Job Discussion Forums

cassy_283 · Joined: 04 Jul 2010 Posts: 2

I am newly CELTA certified and just moved back to Oaxaca de Ju�rez. I lived here for four months this past summer. I have been going from school to school and have had two interviews but no job offers yet. I will be here for over a year, possibly longer, and available to teach long term. Any suggestions?

ElJuero · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 58

I hesitate to go into to much detail because I could write a book on it. There are significant issues to working in Oaxaca not the least of which are visa problems.

I would strongly recommend looking at the intended contract before you start the VISA process. Get the contract in English and read it carefully.

I would also strongly suggest avoiding Cambridge Academy. The school is located about 4 blocks from Parque Llano and the foreigner library.

There is a long history of the owner screwing teachers there. She is not trusted by many in the community.

I understand through friends that the most recent contract is heavily biased for her and not the employee.

Any vagueness in the contract or your employment situation with the school will be used as leverage by the owner who has lost several decent teachers in the last year. You will likely be promised full time hours but when the hours do not appear you'll be tied to her in the VISA with immigration. The owner is aggressive and unprofessional in influencing other employers to not hire you even though she will never come through. In short you'll be stuck with a very bad situation.

Do not accept any contract that does not provide for a minimum of 19-20 hours of pay or you'll simply be used at the owners convenience and advantage.

I understand there is a new director at the school but I would still stick to the facts about getting your contract details up front before you invest a ton of money and time into the immigration details.

J Sevigny · Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 161

Oaxaca seems like an ideal place to live and work but it�s actually a very expensive city and wages are very low.

Tretyakovskii · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 462 Location: Cancun, Mexico

ElJuero · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 58

cassy_283 · Joined: 04 Jul 2010 Posts: 2

Thank you all for the reply. I appreciate all the time that you have taken to help me. I did indeed find a decent job in Oaxaca. I am now working for Harmon Hall Oaxaca. If anyone has any real bad experiences there it would be good to know. I sign my 40+ hour contract in three weeks.

Also if there are any bad experience or suggestions with immigration here I will be all ears. Thanks again to all of you, especially about the school near Reforma. I nearly applied there.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:47 pm Post subject: Re: Thank you

wildchild · Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 519 Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010

Harmon Hall Oaxaca...

... and the plot thickens...

ElJuero · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 58

Tretyakovskii · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 462 Location: Cancun, Mexico

Teaching above a number of hours that allows you to do a job you're proud of, and the time it takes to be a little creative in the process, will eventually exhaust you, mentally and spiritually. Burnout is real, and can drive people out of teaching who would otherwise have enjoyed a long and productive career from which others benefited.

Even with minimal requirements for preparation- familiarity with the materials and a good coursebook to work with- anything over about 26 contact hours eventually does you in: those who brag they can do more simply haven't done it for enough years.

I once decided to teach 36 hours per week since it was just going to be for a six week period: near the end of that time, English Language sentences were forming spontaneously in my head in a random fashion, unlike what happens when we are "thinking".

I hope you like your new job, your boss and your colleagues; and, I hope you didn't mean you might actually be teaching as many as 40 hours/week. Teaching is stressful, at times, and always demanding of high energy levels. It is especially stressful at first, when everything is new. Teaching hours are not at all like "hours of work", owing to these factors. Too many hours in the classroom could make you want to give it up, quickly.

You have chosen both Oaxaca, and TEFL: with determination and a little luck, you can make both work for you; but limiting your teaching hours to no more than 26 per week will increase your chances of survival. Acting too enthusiastically, if the boss suggests teaching more hours than that, will put both at risk.