Job Discussion Forums

[tbiehl2000]

I will fly into St. Petersburg next October. I will stay in Russia for the duration of my tourist visa. I will then leave Russia and fly to Poland to take my Celta in Krakow. While in Russia, I plan on contacting some schools about possible employment in January. I want to work from January to June and then return to the States for the summer time. Any suggestions as to which school's doors I should be knocking on? I realize I am only looking for work from January to June so my options may be limited. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks. Terry.

[bobs12]

Look in the Yellow Pages and pick out the biggest adverts. Tell them you'll be available from January, don't tell them that your qualification will be fresh.

Avoid the ILA (International Language Academy) like the plague. Benedict School also worth giving a wide berth.

Denis School pay well but their sites tend to be in hard-to-reach places.

[tbiehl2000]

What does 'worth giving a wide berth' mean? I should avoid Benedict Schools? I just wanted to be sure. Thanks again. Terry.

[tbiehl2000]

What does 'worth giving a wide berth' mean? I should avoid Benedict Schools? I just wanted to be sure. Thanks again. Terry.

[bobs12]

By that I mean don't make them your first choice and definitely don't get involved with them visa or contract-wise (or with any school for that matter) and insist on being paid cash. If you agree to be paid by BACS transfer you'll be waiting well after pay-day to receive your dosh, the school will deny all responsibility and give you an email address to which you should write a 'strongly worded letter' regarding where the hell your pay is.

Admittedly, that never really happened to me except when I left and my last wages took a long time to come through, but it happened with plenty of other teachers right from the start. I had a kind of 'immunity' from their nonsense because I originally came to them through my university, and they had to be careful as I was supposed to be studying and not teaching for them. However, before they realised this themselves, they did try to silence my complaints regarding $3 an hour being laughable with an ominous threat about my visa. When I reminded them that they would face bigger trouble from various UK government bodies should they even make such a threat again, they became much more agreeable and upped my wages to $6

Obviously, this was still a feeble wage but their top is only 7. Their staff are generally very nice (Tamara at the Podol'skaya office is one of the kindest people I've ever met in my life) but this barely makes up for them being so awkward to deal with. Thus, I'd say give them a wide berth.
They're well known for ripping off teachers as far as they can, but they do generally have a lot of work available. Just don't rely on them for anything, and don't let them send you to Finland.

[waxwing]

Never work for $6/hour anywhere in Russia . That's a complete insult.
Even the big chain schools which hire anyone who breathes in English will pay you effectively something like $8-9. I'm trying to factor in accommodation to that figure. NB - I'm talking about per contact hour.
In Moscow that's way too little really. If you're freelancing I think you should be going for $12 and up.

Well I know that people will just argue and argue about this kind of thing But that's just what I think..

[tbiehl2000]

I have a Bachelors Degree in Latin American Studies and a minor in Spanish. When I go knocking on doors in St. Petersburg, I will have a newly acquired Celta but no teaching experience. What kind of bargaining power will I have based on my credentials or lack of? Will some schools ask me to show proof of my BA and if so, what will be considered valid proof? I will want to work from January till June or so. What should I consider a decent rate of pay? I understand I will probably be 'freelancing'. Thanks.

[bobs12]

I have a *top* teaching job, I have no TEFL qualification (they're not worth the paper they're written on) and nobody has ever asked to see my degree. I got to where I am in under a year of teaching.

Russia doesn't work that way- it's not about what pieces of paper you have to prove yourself, it's about how you approach people, how you present yourself and who you know. See other posts about native speaker teachers.

When I did my 'cold calling' only a few places said they needed TEFL certified teachers, and those were generally the more obscure schools that were offering lower wages, and the British council. Nobody needs to see your degree, they're not going to be interested unless you're using it to try to lever more money by taking a more responsible position.

Experience, real or fabricated, will give you more bargaining power for wages. Within two weeks of working at the Ben School I was getting paid more than the freshly qualified TEFLers. In January there won't be such a glut of foreigners that schools can afford to be picky. The best advice I can give is to relax and not worry about it. If you really want to show off your BA, have a couple of photocopies stamped by your university registry. Russian love stamps. To be honest there's absolutely no point though, as your degree is totally irrelevant to teaching English.

Don't work for less than $7 an (academic, i.e. 45min) hour, unless you're really bored and have nothing better to do. Without contacts in schools or references you may find it difficult to reach $10 unless you're a Frank Abagnale-style bluffing expert.

Waxwing- you can't directly compare Moscow wages to Saint Petersburg. The cost of living here (or at least the cost of having fun) is a good deal lower. $7 an hour is enough to get by comfortably here. Remember the city is much smaller and schools are generally close to metro stations.

[Communist Smurf]

[tbiehl2000]

I'm a bit offended I suppose. I could care less about showing off anything. I don't know what these schools want to see or what might bring me a few extra bucks. That's why I ask. I've decided to get certified more because I want to have an idea what I'm doing. Having said that, you have been very helpful and I really do appreciate your insight.

