Job Discussion Forums

JacobTM · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 73 Location: New York

So I'm going for a Masters in TESOL. I have a CELTA and 2 year's experience as is, and will be getting more experience teaching in the U.S. public schools while getting my masters.

After I would like to teach in Universities abroad, but this will be in more than a year. Just wondering overall, what are some countries where an American could get a nice paying job at a University? I'm more than willing to check out non EU countries, as I have lived in Mexico and Colombia already and am not afraid of ''poor countries''.

The Balkans seem quite nice...

Thanks for any general guidance,
Jacob

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Western European universities will still be quite a long-shot even with the MA, assuming that you have only the US passport. A university in the 'old' EU member countries would have to make a case that you have qualifications no EU teacher who applied for a post had - near impossible in this very competitive job market. The most recent advertisement the university where I work put out drew nearly 50 GOOD applications, meaning related MA ++.

Central/Eastern Europe is a better option for finding legal work, but the problem is that at the university level, pay is VERY VERY low. I've got related MA, 14 years of experience in Europe and Canada, speak Czech, have permanent residency in the Czech Republic, and would LOVE to be teaching at a university here - but I simply can't afford to. This is generally true for the region, unfortunately. I think that if you search job advertisements (there aren't that many around, but a few) you will find that pay in these areas can't be considered 'nice' at all. People actually make more working for private language schools teaching businesspeople.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Spiral's comment about low pay extends to Russia. ALTHOUGH, one guy I know does a gig where the university pays him a salary for a relatively small number of hours a week (6 or 8, I think) and he then builds up his income with privates. Essentially, however, this means that the uni job is to get the visa, but not to earn a living.