Job Discussion Forums

[seanaway]

CHEERS Will! Glad to see you understand. Email me at the address above and I'll send you details when all's ready.
Heck, I might even give you a discount!

[Gordon]

Sean, I'm glad you have a plan. I am not sure what kind of market research you can do here or how we can help you. I think your introduction made many of us leery, it happens here a lot.

[seanaway]

No worries Gordon.

Leery is part and parcel of EFL given that most, if not all of us, have been burned by some dodgy codger of a school owner or other over the years.

Even the leery part helps me define problems to overcome in getting this up and running.

And no, that's not an open invitation for all at Dave's to launch a leery campaign.

ps If anyone wants to help, let me know how many of you have thought of trying to find ways to make more money. That simple!

[distiller]

I'm not sure I really understand the relevance of this problem. Why not just get a traditional teaching job that pays you during the summer?

Last year I traveled around Asia and Oceania for about 4 weeks while the checks kept coming in. I'll be leaving my current job in about a week and a half but I'll get my full salary for July and August, about $9,000 US total on top of $10,000 US in cash from the Hong Kong retirement scheme, even though I'll be starting a masters program in the US during that time. I think the answer to the question is get a decent job that pays you in the summer rather than selling Amway or other odd side job.

If you want to make some extra money in Asia, I had a friend who bought all the factory outlet and high quality knock off stuff she could find and then sold it on e-bay for a killing. Once in a while a real expert may catch you out but playing dumb comes natural to anyone working overseas. For example she would buy a good Paul Frank bootleg for about $2-3 US and then sell it for $20+. You can also do the same with DVDs and given a less than reputable distributor you can also sell movies that are only in theaters. I had a wonderful screener DVD for the first Lord of the Rings like six months before it was released on DVD. Now, I've got the new Star Wars and a few others as well that are perfect quality. There are plenty of little schemes to make money, but in reality I'd rather not have to bust my hump in my non-teaching time. I'd rather get qualified for a job that pays me enough and regularly to not have to worry about the aforementioned nonsense and the like.

[seanaway]

As you say, a nice 12 month, Holidays paid, regular income is great. In EFL there aren't that many of those jobs compared to the number of teachers out there. If you're set up, I wish you the best of luck and my congratulations.
Busting your hump isn't what this is about. This is about using the head rather than the hump. I'm talking about people who would like to have that all year round income but don't and so need/want a supplement to it.

I'm CERTAINLY not going into the area of flogging pirate DVDs or any other illegal source of income. The vast majority of teacehrs I have met have been hardworking, honest individuals who would jump at the chance of having their abilities recognised and their hard work properly rewarded.

If some individuals are happy with their lot in life, good luck to them. But remember; if you continue to do what you've always done, you continue to have what you've always had.

[distiller]

If one were truly using one's head rather than one's hump one would certainly use one's free time to gain the requirements needed to obtain jobs that don't require other jobs to ensure financial security rather than shortsightedly doing extra work that pressures the aforementioned hump.

I don't look down on people who have to work in the summer or can't make ends meet by teaching alone. I have been in the former, though not the latter situation in the past in Eastern Europe and Asia. However, I did the training and education to move out of that situation.

The truth is that we all know what it takes to secure the good jobs and it is a myth that there is a shortage of those jobs. As always there is not a shortage of teachers in most places on earth but rather a shortage of qualified teachers. So you cannot just be some guy with a TEFL certificate and some experience in a learning center or similar school and expect to get high paying jobs with good paid holidays.

TEFL is a wide open free market in which you must maintain marketability. Backpackers are the low end of this market and those with Masters Degrees or PhDs and professional training are on the high end. We all know what it takes to get international schools jobs and the like but most are unwilling to do it. What they are willing to do is biatch and moan about how little money or holidays they have. You want to be the guy with the fat check and long holidays? Then get your qualifications sorted. That is, take the few years it means to do it in order to insure security for the rest of your life. Think of how long it would take to get trained along with the cost then look at the difference in your salary after. The difference, if you know what you�re doing, should be large enough for you to pay off your debt in a year or two. Then after that you pocket all that extra money. If you're not in it for the long haul then realize the limitations you will face when unwilling to commit to this or any career. Your lot is your own and if you�re more willing to dream up schemes than take the bull by the horns and get serious about landing quality teaching jobs then you have only yourself to blame.

BTW, reselling factory outlet clothes is not illegal. Fake merchandise is not exactly illegal when you can buy it in broad day light in full view of law enforcement and nether is selling reselling it, however dishonest.

[seanaway]

You want to be the guy with the fat check and long holidays? Then get your qualifications sorted. That is, take the few years it means to do it in order to insure security for the rest of your life. Think of how long it would take to get trained along with the cost then look at the difference in your salary after.

Totally agree with you. So what's wrong with having a second income to help fund the transition from low level qualifications to MA etc...?

Fake merchandise is not exactly illegal

I think you might find legislation in more than a few countries disagree with this.

[distiller]

I agree that extra income while getting an MA or other education is fine but I think most use extra income as an end rather than a means to one. It's idyllic to imagine someone working his or her tail off to get a degree and needing some extra cash but most people on this site who aren't getting paid much are not working towards an MA. It's very infomercial to say "Do you want to make more money?" The question is not do we want to make more money, as well all do, but what one has to do to get it. Second jobs, pyramid schemes and the like are all ways to get more money but they're not worth it. Private tutors are another way but also time consuming and tiring. I'd much rather have my free time and a decent paying job then use my non-work time to make extra cash.

The illegal thing was meant simply to demonstrate that it is farcical to call something illegal when it is openly everywhere. While something may be technically against the law, when there is no enforcement of that law it is a bit much to call it simply "illegal".

[seanaway]

Second jobs, pyramid schemes and the like are all ways to get more money but they're not worth it

I can't see how making more money is not worth it. Again I point out that a second income does not mean 'working your hump off'. there are ways to supplement an income without devoting every spare waking hour to doing so. I agree, in the case of someone doing that it would be a waste of time and energy. However, if an extra 5-10 hours per week adds 50%-100% or more to my income then I'm only to happy to take the money.

Pyramid schemes are illegal and ALWAYS lead to someone getting caught out. There are plenty of legitimate ways to generate income without crossing legal lines, uping sticks, changing jobs, or putting your life on hold. MLM is one form, though I'm not a big fan as I 've tried these and find that there is usually a stock issue that becaomes a paperwork nightmare.


I'd much rather have my free time

That's partly what it's about. Many second incomes begin to take care of themselves if you approach it right from the start. Of course, like you, there are many people who are quite happy as they are and I respect that. Just are there are people who would squander a second income as fast as a first. That's their choice.