Job Discussion Forums

[LH123]

I worked for a university in Bogota in 2009. At the time, I had a BA, CELTA, DELTA, and 8 years' experience. I was paid 3.8 million a month, and they provided me with all the documentation to get a work visa. Not all teachers had DELTAs.

As for Medellin and Cali, I don't know. You might want to try this forum, if you don't already know it:

www.colombianblog.com

University jobs tend not to be advertised online - it is very much a case of showing up and asking, or (even better) having contacts. This is South America, after all.

International schools are another option. While they don't like to admit it, many will cheerfully (albeit quietly) employ foreigners with a BA and a CELTA, and will sort out a work visa for you.

Finally there is Berlitz and International House (in Bogota, at least). I have not heard good reports about either, but (again) I understand they can at least get you a work visa.

[spanglish]

LH, would you mind elaborating a bit more on your job? How many contact hours did you have per week? How much paid vacation did you receive? Were you paid 12 salaries for the year? Was it a particularly stressful work environment?

[LH123]

Let's see...

I taught 14 contact hours a week (Mon-Fri). There was very little work outside of class to speak of, like marking, meetings or tutorials - essentially it was a part-time job. Holidays were not paid - in fact, you were only "contracted" term-by-term, so holidays were essentially being unemployed. On paper that sounds terrible, but no-one seemed to mind too much. There were two terms per year, lasting about 20 weeks each. (I only taught one term, then left the country to go travelling around South America.)

The classes were obligatory for the students - all students had to have English classes regardless of the degree they were studying. This meant a certain level of reluctance. They weren't unruly, and were far from rude or undisciplined...but, they were not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed either. It wasn't a joy teaching them, but it was far from terrible.

My classes had around 12 students each, and it was standard EFL fare (grammar, vocab, book, game, repeat ad nauseum...) I also taught one TOEFL iBT class.

There were about 15 teachers in total. They all seemed happy, well adjusted individuals who were well-integrated into Colombian society and satisfied with their jobs. Truthfully, we all seemed rather thankful - university jobs are a good gig. Acceptable money (though you would earn far more at a good international school), not much work, zero stress.

So...

Pros:

Relatively good money for so few working hours
Stress-free
Nice work colleagues, tolerable students
Visa organised

Cons:

Still, not as much as you'd earn at an international school
Visa expenses not paid for
'Holidays' not paid for
Students could have been a bit more energised

But this was my experience at one university, doubtless different people at other universities will have differing stories.

I understand that in Bogota, these are the universities that hire foreigners:

Universidad Externado
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Universidad Los Andes
Universidad La S�bana

...and perhaps there are others I don't know about.

[spanglish]

Thanks, great to get a detailed response.