Job Discussion Forums

[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.

[mark_in_saigon]

[JMPM321]

There is a serious demand for short time teachers in thu Duc district. Hop on the 56 bus heading towards saigon river/out of the city and ride it up the highway until you get to a street called vo van ngon, get off and walk/xe om taxi your way around to all the schools. I was out there today visiting an old friend and got randomly approached on the street by a manager asking me to work tomorrow. Like, wtf happened to credentials, but hey, if youre desperate so are they. And its the college district so youll find a lot of students and varying levels of english to help you along. Give it a try, pm me if u need any help out there.

[mark_in_saigon]

I like it out there. Very gritty, not anything like the backpacker's area, for sure. You would want to move out there. Flooding is a serious issue there, you would want to be close to your work. There is some very great need in Thu Duc, of all kinds. Zowie, what a place!! I thought of moving out there when I was not tied into any particular deal, but then I came to my senses. Still, it is a very interesting district, if you like that sort of thing.

Any intrepids living over there? Let us know what it is like.

[tonyjones01]

Mark is right; Thu Duc is gritty, dirty (lots of rats) with a lot of flooding. In my opinion, it isn’t a place for the naive newbie expecting the red carpet treatment. But it is a good place for someone who’s been in the country awhile and is looking for something different.

It does have more crime, and without much of an expat community, you’ll basically be fending for yourself. On the flip side you won’t be overcharged, hounded to buy something, or gawked at. I like it because if the sense of freedom and the fact that I’m basically left alone. In my opinion, if you need handholding, Thu Duc isn’t the place for you. It has grown a lot over the years and you’re able to buy most anything you can in the big city, just fewer choices.

I’m not a teacher but I would think a teaching job would be easy to come by. I’m guessing the pay would be much less than HCMC but that is just a guess. To give you an idea of renting cost, I own a small apartment complex with six bedrooms, a shared kitchen and living room. I charge $250 per month to university students and never had a problem finding renters. They all seem eager to practice their English, so it would seem there are opportunities for freelance work.

If you’re a serious expat (not a backpacker) and need a place to stay, I can set you up with a place for a few weeks until you get on your feet.

[mark_in_saigon]

Hey Tony, thanks for the great info. You are saying lots of rats compared to the rest of HCMC? You understand that must mean a plague of biblical proportions, right? Gawd. Yeah, I also noticed a lot community garbage dumps just randomly scattered around there, did not want to mention that as was not sure if I was just being extra observant or something. I am thinking TD used to be a separate city, I recall reading that somewhere. I do think it could be a lot of fun for the single guy to live over there, but he would certainly want to be tuned in, it does not seem like a place for the gullible, the innocent or the inebriated.

I do think the pay would be more or less the same, I worked over there just a bit, no one tried to hammer me down. However, I do not think you would be finding higher level jobs, jobs that start at 20 or above. I think you would have to just stick in that area though (maybe could work over to District 9 as well, which is somewhat similar with the flooding and the landscape). You would not want to be working out there and coming back and forth all over the city, especially with the rain and flood issues. I think it would be a lot of fun, quite a different experience in some ways, and with the lack of expats you would be treated differently. The old "hero worship" thing we sometimes still get, esp if you end up doing kiddies.

OP is really just seeking a one month deal, which most would advise is really not the best profile for VN. It takes time anywhere here to figure out how to make it all work.

Tony, did we meet? Did I chat with you at the moto repair shop known as Luan's on NTMK a couple of years ago? We talked about Honda 67's, among other things. Would really love to hear more about Thu Duc, also district 9 if you spend much time over there. Did you ever visit the cemetery for the war veterans of the south over there? I bet that is an interesting experience. I think they have one for the winning side as well. Do you ever give tours for expats? I do bring my own body armor. I do not really know where all best (worst) sites are, but much of it seemed like another time zone. I am always afraid of getting lost and being in the roach motel thing, roaches can get it but they can't get out.

[TRH]

Why am I not surprised that you would find Thu Duc interesting, Mark? I don't live there but my wife did for many years and has a lot of friends and family there. In fact we went to a party there last night. My first time there was over a decade ago and it has gotten a little more crowded since then but it is nothing like the other districts west of the the Saigon River. The roads seem wider too but that may just be because there is less traffic. Also there are fewer autos because there are fewer wealthy people. The aspect of being wet and low may be part of what saves some of its remaining farmland. The main crop there seems to be rau muống which has a hollow stem and can grow in water like rice. However if you study the topography, the areas north of the center circle by the Post Office are actually gently rolling hills. Most of the language schools seem to be pretty close to the center circle.

My wife used to have a store in Tam Binh ward and the area is nice and airy. I have only passed through but the area northeast of town around the University is rather pleasant and could be described as middle class to the extent that there is such a thing here. I think the reason for the cemetery that you mention is that it was originally tied to the University which used to be the military academy for the republican government. Now I understand that the school has been converted to the top agricultural school in the country. They do have English classes there and I see westerners on the faculty web page. I suspect one would need to be fairly well qualified to work there. Another good thing about living on the east side of Thu Duc is that you can travel downtown by the Hanoi Highway, go through Q2 and take the tunnel straight to the center of Q1. It is maybe longer but surely faster than traveling from any of the districts near the airport because of less traffic and a better road with a separated motorbike lane.

I am employed full time now but if I were not, I would consider a move to Thu Duc in a minute. However, as tonyjones01 says it may not be the place to be unless you speak some Vietnamese or have a spouse or some other enabler to help you. People are very friendly there but very few in stores or restaurants will be speaking English.

[mark_in_saigon]

Thanks for the report. I read about a guy who went to the cemetery and supposedly there were goons looking him over, like folks are expected to be very low key about going out there. I also recall him saying that it was quite neglected, compared to the other one for the winning side especially. Something very sad about all that, and maybe a sadness about the area too, in a way. You know, Bien Hoa had a bunch of resisters and was beaten down for a while, maybe TD had a similar fate. It is all fading into history, the young people don't know about all that stuff.

Yeah, TD really seemed to have a very different feel to it, like it was not part of HCMC, and I think it was not, it was a separate city, right? Had to have been, Cho Lon was a city, and that is closer. Another interesting history fading into oblivion, I think it was once the largest Chinatown anywhere (outside of China, of course), and now there is like 1 alley that still has a Chinese gate thingy you drive under and only about half a dozen Chinese families that are bunched together. Still lots of Chinese ancestry over there, but they are all mixed up now. They also had an interesting history when they had their last skirmish, lots of them had to split.

I used to expect to see something special in Cho Lon, I read about it countless times in the histories of our war, but now, it is just more of the same, or seems so to me. I guess that is why I like Thu Duc, while it does not have some great tourist attraction (and I do not feel that any of HCMC is much of a tourist site), it has a more natural feel to it, you get the feeling of what life really is like for the people, without this illusion of general wealth and the pretensions that this seems to bring. Instead, the area feels like a place you can "get down in the dirt" with em. 9 kinda feels the same way. 8 too, but too densely packed. Yeah. I like Tu Duc, wish I had tried living there in the past when I was a bit less occupied.

[JMPM321]

Hey we should meet up and tour Thu Duc sometime. Would be fun to saddle up and ride through. What do you think?

[RustyShackleford]

Count me in for an adventure on the right day!