.

Becky

[spiral78]

I found a job teaching in the English language department at a university in the Limburg area. It was a fantastic position, but they'd been advertising it for two full years, beause the secondary schools in Nederlands generally pay much better (and offer better benefits) than University language centres (go figure!!).
So, you might get somewhere checking out university centres in your area. Your qualifications should be all right as well.

[Kitegirl]

With a degree you might be qualified to teach at high schools (with the exception of students in their exam-years - bovenbouw). Why don't you just take a part-time relief job (teachers are always getting sick or pregnant) for a short spell, say ten hours or so, just to see if you like it. Also, what's your degree in? You see, over 50 Dutch high schools have launched a TTO program - Bi-lingual education. Certain subjects are taught in English from third form. You could even combine English with another subject.
On the other hand, maybe you're allergic to kids, like me.
Uni jobs are hard to come by, and it will only get worse as less foreign students are less likely to come to unis in Holland in the near future as last year they raised the price of a student visa from something like 46 Euros to 946 Euros. I've been looking for uni jobs in NL for a year now and have only seen one (sorry, not telling! Applied for it myself!). At the end of the summer there will be more English work at the language schools but don't forget Holland is in a very serious recession and language training is one of the first thing companies and private consumers cut back on.
G'luck.

[spiral78]

For what it might be worth, my uni position was not with foreign students, but the Dutch and German students attending international business and economics streams in English....I left 10 months ago, but there was a need at that time.....so I guess it's possibly still worth a try.....
To clarify, I was teaching academic basics in English to students taking the above streams in English.....basically a matter of transition from learning English to learning IN English.
Some knowledge of business and economics helped.\
Good luck, in any case

[dagi]

http://www.docentenbank.nl
(currently two posititions, one in Gouda and one in Rotterdam)

Try this one! It's an organisation you have to register with and the site is in Dutch only but hubby will surely help you out
Anyway, they are quite good, when they have a position you get a call, they will tell you all you need to know about the postion and then it's up to you if they can pass on your CV or not. After they have passed your CV on to the school the school will contact you and make an appointment for an interview.
A lot of secondary schools are desperate for teachers and often don't advertise anymore, simply because it only costs them a lot of money and they don't get responses. Although it's more difficult to find something for English than for German and French. It's nearly the end of the school year so the best time to apply is middle/end of august when the year starts. You can also just look for adresses of schools in the phone book and then send them a letter.
The starting salary for teachers in secondary schools is 2200 Euros/gros and you will have to teach between 20-26 lessons a week, depending on the school's curriculum (some have 45 min. lessons, other have lessons as long as 65 min.).

If you move to Tilburg I'll suggest you'd look for a job there or in the surounding areas. Teaching in The Hague and Amsterdam is a tough job and commuting from Tilburg to the Randstad area can be very nerve-wracking. And most schools don't pay for these expenses.

When you teach at secondary schools you will most probably teach in the lower grades (onderbouw), depending on your degree and experience you might be eligible to teach upper grades (bovenbouw - A-levels) and then the starting salary is a bit higher.

Just beware, that the kids in the Netherlands are very assertive and it really is a tough job over here. There is a reason that there is a lack of teachers! The work load is pretty heavy and many teachers get a burn-out. A lot depends on the kind of school you work for! My first school was a nightmare but the one I work now is quite nice. Nevertheless I cannot imagine to ever work full-time in this country.

The school types in Holland are VMBO, HAVO and VWO. VMBO being the lowest kind of education and VWO will lead to A-levels and prepare for uni.

You could also contact the "volksuniversiteit" which is a public institution where people can follow all kind of courses and they have a good reputation for their language courses. But they only employ on a free-lance basis, few hours and there is a fierce competition (Well, who doesn't want to teach a bunch of fully motivated students?). Don't know about the salaries, though.

For the rest, just flip through the yellow pages and look for language schools and send them your resume. You never know!


Hope this was helpful! If you want more info you can PM me!

Cheers,
dag

[daily chai]

Wow, Dag, what a helpful & informative reply! I second your advice on not commuting into the Randstad. I commuted between R'dam and Leiden for 6 months, it was never a comfortable ride and trains are atrociously expensive there. Plus, there is more competition in the bigger cities. In a smaller city one can also make contacts better.

The current economic downturn might help with finding work for teaching adults. Yes, corporate training budgets will be slashed but employees are motivated to upgrade their skills for more job security. Also, university language centers may experience a rise in students because when you can't work, you go to school. Esp. for the under 26 crowd who can get gov't benefits for tuition and transpo. A glimmer of hope! Becky, you will persevere and you will make it.

BTW, odd as it sounds uni language centers here in Taiwan also have less attractive work packages than the English depts, but it makes sense. LC's are for lower level proficiency teaching, and English depts want PhD's to teach literature and linguistics.

Holy cow, I'm glad I finished my MA there last year because my visa was E326 or so. BTW, it took 11 months to process...! I didn't need an MVV either. I had two job offers by September, but in July when my visa and 10 hour/week working permission arrived the economy had dried up and I was on a plane out soon anyway. DH and I are sitting out the dry spell over here...

My Dutch hubby and I are currently enjoying the weather and work in Taipei (OK, work for me and private students for him). He claims he doesn't want to go back to NL but I miss fietsen op de (het?) trekvaart. Maybe he will reconsider...

[dreaming_saturn]

Dagi's information is right on the mark!

I moved to The Hague area 4 years ago from Canada with my CELTA (no degree) and was able to find a few freelance business English jobs, but the situation now is very different, getting into a private language school is nearly impossible. I decided to get my degree here at the EFA and have nearly finished.

About business schools, they are here, but only ever offer freelance positions, and often do not cover travel or class preperation time. My friend that worked weekends at the cinema often took home twice what I made as a freelance teacher.

One thing about applying for jobs at the state schools, I believe you need to have passed the NT2 (Dutch as a second language) exam at level 4 (quite high!) before they will consider hiring you, at least in the Randstad area, I don't know about elsewhere. If you're coming from outside of the European Union, you can take an intensive course in most areas, and they'll pay you upon completion. It's the 'inburgering' (not sure if I have spelled that right - ) course, and by my written Dutch you can see I only followed it for a few months

If you have a PCGE/teachers' College Degree try the British or International schools.

After my teaching placements in Dutch schools I can emphasise what Dagi said - secondary school students here are a handful, and love to debate with the tecaher if you give them a chance. Avoid VMBO if you can, higher levels are more receptive. Teenagers here are unruly but enthusiastic and can be great fun.

good luck!

[dagi]

Hi dreaming_saturn,
I also studied at the EFA!!

[daily chai]

Hey DS and Dagi, what's EFA?

DS, I tried to study at an intensive course but the waitlist was over 8 months...! Leiden University has an intensive course, but as a private course it costs a lot. Something like E800 - 1100 for a semester course, or a between semester course. Probably other unis offer private NT2 courses too.

Anyone know about teaching at university in NL? I teach uni in Taiwan, and I won't go back to language school days now. DH is semi-entusiastic about never returning to NL for work, but also a little bummed. Is there hope? Anyone know what the minimum degree/experience requirements are?

[dreaming_saturn]

[dagi]

No I wasn't with the IDEE, I studied with at the German section (I am going to be a German language teacher) and switched to the Hogeschool van Utrecht this year cause their courses were held in the evening hours and not during the day. Much better to combine with work but a minus is that I will now have to study at least 6 months longer!! The education at the EFA and HvU is just completely different, it's unbelievable!!