Job Discussion Forums

varya32 · Joined: 09 Jul 2005 Posts: 3

Hi,
I'm currently doing a CELTA course and am looking for a job teaching English in Russia or the Ukraine. I spent a semester in St. Pete in college and would love to go back there, but realistically don't know whether I'd be able to find a job there, at least in the relatively near future. My question is: if you love St. Petersburg, which other cities would you recommend? Ideally I'd like to go somewhere where there are sights to see, opportunities to get involved in the local community, that isn't really Westernized but isn't completely out in the middle of nowhere. I don't particularly want to go to Moscow.
I would also much appreciate any recommendations on schools--- I've heard that International House is good.
Thanks!
Deborah

Katyusha · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 43 Location: UAE

Just heard via the grapevine that BKC is recruiting teachers for their St Pete branch for September start. I was told that their school in St Pete is not affiliated with IH, but is managed by BKC. Try their website http://www.bkc.ru for more information

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

You might well quite like Leningrad if you could find it...

canucktechie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 343 Location: Moscow

steven_gerrard · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 155

As a newly-qualified teacher you have a decent chance of getting a job in St Pete even though it is a popular destination for teachers in Russia. Having said that though, you have left it a little late in the day for a September start.

Language Link does send new teachers to St Petes but as it is already August, the positions are probably all filled by now. However, they do have several schools in the satellite towns of St. Petes like Tsarskoye Selo (aka Pushkin) and Petergof which are just short train journeys away from St P but also beautiful towns themselves- no doubt if you were in St Petes for any length of time, you'll have visited the grand palaces in both these towns.

Have a look at their website for more information.

www.languagelink.ru

Katyusha · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 43 Location: UAE

Deborah, it's quite okay to apply to any lanague school any time you wish. The worst they can say is NO. You've got nothing to lose.

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

Try the London School in Odessa. I don't know much about the school per se, but I think Odessa's the closest you'll get to St. Pete in Ukraine. I've been there a few times, and it's my favorite city.
Good luck.

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

Katyusha · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 43 Location: UAE

Canucktechie, check BKC St Petersburg's IH status with your DOS. I am surprised that no language school in St Petersburg has thought of getting affiliated with IH yet. BKC's 'IH' power doesn't extend THAT far!

canucktechie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 343 Location: Moscow

Well it's true that you can't always take everything at face value in Russia, but I am holding in my hand the business card of BKC's ADOS in St. Pete, and it features the IH logo. If you think they are misrepresenting themselves, I suggest you complain to IH or to BKC management. I don't work in St. Pete and I'm not part of management, so this issue is of no concern to me.

If the St. Pete branch is somehow distinct from all of BKC's other branches, they are doing a very good job of hiding this from the teachers, not to mention the students. If this branch is in fact not considered part of IH due to some technicality, it is without practical significance to anyone working or studying there IMHO.

leroy · Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 49

Katyusha · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 43 Location: UAE

Canucktechie,

Wow! You're a real BKC company man. But definitely not in management yet. I hope they value your service there and you are getting paid well enough to sing their praises ALL the time. Have you ever met the big boss? Ask him for a navy blue blazer with the combined BKC and IH logo in yellow. I am sure he'd be happy to oblige.

Anthony Schierman · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Posts: 12

International House, Tbilisi isn't a bad place to work in terms of salary and conditions. Georgia has a real charm and Tbilisi is one of the coolest cities I've lived in.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Well, I like Elets (nearest bigger cities are Lipetsk and Voronezh). It has a well-preserved town centre, leafy lanes outside and even when you go to the soviet estates surrounding the centre, you meet generally friendly people. But I have to agree with the commentator who said "that's where the jobs are, because that's where the money is". I doubt if you'd find an English school out there and, even if a state school were to take you, you would probably earn the miserable pittance that the other teachers do - and that means not always being able to eat decently.

I read some nasty thingss about Voronezh, by the way. The university takes a lot of foreign students, but along with high unemployment rates they've developed a rather virulent strain of neofascist skinheads. A Peruvian student was beaten to death by them recently.
Beautiful city centre, though...