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Wroclaw Schools
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stonethecrow



Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2014 11:11 am    Post subject: Wroclaw Schools Reply with quote

I just read a post from August last year in which a guy was asking about schools in Wroclaw.

The replies he got were quite negative, one person saying that they were leaving because of a lack of work.

Has anybody got any more info about the situation in Wroclaw? Any schools to recommend?

Thanks
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2014 5:17 pm    Post subject: erm Reply with quote

Where are you? Now's a bad time to be looking.
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delphian-domine



Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674

PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2014 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The situation is pretty much similar to Krakow now, I think. the city is full of idiots wanting to "have the foreign experience, man" and employers know it. Full time jobs in traditional TEFL schools are difficult to come by, as employers know that they can rather hire several idiots to give them flexibility.

I've seen adverts offering private classes for a little as 20zl with a native, which shows you what you're up against.

On the good side, there's plenty of opportunity to carve out a niche there. But having met a group of graduates from the CELTA course there, none of them found employment in Wroclaw.

In short : if you're self employed and willing to apply solid business sense to your business activity, then you'll do fine. If you're looking for a job in a school where you work 24 hours a week and go home, forget about it.
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stonethecrow



Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not really looking now, just putting the feelers out. Really to figure out whether staying in the Krakow area is a good idea or not.

Pretty shocking that no-one found a job there, it's not like it's small place. Depends on their motivation as well, of course.

It's a bit different to Krakow because there are definitely jobs available in schools in Krakow. Not sure what the pay is like but they are there.

The self-employed route is something I'll have to look into as I haven't done that before.
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wojbrian



Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Posts: 178

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it depends on if you have a network or not. I have a friend that is turning away work in Wroclaw. However, he has been there for years and is very established.
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delphian-domine



Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wojbrian wrote:
I think it depends on if you have a network or not. I have a friend that is turning away work in Wroclaw. However, he has been there for years and is very established.


Yes, it's exactly that kind of place. Perhaps not as much as Krakow, but it's still fashionable enough to have plenty of idiots trying to work there.

The problem there is that there are plenty of idiots willing to stay there for peanuts in order to stay with their girlfriend. I saw one particular idiot offering classes for 20zl/hour, which is insane. Polish teachers wouldn't do it for that price!

Self employed does make a lot of sense for someone willing to put in the effort. Decent clients will expect an invoice, and with a bit of business sense, you can easily turn most of your life into a business expense and so pay less tax.
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Master Shake



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with Delph about Wroclaw. Definitely solid earning potential there for qualified teachers but it first takes a year or two to sniff out the better paying clients.

Part of me wishes I'd spent the time to get the ball rolling in Wroclaw. I've applied to a few schools over the last couple years but never heard so much as a peep back.
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delphian-domine



Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Master Shake wrote:
I agree with Delph about Wroclaw. Definitely solid earning potential there for qualified teachers but it first takes a year or two to sniff out the better paying clients.

Part of me wishes I'd spent the time to get the ball rolling in Wroclaw. I've applied to a few schools over the last couple years but never heard so much as a peep back.


I don't think you missed much, to be honest. The city is quite grim underneath the charming surface, although the amount they've built in the last few years is staggering.

Having said that, I reckon there's a hell of a lot of money to be made in the surrounding area. Places like Walbrzych are grim, but there are a hell of a lot of factories going up in that area. You could live in Swidnicka (which is quite nice) and put together several hours of work in one place - do that 5 times a week and you could easily be looking at 10k a month for not much effort.
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stonethecrow



Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

About Wroclaw looking grim, wasn't it the same with Krakow though maybe 10 years ago? Refurbished buildings in the square, some new glass-clad offices on the periphery but if you venture a few kilometres to Kazimierz or Podgorze and it's a tip... to be honest, parts of these areas still are.

I've only been there once but city centre seemed lovely, same as the parks by the river. I don't doubt that parts of it aren't nice but where did you see that you thought was particularly grim?

Thanks for the advice by the way.
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the_roads_of_poland



Joined: 22 Oct 2012
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I live in Wroclaw but stopped teaching about two years ago so I'm not in the game. The city is overrun with schools and teachers (a lot of extremely dubious quality), salaries are down, and colleagues still teaching all mentioned 'difficulties', some have moved on the other things altogether. I know Krakow is much much worse for TEFL.

Delph's idea on working in the smaller local cities is actually a good one (Swidnica, not Swidnicka, that's the street in Wro) on paper and one I had considered but decided commuting back and forth between Swidnica/Walbrzych and places like Olesnica or Brzeg Dolny and Wroclaw would kill me (in every meaning of the word). I even got a decent job back then to work in Siechnice which I also refused due to the commute.
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Master Shake



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the_roads_of_poland wrote:
I live in Wroclaw but stopped teaching about two years ago so I'm not in the game. The city is overrun with schools and teachers (a lot of extremely dubious quality), salaries are down, and colleagues still teaching all mentioned 'difficulties', some have moved on the other things altogether. I know Krakow is much much worse for TEFL.


That's too bad. I'd have thought Wro was enough off the beaten path to be overlooked by the fly-by-night schools and teachers. I guess I was wrong. It just goes to show you that it's a nice place to live.

The British Council has branched out to Wroclaw, so that's at least one option. I highly doubt they're offering full-time contracts, however. Still, a good place to start looking to piece together teaching timetable.
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delphian-domine



Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674

PostPosted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Master Shake wrote:
That's too bad. I'd have thought Wro was enough off the beaten path to be overlooked by the fly-by-night schools and teachers. I guess I was wrong. It just goes to show you that it's a nice place to live.


It unfortunately got tagged as "The New Krakow", so you can imagine what kind of idiots turn up there. I wanted to throw a pint glass at one particular hipster moron who was telling some Polish girl about how he's on this huge adventure to find his roots and how he's "doing some English teaching" along the way.

Quote:
The British Council has branched out to Wroclaw, so that's at least one option. I highly doubt they're offering full-time contracts, however. Still, a good place to start looking to piece together teaching timetable.


The less said about the BC, the better.

I can't write publicly what I know, but some of their latest dealings have been absolutely unfair and unethical.
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stonethecrow



Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Wed May 28, 2014 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Delph, that sounds very mysterious. Surely your anonymity on here means that you can write on here, unless you've got holes in your tin hat.
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delphian-domine



Joined: 11 Mar 2011
Posts: 674

PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2014 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No such thing as anonymity online, really. I know who at least three posters are on here, without them ever divulging any personal information.

It's not that mysterious, it's just about their business model and how effectively an arm of the British Government is putting local Polish businesses out of business.
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Master Shake



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

delphian-domine wrote:
It's not that mysterious, it's just about their business model and how effectively an arm of the British Government is putting local Polish businesses out of business.
BC English teaching centers in Poland are completely self-funding, so I don't see how it's unfair for the BC to compete with Polish-owned schools.

As a teacher, if you work for the BC you can at least be assured of getting paid on time.
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