Job Discussion Forums

[OriontheGreat]

Hello Everyone,

I had a look at Dave Sperling's Sitcky post on Teaching in Buenos Aires. It was full of useful information, but it's a little bit dated. When he wrote it, the Argentine peso was still pegged to the dollar, but that is no longer true. From what I've read, the Argentine economy has been steadily improving since 2003.

So here are my questions . . .

As things are right now on the ground in Argentina, are you able to break even teaching English?

Are any of you so good at the game that you are even able to put a little money aside each month?


Regards,

Orion

[Phil_b]

It can be done..... because people manage it - it might be much easier outside of BsAs though.....

If you do manage to put money away, it'll be for the summer when you'll need it.

If you're thinking of savings to take back to the primer mundo when you finish - forget it, it really won't be worth it. If you're thinking in Argentine terms, then you might be able to save something, but don't forget the potential of the summer to be a big black hole in your salary.

[OriontheGreat]

Hey Phil_b,

Thanks for your reply.

Saving up money for El Primer Mundo would be nice, but it doesn't really surprise me that it doesn't work out too well for a TEFL teacher.

Basically I've managed to save up a small chunk of change here in El primer mundo and I want to try and keep from wiping it out completely while I'm in el segundo mundo if possible.

Just being able to break even in Argentine terms would be good enough for me. Like a lot of other TEFL teachers I'm in it for the experience, not the money.

So what happens during the summer? Everyone goes on vacation and all the schools close? How long does that last in Argentina? 3 months?

[kalli]

What about finding a job at a university? How would one go about trying to find a university teaching position? I've looked online, but haven't had much luck finding anything yet. I'm currently teaching at a university in Mexico, but am looking for a change of scenery

[OriontheGreat]

Hi Kalli,

What kind of credentials did you need in order to get your University job in Mexico?

[kalli]

I have a M.A. in Linguistics and TEFL certification. The university also asks for about 2 years of experience. An M.A. isn't a must though, there are many university teachers here in MX that have a B.A.
I'd check out the Mexico forum if you're interested, there's a lot of information out there!

[matttheboy]

impossible to get uni position and even if it were possible you'd get paid 800 pesos a month. enough for a couple of beers and an empanada after rent. if your rent is dirt cheap, that is.

[Sgt Killjoy]

Is it really that bad? I have been looking at places like Uruguay, Argentina and Chile as place to hang my hat long term after too long in Asia.

[kalli]

I never would have imagined it would be that difficult. Is there anywhere in SA that it would be possible?
And by possible I mean in ability to find a uni position AND live comfortably?

[matttheboy]

best bets are chile and probably peru but neither offer the fun and lifestyle that attracts people to argentina.

[sheena maclean]

I lived in Bogota for a year and had a few friends that worked in Uni's there. They were really well paid US$800 a month for only a 24 hour week. the trouble was that because there was only one or 2 Uni's that were prepared to take on native speakers and cooperate with all the form filling etc that it was very hard to get a job. So it would be unlikely that you could just rock up there and get a job as there is usually a waiting list of resident native teachers all looking for teaching positions there. I know the native teachers weren't required to have a degree (you can get a work visa without having one) but CELTA or an internationally recognised teaching cert would be. A couple of the uni's have native speaker directors of English so they are much keener to get the native speakers and know what they are looking for.

[kalli]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll continue my research and hope something comes up