Job Discussion Forums

[Kaptain_Kampung]

Local circuit judges make 2.7 million rupiah/month.

Cops' salaries start at 3 mil a month.

Both Pay gobs of money just to get those low-paying jobs.

Reason being? They stand to make fistfuls of dirty money.

So back to us teachers - in the KITAS game, it's a dirty business people. Pay to play or prepare for a longgggg wait.

Anyone catch that political propaganda in the Jakarta post Saturday? That Jokowi is loosening up the visas - well read deeper. That was specific to Manpower, not the MOE, which for us English teachers is the uglier half of the battle. Besides, the article highlights that things were getting better due to NOT implementing the bahasa language requirement (which was informally scrapped in April anyway), and the invention of the "online system" which would expedite the visa process. But let me tell you, having processed KITAS for years, the system has never been slower. They say it's because they are learning the online system, still inputting data manually, consolidating govt offices to "streamline", awaiting training, blah blah blah...don't believe the hogwash. If your school ain't stuffing envelopes, you ain't gettin' no KITAS for 6+ months minimum, and that's a fact Jack.

Ironically, the worse things get economically, the better they'll actually get for teachers. More bule will leave, more opportunities will open, and rules will eventually have to loosen up, but in indo-speed that's still a long reactionary wait from today I'm afraid...

So what should English teachers hope for? Better times or worse economically? Well, honestly, I couldn't tell ya. Buckle in,pony up, or get out I suppose...

[markustm]

I guess at the end of the day, it really depends on what an expatriate teacher expects from living in Indonesia.

In the past and even some higher paid International school jobs, its often really only been the money, and the prestige of their position in Indonesian society. Sometimes it was just the availability of the girls in clubs, or living in the wild side of cities like Jakarta.

In a crisis, many of these people will simply leave, just as many teachers who only really came to Indonesia to escape the economic crisis in their home countries, will hop onto the first convenient flight, towards somewhere safe, and sterile like Singapore.

Some people might enjoy the culture, and feel at home in Indonesia. Unlike many western countries, Indonesia is family friendly, and many expatriates settle in, marry and have a family here. Many of these expatriates, may stay, despite a crisis, weathering the storm, and like many Indonesians find a way through it.

The adventurous, might simply ride the boat on the storm, just for the experience, after all money is never the main factor of living somewhere for an adventurer.

Some former Indonesian expatriates, who left the country with bitterness, will just look from afar, take pleasure in any bad news from Indonesia, copy and paste selected reports from an opinionated and flawed press, and generally wallow in the muddy depths of cynicism by posting the news on forums like this. When in reality, they offer no solution to a problem, or probably understand its cause.

Whatever way you look at it the rupiah is weakening, as are many of the world currencies at the moment, and during Indonesia's worse crisis in 1998, the rupiah dropped from 2.500 to the dollar, to 25.000, but bounced back to 5500 at the end of the year. Time will tell, if its the same, in the next few years.

[bradleycooper]

[plumpy nut]

Are you really willing to pay that kind of money for a Kitas, when you're really raking in the cash and the overall prospects seem bad?

[bradleycooper]

[Kaptain_Kampung]

Indeed, funny money is customarily negotiated between a school's savvy visa agent and a greedy govt lackey. Bule are not privy to those indo-intricacies...

That's pretty much business as usual in this land. As Brad says, pay to play and cheapskates/do-gooders wait it out. Schools and agents do the dirty work, so don't get hung up on the details. Just be patient.

Without paying to bypass/expedite things, a teacher's Kitas process follows these steps:

Dinas (city council prescreening), MOE, Manpower, Immigration, IMTA, TELEX. Plan on 6+ months, barring rule changes/Ramadan slowdown/"lost paperwork"/slow appointment setting/other snags, which are sadly more of the norm than the exception.

Aspiring teachers wanting to work in indo are advised to secure a job offer 6 months out. Don't wait till a month before your contract ends in another country to start applying to indo, or you'll be crashing on Mom's couch for a little too long. If you need a quick fix job, Cambodia hires quick and painlessly. Work there while waiting out an Indo Kitas. As far as SEA goes, it's still the wild west there, probably the last bastion of old school quicky ESL jobs. Trendier spots like Thailand, Vietnam, and even China are taking longer these days and their visa processes are becoming more convoluted too. Not as ridiculous as Indonesia, but no longer a snap either...

It ain't like it used to be, but with some planning, knowledge, and tempered expectations, it's still good in indonesia. Don't let this post or the haters dissuade you. Just know what you're in for. Flaky backpackers are a thing of the past here... and on the bright side, the system really does weed out the riff-raff teacher wannabes and just nets the over-qualified indo lovers, and that's probably who you'd rather work with anyway. There's some great teaching talent here. Good things come to those who wait.