Job Discussion Forums

[MdSmith]

Hello all

In the absence of a Slovakia sub-forum I thought I would post this here. I haven't seen any job ads for tefl work in east Slovakia (e.g Kosice) for quite a while. Would you suspect there is much work available there (?) and the best way might be to contact schools direct? I was offered a job with Berlitz in Kosice several years ago but had already accepted a job elsewhere.

Cheers.

[Kofola]

I haven't worked in the east for a long time, so may not be the best person to answer, but may also be the only person to answer so, here is today's job offerings on Profesia

http://www.profesia.sk/praca/kosicky-kraj/skolstvo-vzdelavanie-veda-vyskum/

If you don't speak Slovak, you can change the language to English and do a search.

If I were looking for a job in the East, I would work from these assumptions:

1. The job market is tricky with high levels of unemployment.
2. Wages are fairly high generally in Košice (compared to other areas of Slovakia and excluding Bratislava), so clearly things can't be that bad.
3. There must be a fairly good level of demand for business Engish in Košice because the major employers are international.
4. How much that has been taken up by local teachers - I don't know. I would guess that anyone who is any good could get a foot in the market.
5. Slovaks are word of mouth people through and through and this is even more true in the east than elsewhere in my experience.
6. I have looked at Košice in the past and noted that there are (or were then) fewer schools than you might expect.
7. I suspect the market has more to offer a freelancer.
8. I would approach companies direct and also the universities. The pay is generally crap, but you never know what you might pick up.
9. You could try www.ijav.sk and www.vista.sk. These are not recommendations, just possibilties. The first is definitely a franchise, so individual branches will vary enormously. The second I think is similar but not sure.
10. Don't wait about for ads - in some parts of Slovakia native speakers are hard to find and if you approach a company they may become interested.

That's all I can think of for just now.

[MdSmith]

Many thanks for those helpful tips. Looks like it might be worth exploring further on the ground.

Cheers.