Job Discussion Forums

[MotherF]

In another thread there was some discussion as what consitutes a "better" job in English teaching in Mexico.

Obviously, what is best for one person is not best for another, but I thought this is a worthwhile topic and would be helpful for new teachers.

I work at a university. I have a full-time permanent position.

For me the pros are:
a comfortable salary
full benefits package
some nice perks like paid sabbaticals and options to take extended leave--I just got back from 6 months off to extend my maternity leave. a reasonable work load and a pleasent working environment
for the most part respectful students who recognize English as important for their futures

The cons are:
inflexibility in hours, as a mother, I'd like to be able to consider part-time work. (the hours most teachers work at colegios are very attractive to me)
vacations fixed into academic calander, the same times as sooo many other people.
a cap on my earnings, while I get nice cost of living increases and small antiquity bonuses, I can't work harder to make more like I could if I were doing private or free lance lessons.
my students are too busy to really commit the time needed to advance in their language learning
my class sizes are often near 30

[McMurphy_RP]

Thanks for having started this helpful thread! I'm in Oaxaca. Came here to teach English but now I'm trying to decide whether to stay or move on.

What would you consider "a comfortable salary" in Mexico? I keep hearing different things and am having trouble wrapping my head around it. Does the benefits package include any kind of pension plan?

One other question to which I'm having trouble getting an answer (possibly because the answer varies from place to place): I'm an experienced teacher with a masters degree in education, but I don't have a TESOL background. Would I need a TESOL certification course to get a university position here? If not, would such a certification course improve my odds of getting a better job, or would my other education and experience trump the TESOL?

Thanks again!

[Guy Courchesne]

Common to Mexico City is teaching English directly in companies, either yourself or through a language institute with a business focus. I've done a lot of this over the years.

Pros

Good hourly pay
Flexible hours, usually no Saturday work
Good stepping stone into other areas, such as translations, or into other fields
Small class sizes
Motivated students, for the most part
Independence

Cons

Usually no benefits
Difficult to maintain a full work load
Travel time a pain if not managed properly
Holidays and cancellations can cause havoc with a schedule if not managed

[MotherF]

[MotherF]

So let's hear from people who do language schools, private tutoring, colegios, other options...

[Samantha]

Sorry, what exactly did you want to hear? You and the others who do recruiting, seem to have covered the salient points.

[juanwilly]

delete

[MotherF]

For you personally, what are the benefits of working and cons of working where you work. Someone recently said that working at a language school was the best. A similiar comment was made for independant private lessons. Instead of burrying those post in a different topic, lets put them all together in one thread to make it easy to find.

[dixie]

I teach high school at a colegio and would echo MotherF's pros with a few additons:

PROS
Hours - I can be home by 3pm and feel as though I still have a full day to accomplish what needs to be done, to enjoy my family or to do nothing at all.

Resources - My school is full of the basics and the extras; I have an apple laptop, a digital projector, and opportunities for professional development (some better than others, but at least it is there!).

Colleagues - I work with amazing people who help me to grow as a teacher constantly; we are all qualified and dedicated professionals who provide unlimited support to our kiddies and each other.

Students - my class sizes are (usually) a good size; this year I have groups of 17 (2) and one of 15; they have a great level of English; great resources at home and for the most part are competent and thus successful.

LOCATION - I do not have to travel far to get to work (or home) and best of all, I do not have to move around (like some language teaching).

Vacation/Holidays/PD - I have the norm but I also have days off that others do not, meaning I can vacation when it is off-season and thus cheaper and less crowded. We also have full days without kids (nine this year) dedicated to pd.


CONS
Admin is weak in leadership, positive modeling and general knowledge but for the most part (and this is a pro) they do not interfere in how I organize and lead my classes.

I too am stuck at a certain pay now, but my pay is good, as are the benefits. The school claims to be looking into how pay is determined and more importantly, how raises can be earned so perhaps this will be omitted in the future.

My first job here was in a horrible place, filled with horrible people and weak students. I followed that with another job that I enjoyed, but travel was time consuming, the hours longer, and less holiday time. Like all places, job environments vary but for now, I am quite happy.

[Clark Montange]

Central Mexico - Yes!!

Mexico is great! If anyone is sitting on the fence about having an ESL teaching experience here, I�d encourage you to get down off that fence!

Now, mind you, the vast majority of ESL teachers I have met throughout Mexico are NOT living on their teaching incomes alone. Easily 90% of them have dipped into savings, have maxed out their credit cards, have drawn on family trust funds. Many are �backpackers� and mom and dad are always there to wire money when they are short, or bail them out of rough patches. And they ARE short, every month. But as the expression goes, you can�t get something for nothing. Every career decision has a price.

For the most part (depending on where you live, and if you live alone, or share with others), if you prefer privacy, and your �own space,� you will pay the price for housing, and not have money left for much of anything else.
This should NOT discourage you. The Mexican people are wonderful, I can�t say enough about them. I don�t know why they so often get a �bad rap,� and are made fun of, with demeaning pejoratives, etc., in other countries. They are intelligent, sophisticated, resourceful, and I have continued to be treated exceedingly well here.

Now you do need to DO YOUR HOMEWORK regarding which school!!!

Don�t get yourself here then find that out you cannot manage, like a friend of mine who teaches for ENGLISH UNLIMITED in San Luis Potosi (SLP), Mexico (central Mexico). He is currently on medical leave, and I have visited him in SLP. He has concerns about working for English Unlimited. I have seen some of this first hand, by visiting the school, plus being interviewed there.

