Job Discussion Forums

[StarDuster]

Hi all,

Plans had been to re-locate to Turkey... but the coup and its aftermath, particularly the treatment of academics, has scared me out. I know many teachers have stayed... which is fine... but it's just not for me now.

I'm looking to Mexico for all the usual reasons: close to home, lifestyle, cheap. I also have a significant other who will be accompanying me and will take this time to learn Spanish.

As for me, I've got my MA in Applied Ling, English BA, tefl cert, a whack of teaching experience. A few things I'm not too fussy about: I'll teach kids, adults, and inbetweens; I'll work at a uni, a prep school, a language school.
But I would like an ok salary (yeah, I know, it depends...) and I don't want to do split shifts. Oh, one more thing: I really can't imagine living in Mexico without being fairly close to the sea.

I've been reading this board for ages and know there are lots of people with good advice, and I'd really appreciate some of it... So my question is this: where might be my best opportunities? I'd been thinking maybe Merida?

Comments, thoughts, ideas all appreciated.

[notamiss]

The best advice I can give you is to let your imagination stretch a little bit toward not living near the sea. You see, all immigrants to Mexico have a fantasy of the wonderful life on the beach or accessible to it. That means that as far as English teaching goes (and pretty much any other job available to an expat), it is very strongly an employers’ market and a saturated market, and hence it is really, really hard to make a living wage unless you move inland.

One strategy could be to move to Mexico anywhere at all that you can find a job, and spend a year there. During that time, you can also be looking for job possibilities closer to your beach dream. Since you’ll already be in Mexico with a work permit, you’ll have a leg up on slipping into one of those opportunities – if they exist.

[MotherF]

What's your time frame?

[StarDuster]

MotherF, so happy you've responded. My time frame is flexible and immediate...we're still in Europe, re-grouping and re-planning, but have return tickets for next week. From there, our plan is to Amtrak across the US - I have tons of points with them - and enter Mexico at one of the US border crossings. Which would put us arriving Mexico somewhere around the 26th, 27th, 28th of this month.
Notamiss, the strategy you suggest is really pretty close to what I had in my mind... so it's nice to hear someone else mention something similar. About the beach, I know it's a bit of a fantasy... and you make an excellent point about the trade off between that fantasy and an employers' market.

[Guy Courchesne]

Your timing is a bit late as the school year has started, at least for primary and secondary schools where you're more likely to find employment. That said, there are always late openings.

Merida is a tough market...low paying, no international schools (though plenty of lower profile bilingual schools).

There are quite a few other parts of Mexico to consider, particularly inland in the central states where the bulk of the population and schools are.

MOD EDIT

[StarDuster]

[MotherF]

Hi,
Just because it's fairly common in this field--what's your partner's nationality? Mexico does not treat all foreigners equally and she may not be allowed to cross into Mexico without previously arranging a visa in her home country. And she may not be allowed to go to the US to switch to a resident visa once you have a job.
If she is from an English speaking country, or westerner Europe no problem. If she is asian, eastern European or other, you need to look into that asap.

[StarDuster]

[kimberleygd]

Guess my post MOD EDIT

I'm here for my second year. first day tomorrow !The time flies by so quickly and cannot even believe it. After 4 weeks off, time to get back to the old grind.

Kim