Job Discussion Forums

[Mingvase]

I've got an interview with Learnship this week. They're an online school based in Germany. Anyone know how much they pay? ALso Berlitz are supposed to be getting back to me about working in Germany at one of their schools. I heard they don't pay much-like $11.76 for a 45 minute lesson. That's about £8.
You can get that working in a warehouse in the UK. People must be desperate to work for such a measily sum. Plus renting a room is going to cost about 300Euro a month. You could get away with not paying health insurance I guess. Dunno if you can get away with not paying tax though as a freiberuflicher. Any ideas?

[JN]

I don't know anything about Learnship, but you must have health insurance if you live here in Germany. Anything from the UK does not qualify, from what I've read.
As to whether you can get away with not paying taxes, I'm not sure.

Good luck with getting work.

[spiral78]

These are bottom-feeder jobs open to would-be teachers without related qualifications. There are tonnes of those around, so no need for these schools to offer better packages.

Yes, you'll be legally required to pay for health insurance.

Why not opt for the warehouse gig?

[Mingvase]

So these are bottom line jobs are they for unqualified teachers? How much do the more schools pay then? 20Euro an hour or more I guess. They won't interview me while I am in the UK though. They only seem to have limited hours and you can't sign on the dole in Germany unless you've been working for a year at least. I can't afford to go there without at least 20 hours a week work.

[spiral78]

Jobs in the region aren't usually found from abroad. Stay on the dole in the UK.

[Mingvase]

How much is it possible to earn then as a Tefler in Germany?

[Hod]

If you had specific skills and basic German, €2000 a month in somewhere such as Frankfurt am Main.

As for health insurance, if you're an EU citizen, you might scrape by with an EHIC, but this is a very bad idea indeed and only an option if you're very young and healthy. I wouldn't even know how to begin going to a German GP with just an EHIC, and neither would the receptionist. There are better options which offer decent medical insurance without buying it in Germany, e.g. http://www.alchealth.com, but go through a broker in Germany. It won't cost anymore, and they'll give the right advice.

As for tax, it shouldn't be that huge. Look at the online tax calculator http://www.brutto-netto-rechner.info/. Without wishing to sound holier than thou, it is arrogant to think you can head there and pay no tax. If you only want to stay there for six months, you'll be fine, but do things properly if you stay any longer.

[Mingvase]

2000Euro is fine. I could afford to pay health insurance then. Berlitz said they were going to contact me about work but that was 2 weeks ago now and I'm still waiting. Other companies have stated that I need to be in Germany for them to offer me an interview. I think the only way to get a good-paying employer is to go and live there and build up enough hours freelance. There was a full time contract going in Kiel on tefl.com which I applied for but I haven't heard anything. I think it might have been Inlingua who were advertising that post. I will keep looking.

[Hod]

Bear in mind Berlitz and inlingua are the bottom feeders of European TEFL. Training or support will be non-existent, not that you'd want it from them anyway. If you want some hours and contacts, they'll do in the short term, but that's about it.

Maybe a more happening place than Kiel would be wise. I mentioned Frankfurt as it has the banks, pharmaceuticals and engineering companies. Plus it's easy to get aro