Beware - - Nothing is as promised when you are negotiating the job with them! Get EVERYTHING in writing. My friend didn�t - - trusting soul he is.

He was mislead about the overall cost of living in SLP, and assured that the English Unlimited teaching wages (approximately $4.50 USD equivalent per hour AFTER taxes), are more than adequate to live on, plus be able to travel. You can �see Mexico,� he was promised. Be reasonably comfortable. Have money left over for some fun He was mislead about almost everything, including housing arrangements and costs, and ended up spending many, many times more than what he was led to believe during the job negotiation process, and his list goes on.

English Unlimited in SLP has approximately 95% local teachers - - from SLP or nearby Mexican cities, despite what EU claims and posts on the Internet, and in their advertisements. Most of them have parents, spouses, etc. who help out financially. Teachers are also expected to purchase their own supplies: Paper, pencils, rubber bands, erasers, poster board, note pads, pens, Post It Notes, paper clips, markers - - you name it. This was NEVER mentioned in his screening, interviewing, and negotiation process prior to him coming to English Unlimited (EU), in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

He was also asked to agree to not work elsewhere to be considered for full time equivalent work, yet he desperately needed more money. He was eating so poorly, well . . . this has exasperated an existing medical problem, which has landed him in HOSPITAL!

The cost of living in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and most other moderate to larger cities is basically the same as any city in the United States. I have met person after person here in Mexico who has relatives in the U.S. and they overwhelmingly validate this.

Read CAREFULLY: It is NOT any cheaper in Mexico for the basics like food, personal hygiene items such as shampoo, shaving cream, razors, clothing, shoes, medications, etc.

Generally, you CANNOT make it here financially, unless you are willing to completely give up your privacy and share a small living space with three or four other people (generally speaking), and be willing to just stay at home (no disco money for you ). Now there may be exceptions, there always are in life, but I�ve not met any people out of dozens and dozens, so far who fit that, and I have worked in Mexico for quite some time.

Native-speaker teachers come and go at EU like a revolving door (Canada, U.S., U.K., Spain, Africa, etc.), most staying only a couple of months, due to these and other broken promises. The current �Academic Coordinator� has no professional background in the field of education administration whatsoever, or no formal education related to education administration, teaching, etc. (I interviewed with him, and was not impressed at all). His background is from the MORTGAGE BANKING industry! My friend has shared horror stories that would make your hair stand on end.

As if this isn�t bad enough, EU does not even have any standardized scoring/grading system for its exams and other tests! I could not believe it when my friend told me this, and also showed me a few samples (with students names not visible). This is academics 101 folks, no matter what you teach. You are doing your students a disservice by letting teachers do whatever they like when it comes to grading student work. Many get passed onto the next class, ill prepared. He has had students who needed friends in class to translate. How these student got into his classes was a mystery.

So come to Mexico, for sure!!! Just be aware that you may not be able to pay off your student loan bills if they are substantial. But if your parents or other relatives are willing to pick up the tab for you for this, you will probably have a terrific experience like I have, and am still having.

Best of luck to you considering this option!


CM

[Prof.Gringo]

[brian1972]

I work at a private school, preschool to 9th grade. I am a certified teacher and for me, it is just like working at a public school in the states... except they pay for my house

Pros
decent pay
tuition for my kids
housing paid
well supplied school
health care
good hours 8 to 3
free afterschool activities for me and kids
flight paid
holidays and vacations scheduled into the year
flexible with sick days and such (just gone a week for a sick parent)
direct admin is foreign (so culturally we �get�eachother)

Cons
I have to pay taxes
had to pay books and uniforms for my kids... expensive!


I worked at a really awful school last year, so this place seems like paradise! Perhaps I will change my tune in a few months, but right now I am pretty darn happy.

[kosherpickle]

Please excuse my typos, namely Furher, haha, my phone won't let me edit my whole post, just the top half.

I have no experince, have completed only two years of college, and I have a TEFL cert.

I started working half a year ago to gain the knowledge and experience I need to get a decent job here, since I plan to stay and eventually attend UNAM. I work at a language school branch that I won't mention the name of. It's one of the biggies though, all over the place. I chose this place for some specific reasons and I see it only as a stepping stone.

Pros:
...uh, they hired me regardless of my education/experience level
I am lucky to have nice coworkers, though my boss has given me levels I am not trained for.
You can usually find one near your home.
You can do full or part time work.
You can work as much as you want(IF they have the hours to give you).

Cons:
They pay $48.47 pesos per hour on weekdays and $60.59 pesos per hour on Saturdays.
The work week is considered Mon-Sat.
They like to act as if their full time schedule is somehow nicely split in between evenings and mornings, but full time means you will be there from 7am to 10pmish. You have "gaps" but it's not always enough tine to go home and come back.
They "pay" you $500.00 a week during training, meaning they take the money out of your paychecks once you begin working. They don't tell you this at all.
You continue training, called counseling, for the first two months you work. This is an hour and twenty minutes long and is not paid for. Furher training is paid, but only at half pay.
No benefits and holidays are unpaid which means in Dec-Jan you go 5 weeks without a paycheck.
If you fail a kid the admin may pass them to the next level anyway.

[mejms]

[Professor]