Job Discussion Forums

[Space Captain]

I started a discussion on a German language forum (completely unrelated to English teaching or anything like that) about whether and how I should teach English in Germany. I got a bunch of partly contradictory anecdotes which didn't exactly help me get a coherent picture of the situation there and furthermore I found out there are in fact a lot of different school systems available.

So I'll set out criteria / particulars that might help you help me:

• I will be graduating this year with a BA in linguistics
  
• I plan on earning a TEFL certificate (is ICAL pretty good? that's the impression I've gotten)
  
• I'd rather work in or near a fairly large city: I think I'd get painfully bored in the country
  
• my German is getting pretty decent; I use it without much difficulty chatting online on a semi-daily basis
  
• I used to tutor English in a volunteer capacity: my job was probably a little harder than the one I'm considering because the students were typically East Asian and thus had native languages rather unlike English whereas English is Germanic at least
  
• I have technical experience: my current job is computer-related. At work I use things like Python and Perl. Some English teaching positions, as I understand it, want someone who has these kinds of skills
  
• I'm impartial between working in the public or private sector. Or wherever within those sectors. Whatever's the most productive and useful. I'm not a big spender so money is mainly only a concern in so far as it keeps me alive and helps me pay off my student debt. I'd actually prefer a job where I'm kind of independent in how I can implement the plans given to me
  

Got any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Space Captain]

[spiral78]

Means a passport from an EU member country.

If you are not from an EU member country, things become dramatically more complicated, though not near-impossible as with most other Western European countries.

There are some threads here regarding how North Americans got residence/work permits for Germany. It's a hassle, and most likely you would lose money in the first year, but some people have been able to make it work.

It's correct that your relevant qualifications and language skills will be helpful. In your place, I would expect it to take a couple of years to find something stable and decently-paid. Meanwhile, most likely scenario is that you'll scrabble around, putting together bits and pieces to make ends meet.

[Space Captain]

[spiral78]

My German's not up to the web site you include. I worked for some years at a Dutch university on the border with Germany. We had partner unis in Germany and I was there often (up through November 2010 - not ancient days).

The approximate situation is that a teacher from the UK has an automatic right to live/work in Germany. This means that employers will favour UK candidates as it's far less paperwork for them.

Non-EU member citizen teachers need to be sponsored by a school (unless you've got special quals and experience, not that likely - there are lots of Brits around) or to arrange for your own work permit. Again, do-able in Germany, but not easy.

If you're not already aware of Schengen zone rules, you'll want to google this - you have 90 days of landing in the zone to file for appropriate permits.


Here are links to some earlier threads with useful info:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=84515

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=69109

I'm not purporting to be an expert on how to get work/living permits in Germany: I've only got very general info. I'm more up on the job market itself, having worked with numerous teachers in the region. However, I'm sure others with more specific info will be along soon.

Meanwhile, given the time limits to file for docs, it could be useful for you to get some info regarding what's required in terms of insurance, rental agreements, money in the bank, and etc.

[Space Captain]

[Hod]

My wife is a non-EU citizen and we had to go through this.

You�ve gone to exactly the right place but only quoted from Section 3 of the Germany Residence Act. That quote says you need a passport to enter Germany, which is pretty standard to be fair. It says nothing about staying in Germany. That part is in Section 4:

[Space Captain]

[spiral78]

[Space Captain]

[Hod]