Job Discussion Forums

[cholula90]

Hi!
From reading posts I understand that jobs are few and low-paying, but I have some more specific questions and would appreciate all answers and advice offered by those in the know.
1. Does the Universidad Autonoma de Oaxaca hire qualified foreign English teachers? I read on line they have enrollment of 15,000 students.
2. What about other universities like ITM?
3. I’ve read that there are only 3 language schools in the city?
4. What about opportunities for privates?
5. Is the demand for EFL less in Oaxaca than other colonial cities due to lack of nearby industry? What about tourist industry?
About me; I have MA Tesol, and 25 years of mostly tertiary experience, including 8 years at Universidad Autom. de Puebla back in 90s. I am native speaker, and moderately fluent in Spanish. I don’t really want full time, I just want to teach adults and earn a bit for daily comida, and I want to be in a cultural/internationally visited city rather than out in hinterland of SUNEO unis. Thanks

[MotherF]

1. Does the Universidad Autonoma de Oaxaca hire qualified foreign English teachers? I read on line they have enrollment of 15,000 students.

Yes, but per hour, semester by semester and it can be hard to get in. But it is possible.

2. What about other universities like ITM?
Do you mean ITO? There's a university called URSE that hires, again, semester by semester paid per class hour. Also the Universidad Vasconselos and there's a La Salle and Anahuac with Native teachers. (Those two make you attend mass!)
There are also a few expensive Colegios that have had native speakers in the past. Instituto Blaise Pascal for example.

3. I’ve read that there are only 3 language schools in the city?
No, there are more than that. The Cambridge Academy is the only one I know has paid teachers rather than Spanish classes in exchange for teaching English type deal.

4. What about opportunities for privates?
Sure of course. You may need quite a bit of time to get established this way.

5. Is the demand for EFL less in Oaxaca than other colonial cities due to lack of nearby industry? What about tourist industry?
It's complicated. In part yes, there aren't companies saying learn English or lose your job. The tourist industry does well enough as it is. Especially in unskilled labor--have you seen the immigration stats for the state? There are loads of Mexicans who learned English in the US. Last time I was in Oaxaca City I met a guy who lived in the US for 20 years, he was driving a taxi and spoke excellent English, I think he said he'd been in Eastern Oregon most of that time. And another factor I alluded to above, the language schools in Oaxaca have figured out how to get native English speakers for
free or nearly free. Of course, they are un or barely qualified, but that's the business model they've gone with.

About me; I have MA Tesol, and 25 years of mostly tertiary experience, including 8 years at Universidad Autom. de Puebla back in 90s. I am native speaker, perceived to be younger than 60+ years, and moderately fluent in Spanish. I don’t really want full time, I just want to teach adults and earn a bit for daily comida,
You could probably find part time work to cover your daily comida. Rent is fairly expensive in Oaxaca, you could also work online if you didn't find enough local part time work---but then there's the issue of what sort of visa you will get? Things have changed since the 90s in that department.

[Jultime]

I spent 3 months in Oaxaca early this year looking for work after CELTA. There are 5 language schools, I applied to all of them and heard nothing back. The pay is very low...70 pesos an hour, certainly not enough to survive on in Oaxaca if you want to live in El Centro.

You might land a job at one of the universities, I don't have a 4 year degree so I didn't qualify. I did post an ad on an online classifieds and received an inquiry from one of the universities. Maybe the university will sponsor your work visa.

My experience was that private paying students were not easy to find and the hourly rate was low. There are many expats in Oaxaca willing to volunteer teaching English, not a good thing for those of us needing to earn a living.

[Tretyakovskii]

I suppose the more money people have the more likely they or their children are to be studying English in courses they have to pay for.

This graphic tells us something about the situation in southern Mexico, of which Oaxaca State is a part.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexican_states_by_poverty_rate#/media/File:Poverty_Percentages_of_Mexico_2012.png