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13 Ways to Make More Money In Prague as an EFL Teacher
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Chris Westergaard



Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 215
Location: Prague

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

emmett grogan wrote:
Teaching in Prague is an awful gig. Its not helped by a lot of the long term expats who now run schools and look to employ the cheapest teachers findable. I recall going to one small school run by an American for an interview, I left 30 minutes later having taught this guy how to teach. "I like funky teachers" was his bizarre motto.

There is no way you could make anywhere near north of 25k a month at one or a variety of the usual chains. You spend so much time on the subway to and from classes, students cancel in advance all the time, in fact the students have seen so many jesters calling themselves teachers pass through town that motivation to learn is absolutely minimal.

Long, cold winters too.Oof! No fun when yer skint.


Exactly. Thus the tips mentioned. If you want to make more than 25k, you'll have to find privates and private companies on your Zivno. Most new teachers now have Zivnostensky. If they take the initiative, they don't have to work for schools as much and can work directly for companies, thus doubling their pay. That's pretty much the whole content of the tips listed above.
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emmett grogan



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 45

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And how does a newbie go about getting a zivno unless through a (hopefully) reputable school? Very few schools in Prague will sort out a part-timer/freelancer out with a zivno. The only ones that will do it will be if you are on some sort of full-time contract with that school.

Otherwise the newbie will need to get someone to offer up an address as a business address for them to use for the zivno paperwork etc.

Are you talking 25K upwards after the zivno'd up and freelancing newbie has paid national insurance and health and put a bit away for the tax declaration in Feb/March?
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Chris Westergaard



Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 215
Location: Prague

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A couple of things.

Everyone these days gets a Zivno. Most landlords are fine with signing the Cidlo. Please remember, I work with about 200 new teachers each year. This is standard practice. I even posted a link to a Zivno/Visa service that we use. Making over 30k a month is not going to come overnight. The steps listed on the list are the BEST ways of doing so, aside from getting a DOS position.
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sisyphus



Joined: 20 Sep 2009
Posts: 170

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Chris Westergaard wrote:
A couple of things.

Everyone these days gets a Zivno. Most landlords are fine with signing the Cidlo. Please remember, I work with about 200 new teachers each year. This is standard practice. I even posted a link to a Zivno/Visa service that we use. Making over 30k a month is not going to come overnight. The steps listed on the list are the BEST ways of doing so, aside from getting a DOS position.


Chris, dont get me wrong, some of your tips are valid of course. Im not disputing that. Im saying that the market just isnt there, that its wholely unrealistic to think that newbies are gonna be getting zivnos , finding clients (that entails much more skills than a tefl cert), dealing with horrible bureaucracy. I just feel its unfair the way , when loads of expats have left Prague cos of no work, people are representing it as a Tefl paradise.
You dont need to offer sarcastic replies to criticism either.
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Chris Westergaard



Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 215
Location: Prague

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 5:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For sure, it's not a TEFL paradise. Everyone needs to get Zivno if they want to be able to stay here. It's such a fundamental thing now, that this it's part of the application process at TLH TEFL to go over these realities with newbies. Everyone who takes our course and who's not EU gets a Zivno. Without that, you won't be able to find work. I can't speak for other TEFL cert courses in the city, but one of the reason why our grads generally find work, is because they start working on the Zivno process before they even arrive at some times.

In the last year or two there have been a lot of TEFL cert courses that went under specifically because they presented teaching in Prague as being overly easy. I think I've always presented it as not this way at all. If you look at just about all of my posts, I mention that getting a Zivno is a must now and that without job assistance, you won't be successful in Prague these days.

In terms of making more money. It's the reason for the tips. These things are NOT easy to do, but it still serves as an outline for those who are willing to put in the effort and try. If not, it's hard to break past 25k a month. But, if you are willing to put yourself out there and do these things, you can make a relatively successful little teaching gig for yourself.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Russian bear hugs are usually more effective than just cuddly hugs:
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emmett grogan



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 45

PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 1:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lets not forget that during June, July and August the majority of classes stop so the income of freelance teachers plummets. Aint no paid holidays on a zivno.

Prague is wonderful during Summer, but not when you are broke.
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Czexpat



Joined: 14 Aug 2011
Posts: 42

PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:14 am    Post subject: Re: 13 Ways to Make More Money In Prague as an EFL Teacher Reply with quote

Quote:
9. Contact Businesses Directly: So few teachers do this, but the ones that do often are very successful. Contact all types of businesses and promote yourself to them. You'll need a Zivno to be able to do this legally though.


Good tip but my question is: how do you find the right person at these businesses, with limited Czech skills? This is a major barrier for me as I've found that the time it takes is prohibitive to large scale emailing.
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Chris Westergaard



Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 215
Location: Prague

PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Go in person. Emails aren't going to work. Walk up to the business, introduce yourself and take it from there. Basic Czech can help, but you should be fine without it if it came to that.
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Dejvice



Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pay / salary / wages for English teachers are an embarrassment in Czech Republic. Czech Republic can be a great exp. if you have an exit plan, and are 20 to 25 yrs old.

If you are serious about English teaching and are currently in CZ, do your best to get into a Czech state school or university, you might get paid less (but no that much less than what one would expect) but maybe after two / or three years, and armed with a good reference, you may have a chance to go for the really big bucks in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia).....with the right company you can earn as much in 5 or 6 wks as you would the whole year in Czech Republic. My January salary is staggering beyond belief, plus my flights, 3 times a year are paid, I will be back in Prague in about 6 weeks time.

Notwithstanding the above. The great thing about CZ; English teaching work will always be there. You can go back to it. English 'teachers' have such a high turnover rate in CZ when they figure it out after getting 5 or 6 pay slips and weigh it up with how much they invested to get there. I have met far too many washed up teachers (mostly male) in Prague, in their 30's, some in their 40's pot bellied from a slow progression, over 4 or 5 years, to a liquid diet, rather pitiful. These are the guys who always say 'it was the best decision they ever made' after the 4th or 5th beer.

Saudi is not everyone's cup of tea, that much is for sure but a year a ago one guy was really helpful and gave me some tips about working in Saudi and even coached me for an interview. Feel free to PM if you are currently in CZ and working in a state school / university can send you some tips for getting work in Saudi.

Wishing all concerned only success in Czech Republic.
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