Job Discussion Forums

[Gareth2000]

Hello, does anyone know about this region and the avaliability of work teaching english and anything else like that in this area? I heard its a nice place to live and I am considering going there.

[kingkristopher]

Hi,

Yes, it is a very lovely area close to beaches and national parks. If you are going there to teach English though, think again. You won't have much luck finding jobs outside of Caracas or Valencia (possibly Maracaibo). That's just the way the market is in Vzla. There are some jobs, but they're hard to find, don't pay much and probably won't offer much in terms of job security either. Might be a better idea to find a job in CCS and travel to Barcelona/Pto La Cruz on weekends. PM me if you need more info.

Cheers

[Gareth2000]

hey thanks for the comment, yeah Caracas and Valencia seem to be the way to go at the moment - are you there at the moment? what city? what suburb/barrio do you live in?

yeah if you are there I have alot more questions I'd like to ask you

[kingkristopher]

Hi,

I'm not there any more but I spent about 2 years in Vzla from 2001-3. The situation�s changed some, but I�m sure I could still answer some of your questions...

[Gareth2000]

hey yeah thanks for the reply, well I�ve given up on the Barcelona area for now and am focusing on Caracas, maybe once ive lived there for a while i�ll make the move to Barcelona but for now would like to know where the best place to live is in Caracas, i heard that la castellana, campo alegre, prados del este, baruta, valle arriba, santa fe are the best suburbs but yeah what do you think about this?

Also what companies would you suggest contacting, I�ve been working in Argentina for 18months. I would like to see if I could arrange a job and accomodation before I get there - i heard this is possible what do you think? Ive been emailing coach english and they seem to be able to sort accomodation and work out for their newly arriving teachers but as with all things in latin america - what people say will happen and what actually happens are two different things. Do you have any contacts for work in Venezuela?

Also apart from teaching english what other work is avaliable in Caracas? for example here in Argentina I also do alot of journalist work, writing articles and doing english commentaries for sports events. I would like to work as a tour guide as I have experience in this from NZ and Australia. I can speak spanish at an intermediate level and of course english very well? heard anyone doing this?

I also like surfing alot, well im not that good but I try, do you know if there are some good beaches for this near Caracas.

also just any general advice about living and working in Venezuela would be awesome.

Best Regards,

Gareth

[Pennypacker1]

Hey I'm living in Caracas right now.. What would you like to know..

Be very specific...

A la orden..
pp1

[Gareth2000]

hopefully ill be going in a month - ive sorted out alot already - a job at inlingua and hopefully some accomodation soon

1what are the best schools to work with?
2realistically how much do teachers make per month?
3I dont want to work on Saturday - how bigger problem is this?

cool thanks maybe ill see you soon

[kparsons]

Pennypacker1, I too am curious about teaching in Caracas. Gareth has posed some good questions, but I have a few as well:

1. In the past, I've heard there are only business Eng classes available in Venezuela -- is that correct? If not, what are the majority of classes?
2. Can you make a living teaching in Caracas, or do you have to dip into your savings? Better yet, are you able to save anything?
3. Are you given any paid time off?
4. What is the sentiment at present towards American teachers? When we were there more than a year ago, people were very divided (some loved Americans, some hated them), but lately, it seems Chavez is really picking up steam and spreading his Anti-US propaganda -- thoughts?

Thanks for your willingness to help out!

[Pennypacker1]

Some Questions.. hmmm maybe a Venezuela FAQ sounds like a good idea (hands?)...

I quote:

1. In the past, I've heard there are only business Eng classes available in Venezuela -- is that correct? If not, what are the majority of classes?
2. Can you make a living teaching in Caracas, or do you have to dip into your savings? Better yet, are you able to save anything?
3. Are you given any paid time off?
4. What is the sentiment at present towards American teachers? When we were there more than a year ago, people were very divided (some loved Americans, some hated them), but lately, it seems Chavez is really picking up steam and spreading his Anti-US propaganda -- thoughts?

1. You can find all type of work, business, preschool, private etc.. also as mentioned, there is an Inlingua office here (don't know much about them) as well as the British Council (Caracas).. I myself just teach one-on-one
or to small groups (max of about 4)...

2. I would say that Caracas is (from what I've heard because I have only taught in Brazil and Caracas) one of the few places you could conceivably save money BUT the amount that teachers make can flucuate wildly.. from the top end of the scale (e.g. US$1200-1500 per month at the British Council) or the bottom (i've heard some people on around US$400 a month from their school)...

I depends how good you are I guess, if you make yourself indispensible you
can pretty much work when, where and for how much you like (up to a point of course)..

3. Like I said, if you want to negotiate you can ask for what you'd like, but usually you'd have to spend some time here first, for a normal Venezuelan run school I have never heard of anyone being offered a really good deal from outside the country.. alot of the time they are just offered jobs on a class-by-class basis with a set mininum (sometimes not even enough to live off).. but remember guys.. ESL teaching actually involves teaching.. its not one long glamourous holiday, but that being said I have seen quite a bit of the country so far...(there are lots of national holidays).

4. American scherican, if you guys spent less time worrying about if people like you or not, you'd probably have some great adventures and meet some really great people (i.e. beautiful women!). Remeber there are people for Chavez and against Chavez.. if people have enough money to pay you to teach (and thus support your travel habit) they'll probably be anti-Chavez anyway.. relax dude.

Venezuela is sweet, but you got work for your place in the sun...!
BUT BEWARE.. Venezuela is NOT CHEAP by South American Standards.

[Gareth2000]

hey cool thanks, im still trying to get a visa sorted out from an institute im communicating through email.

Most people I have spoken to have arranged their jobs prior to arriving in Caracas so im trying to do the same.