Job Discussion Forums

[newtoefl2011]

Hi guys,

I've been approached by a school in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. They're called The English Centre. Has anyone heard of them? The website seems okay, but the lady has emailed me using a gmail.com address which makes me kind of suspicious.

[spiral78]

My information here is limited, as I do not know the school you are referring to, and my experience in KV was long ago. Maybe someone will be along soon with more/more current info. But for what it's worth:

I interviewed in Karlovy Vary some years ago, and unless things have changed dramatically, it's a VERY small job market. At that time, the school I interviewed for offered accomodations in the local gymnasium - it was a small room with small refrigerator and private bath, but no kitchen. The teacher was encouraged to eat in the school cafeteria.

I did not take the job, but spoke at length with the teacher who was leaving (very valuable contact!!). He said that most people in the city were Russian speakers, not Czech (google KV and you'll find that there is a substantial Russian presence there in fact). At that time, there were only three or four native English speakers living in the city, all of whom hung out at the same pub (predictably). This teacher said that, if I wanted to spend the year hiking and would really enjoy the film festival scene, it would be great, but he'd found it pretty monastic. KV is pretty far from any big city scene, but at that time I only knew Prague - there may be more going on in the vicinity than I am aware of.

Overall, I suspect that the school you are referring to is very small. I'd be particularly interested in
1. housing provided
2. whether it is a salaried position, or is dependent upon student numbers
3. whether you are ok with a pretty quiet life overall

The fact that she is apparently willing to hire someone sight-unseen is another indication that teachers already in the country aren't eager to come out to KV. As I think you already know, it's pretty rare for any school in the CR to hire from abroad, the significant exception being schools in remote areas. This is likely one of the legit exceptions to the rule, but I think you should expect a very small-town sort of existence. That said, it's a spectacularly beautiful small town!!