Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

3 weeks in Bogotá - thoughts

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Colombia
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
The song



Joined: 26 Jun 2014
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 12:30 am    Post subject: 3 weeks in Bogotá - thoughts Reply with quote

Hello,

Compared to people who have been here years, this may not be very informative. My three weeks are effectively 2 weeks, because the week of March 22 was Semana Santa, so everything was closed most of the time.

Institutes:
There's a lot of them, and I still haven't discovered them all. They all (irritatingly) insist on giving you an English placement test to test your knowledge. It gets old after a few times, and one school made me do a TOIEC practice test (more on this later).

To avoid naming the schools, I'll just give them numbers. School 1, I agreed on joining before I came to Colombia. They seemed very eager to have me, had the initial interview, and then invited me to training (a watered down 2 day TESOL course). Whatever, I went to the training but it seemed like I already had the job. Apparently, they didn't think it was important to say that the demo lesson would determine whether or not I would be hired. Ok, no biggie, they didn't like my lesson and didn't invite me back--They were supposed to be my backup school, but oh well. Their schedule was 90 minute lessons 5 days a week, at about 27,000 COP per hour. Not bad, but not enough on its own.

Second school -- I got lost the first time I went there. The area around the mall with the school had prostitutes walking around at noon, so I wasn't too hot about living there. I didn't bother with calling the director and apologizing because 1) I had a hunch it wouldnt be a good job, and 2) I was already an hour late searching for the school. The director called me a few days later and we met at branch of the school that was closer to where I live. Still took an hour of Bogota traffic to get there. I probably could have gotten there in around the same time if I walked. Anyway, this school was very interesting but mostly in a bad way. I don't like making snap judgements of people...but the director seems like (sorry) a maniac. She was nice to me, and desperately wanted me to come in the evening of that day (I said no). Her interview questions were somewhat offensive, but I gave her the answers she wanted to hear. One of them was "If the students aren't learning who is to blame"....Yeah. She tried to get me to meet with everybody at the school. Even though the director seems probably not-so-stable, it doesn't seem like an absolutely terrible place to work. It's a little school that works with the university next door and also have their own students. I would work there if I had no other choice, I guess. But they are the opposite of on top of their shit. I'm not even sure they knew they had to sponsor me a visa, and she didn't mention the pay or look at my resume. Might be an interesting experience to work there...but I wouldn't invest anything into them that I wouldn't be willing to walk away. Did I mention the TOIEC exam? It took about 1.5hrs, and I'm a pretty fast test taker. I probably should just run away from this as far as I can but I'm curious, and their online reviews aren't that bad.

School 3 was pretty great, they knew their stuff, payed peanuts (as is tradition here, it seems), and have a pretty extensive hiring process which I'm still at the beginning of. Not much more to say. I think the pay was like 1,600COP for 24 hours of teaching.

The last two schools I haven't interviewed at so I'm OK with sharing their names. American school way: from other posts here, I hear they pay a little more than 2mil pesos a month for a lot of work. I was there today, but they wanted me to take their English exam and I was pooped from the Toiec test I did earlier so I took a rain check. Also require 3 days "training" before working. Might be a decent place to work, but I don't think I want to work that many hours. The other institute I visited, Centro Colombo Americano, had me in tears from laughter when they told me that to work there I needed to have an education degree and a cedulla....but they were serious, so I promptly thanked them and asked for the exit.

I've also visited a lot of universities, but they just ask for my resume and them I'm on my way, or possibly meeting the co-ordinator if they're available. The ones I've visited don't sponsor visas, although I have met some teachers here who work at a university and are sponsored there. Also, the universities have various branches, so good luck finding the one with the language department.

The Colegios, I haven't been able to get near. The ones I went to told me to apply online and of course, they don't reply. Maybe it's just because the school year started, but I suspect online doesn't work too well in this country because all of my interviews (except school 1), have been through in-person applications.

