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felicia_okeeffe
Joined: 31 Mar 2014 Posts: 3 Location: Australia
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 1:21 pm Post subject: Any teaching opportunities in Leon, Guanajuato? |
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I'm planning to move to Leon, Guanajuato within the next 3 months to be with my partner who lives there. Confused about the new visa process and my opportunities there, so would appreciate any input.
-I have a degree in English from a good UK university.
-No TEFL qualification
-3 years teaching TESL to primary school kids in HK (including 1 year training new teachers as a manager)
-6 months teaching English literature and SAT prep to 1st language learners aged 15-18.
-Very good references
From a lot of research I understand it's best to find a job on arrival. But new visa rules state the working visa cannot be granted in the country.
I was informed by Mex Embassy in UK that I'd have to go back to UK to get visa stamped if I found a job whilst in Mexico.
Any ways round this that people know of? Any tips for looking for work in Leon?
Also in process of getting an apostille for birth and degree certificates. Am I missing anything else important?
Many thanks in advance! |
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philipjmorgan42
Joined: 08 Feb 2013 Posts: 30
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:21 am Post subject: |
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I just PM'd you
any questions lmk |
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inotu-unotme
Joined: 26 May 2013 Posts: 197
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:22 pm Post subject: |
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You can cross the boarder anywhere into another country and get the visa taken care of. I was going to cross over the boarder at Belise and take care of my things. |
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felicia_okeeffe
Joined: 31 Mar 2014 Posts: 3 Location: Australia
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the advice guys! |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
You can cross the boarder anywhere into another country and get the visa taken care of. I was going to cross over the boarder at Belise and take care of my things |
A 'boarder' is someone who lives in (your) house and pays money to do so. I doubt that crossing a boarder will get any visa taken care of.
Belize does indeed have borders - and probably boarders as well.
Good heavens. Teaching the English language??? |
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tideout
Joined: 05 Feb 2011 Posts: 213
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:47 pm Post subject: Re: Any teaching opportunities in Leon, Guanajuato? |
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felicia_okeeffe wrote: |
I'm planning to move to Leon, Guanajuato within the next 3 months to be with my partner who lives there. Confused about the new visa process and my opportunities there, so would appreciate any input.
-I have a degree in English from a good UK university.
-No TEFL qualification
-3 years teaching TESL to primary school kids in HK (including 1 year training new teachers as a manager)
-6 months teaching English literature and SAT prep to 1st language learners aged 15-18.
-Very good references
From a lot of research I understand it's best to find a job on arrival. But new visa rules state the working visa cannot be granted in the country.
I was informed by Mex Embassy in UK that I'd have to go back to UK to get visa stamped if I found a job whilst in Mexico.
Any ways round this that people know of? Any tips for looking for work in Leon?
Also in process of getting an apostille for birth and degree certificates. Am I missing anything else important?
Many thanks in advance! |
I spent a couple of months in Leon at what would normally be the hiring season. There's no doubt a post of mine awhile ago and some responses to Leon.
I have to say it was not a particularly good area to work in from an ESL point of view. The +'s there seeemed to be its solid industrial base, proximity to Guanajuato and no big headlines regarding cartel issues.
The area seemed rather lackluster. I think it's a pretty blue-collar industrial region without a base of interest in foreign language study. It's not Oaxaca or Querretaro to put it nicely. I was only able to find a few extremely part time situations with little promise of anything else. Additionally, they seemed to be real stickler's there for paperwork. Specifically, the professional licensing was vague and slow and had to come out of Mexico City if I remember correctly. I was told to forget about any good jobs in universities etc.. there. I ended up leaving due to the lack of anything promising and the area seemed pretty boring.
Hopefully, I'm wrong and just missed the opportunities. Good luck and keep us posted!! |
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felicia_okeeffe
Joined: 31 Mar 2014 Posts: 3 Location: Australia
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Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:18 am Post subject: |
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Hi Tideout,
Thank you for the words of advice. Do you have the link to where you've posted about Leon previously?
I understand there are some schools there that may have part-time work at least...but for these kinds of jobs, would I need a TESL certificate? That's my main concern at the moment.
Cheers! |
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tideout
Joined: 05 Feb 2011 Posts: 213
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Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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felicia_okeeffe wrote: |
Hi Tideout,
Thank you for the words of advice. Do you have the link to where you've posted about Leon previously?
I understand there are some schools there that may have part-time work at least...but for these kinds of jobs, would I need a TESL certificate? That's my main concern at the moment.
Cheers! |
My apology on that - it's been awhile and now that I'm thinking of it, some of that may have been via the msg system here.
I did have one other thought though and it was something that I didn't pursue fully as I felt my options would be better in Asia (where I left for).
You can take the elevated bus line out to one of the Northern suburbs from Leon. If your Spanish is at least decent, you can ask about the neighborhood where the big dance clubs are on the way to one of the universities as I recall. There are a couple of chain schools out there (near a rotunda?) and maybe you can slip into one of them? The Higher Ed places were all very wedded to following bureaucracy (licensia professional etc.)I even had a decent connection or two and looked into "alternatives" in getting the paperwork done. BTW, I had several years of good experience, a recognized TESOL cert and all of my paperwork.
Some of this bureaucracy is probably tied into the fact his is a small, conservative city with what I thought was marginal demand.
If I were you with local connections and help, I'd try starting in the chain schools in that northern suburb area and then maybe you can develop a private following.
On a side note - I found getting information about Leon and schools to be very difficult locally. I was there for a good 2 months and can remember the three Germans who described themselves as the exchange students at the local Leon University. I don't think a lot of foreigners are there. The "interchange" if you want to call it that was one of the lowest I'd seen in Mexico and the people I hung out with the most were from Oaxaca, Puebla Queretaro, Mx City etc...
All of this plays a role in ESL there IMHO. Ya' never know as I also may have just had bad luck. I was also coming out of 2 years in Asia so I was used to a faster,clearer track into things. Feel free to ask more questions btw...... |
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