Job Discussion Forums

[yamahuh]

I tried, I really did!!
I typed 'wages' 'pay' salary' 'Vietnam' in any number of combinations and ended up with an average of 371 pages to sort through. So I'm hoping that I might catch some of you feeling benevolent today.

We are leaving China and hoping to teach in either Vietnam or Thailand; we received an offer from V.A.T.C - Vietnamese American Training College. Apparently they have 10.000 students and 25 branches all over Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Danang, Nhatrang, Cantho, Vungtau, Dongnai, Binhduong.
Has anybody heard of them or worked for them?
They are offering 192,000 VND per hour with a maximum of 20 hours per week expected teaching.
Is this a reasonable wage?
We're not looking for a King's ransom but would like to be paid more than a bare minimum. We both have B.A's, Tesol certificates and 2 years experience teaching oral English in China.

Also is it considered normal to negotiate the return airfare at the end of the contract? This sounds to me like a perfect opportunity to get ripped off!

Thanks one and all!

[Tue]

[yamahuh]

Hey, thanks for the quick reply!!
I sent an e-mail to them asking for clarification on a number of issues. Perhaps you can also shed some light on the housing issue for me?
In China most, but not all, contracts include fully subsidised housing (including utilities); from scouting around the threads here it seems like that's not the case in Vietnam.
That being said what can a person expect to pay for an apartment in, say, HCMC or Saigon?

I know that there are an infinite number of possibilities but I wonder if a 'sticky' stating basic expectations and acceptable contract offers wouldn't be useful on this board?

That way you kind folks wouldn't have to suffer the same inane questions from mentally challenged people like me who can't use the 'search' function worth a sh it!

[Mr Wind-up Bird]

Never heard of a Vietnamese school offering housing or flights, as none of them recruit from abroad, though this may change in the future. Most schools employ teachers on a casual basis rather than full-time. Apartments cost anything from $200pcm up to $2000.

Regarding VATC, they offered me work teaching Tourism Management last year, initially at a laughable $15ph. I looked at the amount of prep required and that $15 would've worked out at around $5ph for actual teaching time, so I asked for $30. They went up to $20, no more, so having had a look at the slum conditions in the school (horrible classrooms, no aircon, dirty corridors etc) I turned it down. The director who interviewed me was very arrogant and seemed to think I should be honoured to have been offered work there.

[yamahuh]

Good to know, thanks for the heads-up!

[slug93]

thanks for the heads up on salary info.. i'll use it during my salary negoation. I heard that the top paying english teaching job(outside of int'l school) is RMIT. Anyone with good qualification should definitely check that out!

There are LOTS of private english school, some really small, some huge(ILA/VATC/etc.,). The huge one are very well connected politically(meaning that they can process your working permit with less hassle). VATC has decent environment most room I was in had a/c. I observed about 4 classes and don't remember sweating in class. Outside in the hallway is different, no a/c!

I met w/ the hiring director at VATC, he seem like a nice guy TO ME. I was refer by a good friend of his. I also told him that I was offer job at some other places(which is true). I told him that I will able to teach(economic/business) at the other place, because my background is in those field. He told me they have business course that I MAYBE able to teach in. So maybe that's why he was more nice to me. BTW, VATC&ILA are tight w/ the govt. U cant get big n VN(n any type of business(esp education) w/o having good connection.

For newcomer, working at VATC or anywhere that process your working permit is not a bad idea. AFTER one year, you can move. VATC told me that working permit is good for 3 yrs, he IMPLIED that i will be allow to work at OTHER places. I didnt really go into detail with thatk, because I didn't know if i want to work for them or not. And I can get working paper pretty easily.

[slug93]

the way VATC is setup is that they like to have VN teachers teach grammer while foreign teacher teach pronunciation and speaking. so when teachers are evaluated, they look at the student score breakdown.. student that score high on grammer but low on speaking, then they know it's the foreign teacher's fault.. and vica versa..

with 2 yrs of oral english teaching exp, i would HIGHLIGHT that fact during salary negoiation..

[yamahuh]

Good idea, thanks for the tip.

[Mr Wind-up Bird]

[Tanker]

[yamahuh]

Is RMIT the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology?
That's what I get when I google it.
Anybody have links to a web site or is there another name I can use to search the 'net?

So with all this diverse information on pay scales, benefits and working hours seemingly clashing who ARE the best schools to work for in Vietnam?

[Tanker]