Also, Bogota is pretty darn expensive. My plan was to stay here 1 year, but I've since realized that this is not the place to spend one year and leave. It's a great place to live long term (the only issue is traffic, if you don't live near your work), and it's a great place to visit short term but for in-between periods (1-2 years), I sense a lot of frustration. I think living here would be great, but every Colombian I talk to says that it takes a LONG time to find a good job. I sense that a lot of people here would rather be unemployed for a long time than work for a company that doesn't pay much, and I completely understand that view, it's hard to make a living here.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2016 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For Bogota..."the only issue is traffic..."

You must like lousy weather, huh. Are you from London, or Seattle?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
currentaffairs



Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Posts: 828

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2016 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is hard to get going in Colombia. The lower end jobs pay fairly crappy wages and have you working split shifts and commuting through heavy traffic. You may have to teach all over the city at different places on-site. Really, you need to persevere and network.. Most of the decent jobs come up through someone recommending you. Personal recommendations go far in this culture.. (I got an interview for a colegio job through a girl I knew in the salsa club.)

I would say that Bogota is not a great place to start. Medellin, Cali, Cartagena or Barranquilla may offer a richer lifestyle and less commuting.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
currentaffairs



Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Posts: 828

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2016 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Double post.

Last edited by currentaffairs on Thu May 26, 2016 5:39 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Guy Courchesne



Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City

PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2016 2:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Liking this thread...I visited Bogota, coming from Mexico City, last October. Loved the lack of traffic, adored the variable weather (rain-sun-rain-sun every 5 minutes), and got right into the local street culture.

Tough to make a go as has been noted if you aren't a qualified/certified teacher. One of the top schools in all of Latin America is in Bogota but they don't take walk-ins.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Tough to make a go as has been noted if you aren't a qualified/certified teacher. One of the top schools in all of Latin America is in Bogota but they don't take walk-ins."

This doesn't seem accurate for Bogota. Maybe you can't get a gig at a top school, but there are a number of others where you can.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Guy Courchesne



Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City

PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

leretif9 wrote:
"Tough to make a go as has been noted if you aren't a qualified/certified teacher. One of the top schools in all of Latin America is in Bogota but they don't take walk-ins."

This doesn't seem accurate for Bogota. Maybe you can't get a gig at a top school, but there are a number of others where you can.


By all means, one is welcome to try. Don't forget the part about qualified/certified...that's the key here, like in so many other places.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
The song



Joined: 26 Jun 2014
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just an update:

I lived in Bogota for 5 months. Not too bad, I nearly worked for Wall street English, but backed out of it last minute getting annoyed with them for asking for every document you can imagine (and that you wouldn´t bring with you to Colombia). Mostly I did private tutoring, and spent some savings. I was thinking of going to Asia as I didn´t like the salaries in Colombia, but I´m glad I stayed, because a week after that decision. I got a job which asked me to relocate to Cali., and I did. I fucking love it here. The pay is OK, and the hours are pretty extreme (long) but the work environment is fantastic, as is the support by my employer. Cali is cheap anyway and I don´t plan on saving money here.

I don´t know how available work is for those who are qualified, but this is a metric shitton of work for completely unqualified teachers with a western passport and preferably european-looking. And a lot of government related volunteer programs that pay very little but accept non-westerners as well.

I applied at a handful of universities, and most of them called me for an interview but when I asked if they could sponsor me for a work visa they said no. The only ones that were able to sponsor me were Universidad Externado, but I didn´t pass their interview. The difficulty for me in applying for universities is that a lot of the time I tried to apply in person (this is obviously the best way to do things in Colombia, although some places might be on the ball with internet too). Every university is divided into these little branches and nobody has a clue whether I need to give me resume to HR or the languages department, or neither.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
currentaffairs



Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Posts: 828

PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 10:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice to hear someone else enjoying Cali. I liked it there.. Still, I think of it more as a party town and a place to hang out rather than save or further my career. If you got a university gig it might be different, though. Are you staying near the park in the centre near the cafes and hostels?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The song



Joined: 26 Jun 2014
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don´t have a university gig. I don´t want to give to many details about my job because it´s kind of personal, and I just started it. I can say that I am payed better than I would be at a colegio, and that I probably work more hours/harder, and I teach college instructors.

Definitely most other foreigner´s I´ve met here have been here on vacation with the odd one that lives here. I haven´t really made a ton of friends either, but I´m taking it slow and just doing what I like (salsa).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Colombia All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China