Job Discussion Forums

[paddyflynn]

I'm came to Vietnam because I thought it would be a fun cheap place to spend a month while waiting for my semester in Japan to start in October. I heard one could live o.k. off of $800/ month, and that English jobs paying $15/an hour for 15-20 hours a week were easy to find.

Well, here I am, and I find I'm spending a lot more than I imagined, even though I'm not exactly living it up. I've got a $15 a night hotel room, and a gym membership, a few Saigon beers and an occasional massage are my only indulgences.

I'm not getting any leads on jobs either. I go to the backpacker area and try to chat with people, but most of them just want to stay in their little group and aren't very friendly when I approach them. Those who are are mostly on holiday and don't know anything about teaching. Vietnamese are more approachable, but they never give me any leads either. They just want to be my friend so they can practice for free. That's fine to a point, but I can't be everybody's free English buddy. All I want is some fill-in work so that my bank balance isn't too low by the time I get to Japan, because lord knows I'll need money there. I'm willing to travel to other cities if necessary.

I've gone to a few schools' websites, but they all want a certification and police clearance for visa sponsorship. I obviously don't want that. They also want to see a photo. I'm also 40 and a little fat... and Vietnamese can be very judgmental about weight (quite a few have mentioned it to me, and I'm only about 10 kg overweight). So that might hurt my chances too, but I'm very friendly in person, so hopefully if I can at least get an interview, I can get them to like me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Mattingly]

[paddyflynn]

A couple of important questions, paddyflynn.,

1. How much experience do you have teaching EFL? 3 years in Korean hagwons, some corporate and elementary school classes as well.

2. What are you quals? A BA, A JD (law degree), 40% of an MA in Applied Linguistics completed with a 4.0 GPA.

[sigmoid]

[Anh Dep]

I too am confused, you are here for a month and looking for a job. Something just doesnt add up with your story.

[Mattingly]

[quote="paddyflynn"]A couple of important questions, paddyflynn.,

1. How much experience do you have teaching EFL? 3 years in Korean hagwons, some corporate and elementary school classes as well.

[ExpatLuke]

[RustyShackleford]

[mark_in_saigon]

VN is a great place to live long term, especially if you are just padding your income. Needing income from these folks is another story, then you need them more than they need you, not a good profile.

One month would be about how long I would take to just decide what part of the city I wanted to try to stay in, I would never try to be in that big a hurry to get employed with these guys. It takes quite some time to understand the layout of the city, where to eat, what kind of food to eat, where to stay, how to present yourself to these employers, how to recognize the kinds of employers, to understand where you should naturally fit into that list, not to mention numerous other important topics, for example: transportation.

Anyone coming over for just one month, I would never recommend assuming you could work, and even if you could, I cannot imagine why you would want to for such a short time frame. None of the better (and the better are mostly marginal) employers would want to pick a teacher up for one month. You likely would not get your first pay til after you were scheduled to fly out. What sense does that make?

My suggestion is to move to the edges and enjoy your stay, the center is more expensive and dangerous to the foreigner, not likely to give you your best experience.

[skarper]

A lot of westerners seem very fat to Vietnamese eyes. Children will naturally comment and the childish adults will too.

It is best not to care and ideally not know what they think of us. It's just a stupid and uninformed opinion at best.

I'm about 10Kg over my ideal weight too - I was 10kg even heavier when I arrived but dropped 15kg in the first 3 months. Eating less and walking more.

Being slightly overweight will only stop you being employed by the kind of employers you never want to work for.

Obesity is another issue. It will take such people longer to find work but even moderately obese people are working here.

However - 1 month is not long enough to find work and the OP is foolish to waste time looking.

[Tigerstyleone]

10 kg overweight and you have a gym membership?

[I'm With Stupid]

Half of the kids I teach nowadays are fat. I can't see it being too much of an issue. In fact, from what I can tell, one of the reasons they're so quick to mention it is that it doesn't have the same stigma it does back home.

[skarper]

I never thought of that - I suppose it may just be an observation and not a dig.

I don't care either way - I am unlikely to change my basic body shape now and the latest research indicates being slightly overweight is healthier than being 'the right weight' anyway.

When someone here observes that I have a large belly I just agree with them. No big deal.

[Oh My God]

[paddyflynn]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will try going to schools and handing out resumes.

As far as why I am looking for work for only 1 month. First, if I could make like $1,200, it's good to have that money. Secondly, as a solo traveler I often feel lonely and bored, and teaching gives me something to do and helps me meet people. Also, I like teaching.

When I taught in Korea, hagwons would often hire teachers on tourist visas as fill-ins for just a month when one teacher left, and they needed time to find another long-term teacher, so that their students wouldn't quit the class and go elsewhere. But I guess with so many teachers looking for long-term work in Vietnam, there isn't much need for that.