Job Discussion Forums

[pravda]

Hello everyone,

My name is Miguel and, due to the realities of having to pay off a rather sizeable student loan, have decided to get back into TESL. After a lot of reading thrpoughout these forums of your ussual horror stories about working at shaddy institutions or people who have no idea what it is like to live in the third world or are completely insensitive to local cultures.

I have found that Vietnam seems like the best bet; relatively lucrative, relatively low costs of living and not awash with Westerners and our 'culture', or lack thereof. I am planning on going to Hanoi this summer and I have a few questions for some of the veterans on this board.

The first is straightforward. I have a BA in the humanities and a generic TESOL and about 4 years of pratical experience which I acquired in Latin America. I need to know if it would be really worth while to maybe go for the Celta, which I gather has more cache, if my current certificate is from an institution approved by my local ministry of education (Quebec if yu are dying to know). I want to work at a reputable place (LL seems to be the consensus) and make in the 15-20 dollar range, does this seem like a realistic possiblity given my experience and qualifiations ?

The second work related question has to do with hours. what are the majority of you actually clocking ? It is possible to get 40 hours a week or so relatively easily ? From what I understand private lessons are illegal in Vietnam, in fact working legally means you pay something like 40% of your salary (might as well just stay in Canada if I want to make a government rich). Have any of you encountered any problems when working ? I had to bribe the Colombian government some 400 at the airport because I had been working illegally there, I definately do not want to relive that little experience.

The third question is rather broad. How much money should I plan to bring along as an insurance fund to live on for about one month, within which time even a chimpanzee could land a teaching job (at least from my experiences)? I know its very variable but just a no thrills budget that will land me a liveable flat (not closet sized) pay utilities and allow me to eat (local cuisine to be sure). Any guestimates you guys can offer?

I know that these are a lot of questions, but to have foreknowledge is to be forewarned as they say. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Miguel