Job Discussion Forums

[Comrade B]

Hi everyone.

First post on the boards. Just a brief intro:

I've been searching for an EFL job in Russia (I live in Toronto) for past two weeks now. I have a couple of years of experience teaching Russian speakers on Skype, as well a CELTA and an IELTS teaching certificate (an online certificate from one of CambridgeEnglishTeacher.com to beef up the credentials). I also do speak Russian, by most estimates at the C1 level.

Reading through the threads, I feel that the consensus appears to be to go with a McSchool for at least your first year, if only to ensure your legal status in the country and gain some experience teaching in the classroom.

I've received interview requests from CREF, IPT and Wall Street English. I will be sending my application to Tom's House and Windsor shortly.

CREF offers 54,000 rubles + transit pass for ~120 hours, and 71,500 for ~140 + quarterly bonus. I feel like there are better offers from other schools.

Windsor offers about 46,000 + 18,000 in housing support + transit pass + annual bonus. They also seem to be more welcoming of new teachers, judging by the tone of their ads.

Wall Street English/Institute hasn't posted an ad in years (from what I've seen) until now, which would lead me to suspect that their turnover is low. They've reached out to me for an interview. They offer $1350 USD + "free accommodation" + monthly bonus + transit pass...I don't know how many hours I'd be working, though.

IPT's offer was poor...1200 rubles per 2 academic hours.

I have very little information about Tom's House...

Given the ruble's nosedive, $1350 (~88,000 rubles) is a very good salary. Couple that with the accommodation and transit pass, and it works out to be a sweet deal for a newcomer like me.

My question is, do you or anyone you know have any stories/experiences with these schools to share?

Much appreciated!

[yu91]

The Wall Street Institute is definitely the best deal, I think I had an interview with them this summer and they're offer was for around 30 academic hours a week, same salary in dollars. I ended up going with a different school which was a mistake since the salary was in rubles.

Honestly, I spent three months teaching English in Russia from September to December and what I would recommend is to find a school that will offer you the least amount of teaching hours. This will allow you more time to teach privates, which is where the real money is.

[Comrade B]

[expatella_girl]

For expats new to Russia, housing and visa support of of premiere importance. These are all but impossible to negotiate without assistance. The rest of it is wangle-able by an average human being.

Any employer who dithers on housing or visas should be viewed with extreme caution no matter what the wages, hours, or workload.

[Sashadroogie]

They are all pretty much the same, these schools. And not in a nice way...

[Phillip Schofield]

[Comrade B]

Hey everyone. Quick update:

I had my first interview with the Wall Street Institute today. The interview itself was decent. very casual. The interviewer's hometown is actually a mere 50 km from where I live, so that was a neat coincidence. I should get a second interview (where I run a mini-class for them apparently) soon, but I won't take it for granted.

The hours are standard at 30 a week, but the salary is a lie. Because of the ruble's decline, they only pay you 80% of the equivalent of $1350 in rubles; that's rather slimy, but I'm glad I was told this from the get-go. Nevertheless, 80% of $1350 is 70,000 rubles + shared accommodation (I strongly prefer living alone, so I'll try to negotiate an allowance) + transit pass + a small monthly bonus (of, on average, 5000 rubles, depending on retention/sales) works out to be superior to pretty much every other McSchool job offer out there. They're also indifferent to you teaching privately.

With Minsk 2.0 and oil prices bottoming out, the ruble will only be rising, which will diminish the salary even further every month. A salary in rubles, ironically, is more stable for domestic consumption.

[Comrade B]

Guys, the more and more I think about it, Windsor may also be a decent place to work at:

[Phillip Schofield]

[Comrade B]

[Sashadroogie]

Windsor was once a decent place to work, and paid fairly well. But over the years it has declined. Owner moved to other part if Russia, management went to hell. Nearly went under, but then got into IELTS prep and has chugged along ever since. Not sure if it's current situation, but all my contacts quit it years ago because of instability, irregular hours, salary issues.

IPT is best avoided for reasons detailed elsewhere. Serious problems there.

Tom's House is run by some very nice people. But they are fairly clueless about Tefl all round. It's mainly a Russian teacher outfit. At least it was. Don't have fresh intel.

Wall St isn't really a school at all, but mire if a marketing ploy to pull the wool over locals who think they can learn a language by clicking on a computer.

All of these places are short-term options, but could be useful for getting foot in the door. However, a bigger McSchool can do that too, and point the way to other opportunities, and form a much wider network of contacts. The Mac money isn't so much lower, and at least there'll be more available hours.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[Comrade B]

[Sashadroogie]

Dunno much about schools in St Petersburg, I'm afraid. Or the current salaries in schools - all in flux, I hear.

Rents to will be an issue, I guess. But 30k for a single flat might be a little on the optimistic side. Not sure that it will be doable, for a habitable place, at least.

[Comrade B]

[Phillip Schofield]

I think that it very much depends on what you class as 'half-decent' and where you want to live.
My girlfriend has been looking at apartments which she considers to be 'nice' for around 30k per month.
She hates my current apartment (it is a bit Sovietsky) so I would assume that what she's looking at is rather nice indeed.

Much of it depends on where you live in relation to the nearest metro or the centre.