Job Discussion Forums

[jonboy28]

Hello everyone,

I've been teaching English in Madrid for almost two years now and I'm looking for a change. I spent my Erasmus year in Bologna and am thinking about returning to work.

I just wanted to know if anyone has had any experience of working in Bologna or can recommend any good schools. Just general information really.

Thanks!

John

[acmurray]

Bologna's a great place to teach; I wrote a little more about it a few threads down. It's not saturated with English teachers (not professional ones at any rate; though some exchange students will do "conversation lessons" for 10� an hour), and there's generally work to be found. The big name schools there are British School, Anglo American, Modern English, Madrelingua, Inlingua, Italo-American (Johns Hopkins)...and there's another British one whose name I've forgotten. I might be forgetting a couple others as well.

Anyway, just make sure you arrive in September, as all the schools are closed in August and most positions are generally filled up by October. Don't be too sketched out if they pay you in cash and/or don't offer you a contract. It doesn't even protect you that much anyway, since the difficulty of finding a new teacher mid-semester (and risking displeasing/looking unprofessional in front of the students) means that they're generally reluctant to fire you unless you're really creating problems for them (i.e. constant lateness, unreliability, causing lots of student complaints, etc). So while a contract is probably a good thing on principle, if you don't mind about the contributi and pension, I wouldn't let the lack of one rule out what otherwise looks like a decent job. Talk to the other teachers and get a sense of what it's like to work there (teachers plural; there's always that chronic malcontent).

The more money you have coming into it the better, because the housing market is a bear and many people end up in less-than-wonderful living situations because by the time they found the place they were desperate for everything (nothing too disastrous or shady, just roommates they wouldn't have chosen had they had more time and funds to keep looking). So you'll need those savings to a) be able to take your time looking and b) pay the caparra (usually 2-3 months rent) and your first month's rent. Rent for a single is usually �300-�450, for a studio �500+ (if you're lucky), and for a bilocale �600+. Don't forget to check out the prima periferia just outside the city walls, especially on the southern, eastern, and western sides of the city, because it's generally significantly cheaper without sacrificing too much in the way of convenience to the city center. I wouldn't want to live in Bolognina (north of the train station), but that's just me. If you're looking at a place more than a 30-minute walk from Piazza Maggiore, make sure it's well served by buses, including ones that run in the evening.

But Bologna is a marvelous city. Not too big, not too small, plenty to do, wonderful people, and just plain pretty. I lived there four years and have just come away, and I miss it terribly! Good luck!

[Teacher in Rome]

Fab info - really interesting to read about another city. I don't know Bologna very well, but I liked it when I visited for the weekend. (Great food...)

As a matter of interest, where are you now? And can I ask why you left Bologna?

[acmurray]

I'm back in the States now, detoxing from major reverse culture shock. My fianc� is an architect (little paying work for architects in Italy, and most of what there is isn't very "interesting") and has wanted to get out of Italy for years. I love Bologna and grew to like teaching English, but I hadn't originally intended to make it my forever-and-ever career, and would like the chance to try my hand at something new. I love living in Italy for its day-to-day quality of life, but in terms of the big picture, there just isn't a whole lot of opportunity there for either of us--right now. But we're both open to the idea of returning to Bologna later in life, once we're better professionally established.

I've always been curious about living and teaching in Rome--we meant to move there once a few years ago, but then fianc�'s job offer there fell though and I still had a pretty decent job in BO so we never did. How is it? (If you are indeed still a teacher in Rome!)

[Teacher in Rome]

No longer in Rome, but it was a great place to live and work. The usual disadvantages of living in a big city (or, living in a big Italian city) - traffic chaos, frequent strikes, infrequent rubbish collection, everything done on the spur of the moment, including getting clients to start courses... but great advantages too. I was lucky in that my job was interesting and challenging (not just teaching, but also elearning / programme design / hiring and training teachers, etc) and it evolved during the time I was at the company. If it hadn't imploded, I might still be happily working there.

Everything else about Rome just fantastic. Salaries aren't high, but people, food, climate, going out - all worth experiencing - at least for a year or so.