[bobs12]

Why offended? Sorry, absolutely no offence whatsoever intended, I wasn't trying to belittle you there. You can bring your degree if you want, but you need to do it in style so they don't think you're clutching at straws by showing them a totally irrelevant qualification. Confidence is key, don't give them any reason to think they can get away with paying you less than the top wage. Think Frank Abagnale, you can tell them anything you like... That's the best advice I can give you about bargaining for wages, and the main thing is: remember that they need teachers at that time of year. If the above advice helps in any way you can buy me a beer when you get here.

Teaching English is not rocket science and there's no reason to be intimidated into thinking you need a degree and a specific qualification. Only Russians need that, otherwise they can't prove they know the language. Schools generally assume (fools, although they are getting wiser) that all English speakers know their native tongue impeccably and can sort their subjunctives from their conjunctions. Many don't know their *backside* from their elbow. I knew one 'teacher' at the Ben School who proudly related how he came to a kids' lesson still drunk from the night before and managed to fill an entire 45 minutes with a discussion of the f-word. And by that I don't mean 'feminist'.

[Naponroy]

Hey,

In the REAL teaching world of SPB, $7 is a BAD wage... ok? $10 is reasonable... but, I haven't been paid even as low as $10 since 2004. Private stuff: $15 if you give a favour,but $20 should be a bare minimum if you are a decent teacher, unsure beginners may go less or negotiate. If you have lots of experience and real certificates (CELTA/RSA, etc. not CTEFL or some 2 week training course for beginners), walk out of schools who won't give you $11 to $15, only if there is no work, or not enough, go back. Remember that many places in Piter pay by the ACADEMIC HOUR, which is 45 minutes... so you get $10 per hour, that's $10 per 45 minutes(the idea being for every 45 mins of class you spend 15 mins preparing).

Well, from my experience you should be very careful about Language Link. They will pay alright but if you are on contract they may try to charge you extra for your flat, ie: they pay the landlord $300 but charge you $400, etc. Usually once a year someone gets screwed on airfare, so be firm. I know teachers who work there and said that they commonly overcharge clients for services, but the clients don't notice. One test group actually trashed a classroom there (teens) when they found out that they were charging them a lot more than the actual cost of the test, which was held at the Brit.Council not at LL.

I don't know what Bobs was smoking about ILA, they do pay better than most (I got $17 per 45min. for one class, normal $11 and up for 45min.) and it's not a bad place to work, the financial director can at times make some small accounting errors with your pay,but it's more that they tally it all up from weekly schedule sheets with all kinds of changes and cancellations then malicious intent, but if you know what you worked just tell her if there is a problem, and it's OK, right on Kanal Griboedova. I've had classes there for almost 2 years only had errors twice, never more than 300 roubles. ILA also has a Kingarten which will pay you up to $1000 a month to babysit kids aged 2-6 in English and a real elementary school (now only grades one and two).

Benedict is the lowest paying school in the city, even Russians laugh at you. Avoid like the plague. They don't like to pay you, especially if you leave early,and you will live in a hostel they run and they will threaten to cancel your visa ifyou want to quit. My friend made $5 an hour these this past spring. Most (ex)benedict teachers think that $8 is good, they live in a bubble. If you are one, burst it. Or use it for some time to get experience and then look elsewhere.

BKC here is completely different from in Moscow. They are effectively independent and it is a pleasant place to work,you can make a lot more money off contract than on, because on-cobtract means like $150 a week maximum,and you can easily get $10 from them per 45min. The office girls are actually REALLY nice and mostof the work is general English, and also,only one school.. no travelling, very few company clients.

British Coucil,ONLY FOR BRITS, pays very well,but need to have real qualifications and experience, the Benedict pretend certificate C-Tefl does not count.

For beginners, places like CLS are ok (but far),you often work in tandem with a Russian teacher and have no grammar, just conversation. Shurigina School on Spasskii at Sennaya Ploshad is good for this, pay in roubles not dollars, but they have a limited amount of work, but good surroundings and a friendly collection of teachers (russian women), a great place for someone just wanting a few hours a week.

Lidenz-Denz is almost as bad as Benedict, Julia the DOS is quite unpleasant, the library-Nazi is strict,and you have to climb 5 floors to get to the school which is near Ligovskiy metro, that being said, they will hire teachers with very little credentials (but some) and will pay $8 for sure if you push them. Bargain hard for you salary, go up from what they offer, and tellthem you want the probabtion period over fast.

Denis School is also good, pays competitively $10 per 45mins was nornmal 2 years ago, also near Sennaya.

Be careful of Makia's school.

There are other schools too, lots, open the yellow pages and see. English First has another ex-gestapo boss who will grill you in the interview. Language Tool, Leksika, ABC, and others. Many schools are small and deal with in company stuff, while a huge number are only Russian staffed. Net research is possible,or if you have some experience and credentials, you can just come here and look for work, the best time is late sumer early autumn, hard to find in Spring/Summer.

Don't kill the market by settling for less. Research, get to know, and hitmthemin order from best to worst.

ttyl,
NR