Job Discussion Forums

[VietCanada]

I've been on this board for fourteen years. Not continuously, I took a year or two off a couple times. One constant is posters who say that EFL teachers would be burger flippers back home, wherever home is. We are losers who escaped a meaningless life and are now trapped because we couldn't succeed at home.

What if we were salespeople? Couldn't the same argument be true. If you weren't a salesperson you'd be flipping burgers. You're only in sales because- why? Because you have the skill set for it? And if we were plumbers or mid level management at some faceless behemoth corporation? A pharmacist?

In sales it's been said that 25% make 75% of the sales. Among that elite are another 25% that get 75% and so on. This phenomena is represented graphically by a power-law distribution curve. y=x!.

The same is true in EFL I'm sure. You have the skill set required to do this job or you don't. Seventy five percent of us will always be in the common tier just like any other job or profession.

Another relevant stat that's often bandied about- 70% of us live paycheque to paycheque regardless of the size of that paycheque. Most people cannot save money. That's likely true among EFL teachers as well even though one would think we'd be more motivated to at least save enough to fly home.

If you can't save money and you don't have the skill set for this job then a place like Vietnam is not for you. Go somewhere like Korea with a monthly salary and an extra month's pay as severance at the end of the year. That and the free flight home will ensure that you get something out the deal. There are no such guarantees here for the typical EFL teacher.

You don't have a degree or a TEFL(or similar) so you think you can just buy those? IMHO used car sales would better suit that skill set. You won't be able to get a work permit and you'll be in that bottom 25% that makes only 25% of the 75% who only get 25% of the whole to begin with.

I would not dissuade the genuine curiosity seekers who want to experience living in Vietnam first hand but I would strongly advise that you get proper credentials or at least have the money to go home and set up again before you come here. You'll also need some seed money for here as well.

Not being able to get fulfilling employment at home is the wrong reason to come here. You'd be much better off researching your own country to find out where the jobs are. If you're in Canada then go west young man. Twenty five dollars an hour for having a ticket to use a hammer on a construction site. I'm guessing getting that ticket and settling in Calgary for example is a lot less expensive and risky than flying all the way to Vietnam with fake credentials.

I've met people here who have leveraged their EFL teaching experience into very lucrative business and management positions. Lots of guys and some women making in excess of 3 or even 4 thousand a month. Probably more in a couple cases. But I've met a lot more people with no or fake credentials stuck in low paying survivor jobs, often with a wife and child(ren) in tow. Sometimes their parents help them out.

In between all that of course are those who go to work every day and are as happy as anyone else on this Earth with their pay, lifestyle and savings. But always with an eye and an ear out for better opportunities.

Over 20 years ago (pre free trade deal for Canadians) one could get a good paying union job and hold it for life. A house, two cars, a dog, a family, health care and a pension. Since then it's been said that a person might have as many as six different careers in their lifetime. I've had four. I really enjoy this one. I have two others to fall back on.

I am not a loser or a burger flipper. I do not care about 'standards' or whatever the latest metric is that's being used to judge my life and my life choices. The only metric I need is the mirror in my bathroom. If I am not satisfied or perhaps getting an itch then I will do some research and make a decision. Along the way I have turned down two possible careers either of which had just as much potential as the other four but I wasn't satisfied with the balance of sacrifice and and that potential benefit. There are always sacrifices or perhaps compromise is a better word.

I should also mention that each of my other three careers also had a side of loser tripe from the judgemental among us. If EFL teaching is within your skill set, the challenges and comprise balance well with your expectations and finally if you have the proper credentials then by all means give it a go. Just ignore those guys over there pointing, snickering and prejudging your life as worthless, they will always be there regardless of your career choices. But don't come here just because you can't find a good job in your neighbourhood. Or the cheap vices whatever. Bad decisions will likely have bad outcomes. In the end that just serves those who look down upon the rest of us. In whatever career or job one chooses.

[ielts_professional1992]

should be more support for teachers not having money for it,850$ is .like a months wages what the hell why should i pay it my school should pay it or even betetr why not stop the visa/work permit stuff and let anyone work

[mark_in_saigon]

Who will be the first to take the bait?

[calidan]