Job Discussion Forums

Francois Sputnik Jones II · Joined: 27 Oct 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Santiago, Chile

Hi,
I'm a newcomer with a few institute hours in Santiago, spending most of my time praying for more and I have a few questions. Does anyone teach in a high, middle, or elementary school in Chile? Has anyone heard of someone who does? What's the pay like? Also, is it at all possible to save money working as an English teacher in Chile? If anyone knows, please let me know. Thanks! Wink

DianaMa · Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Stgo, Chile

Hi

I've been working at a highschool since March 2006.

What do you want to know???

cheers
D

koshechka · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject: also curious

hello diana,
i am also curious about working in a high school. do you have to deal with a lot of disciplinary problems? do you have a contract? is it possible to have a part-time contract, how many hours is that and how much can one earn? i am currently working at a university and with a bunch of privates but would like to have something more stable, hence the school. there are many ads in el mercurio, but i am not sure about what working in a school entails. thanks,
liza

DianaMa · Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Stgo, Chile

Hey Kosh,

Read some of your posts and congrats on landing a cushy Uni job hehehehhe.
I work with upper crust teenage girls (i've done so in two countries now) and it the usual deal, good days, bad days (es una vocacion mijito lindo jejejej) the pay is very nice, can't complain at all, however this is a full time, full blown job, no flaking off, taking off or pissing off. Now its stable, got myself in a pension plan, health plan and they helped me with my visa (which i have had since June). I do have a contract, in fact by law you must have a signed contract within 2 weeks of working at a school. You can get part-time work in some schools but that depends on the school and what they need. I am full time and i work 33 hours in front of the class plus get paid for my planning time. Not for the light hearted .

I know that you'll have better luck in a private school rather than in a public school because you'd have to be in a labor union or association or some such stuff. And if you are interested in the big bucks then look at the bilingual schools.

Luck
D

DainaJ · Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 62

Hi Diana,

Is your job the type of job schools hire for from abroad (like international schools), or something you found by being in-country?

Thx,
DainaJ

DianaMa · Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Stgo, Chile

Hi Daina

Some schools do hire abroad, my situation is that I had a recommendation from the same chain of school in another country.

This is the perfect time to be looking for a job, schools are wrapping up their academic years and they are looking for people for the 2007 season which starts up again in march.

stgo will be dead January, feb so really hard to get interviews and call backs

cheers
D

koshechka · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:01 am Post subject: for curiousity sake

hey diana,
just wanted to know how much you mean by a nice salary at a school. i've been to one interview at a school, but since it was the only school i ever applied to, i guess that's good and they were offering something like 700,000, is that more or less in the same ballpark as your school?
i have worked with some kids from barnechea in private classes and, well, it's an interesting experience. a lo mejor me falta la vocacion como dices, (deci)
koshechka

Johnny MasterCard · Joined: 29 Dec 2006 Posts: 1

Hey guys. Been looking into teaching K-12 in Chile. Apparently you need Chilean certification to teach, otherwise the grades you assign students won�t be worth much. Is this true ?

DianaMa · Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Stgo, Chile

Hey Kosh,

the salary is approx 900 000 which for my thrifty lifestyle is fine.

that being said 700 000 is still a bit more money than than other teachers are making in the system. I do know of a school taht pays approx
1 000 000 but as you can guess they don't have any vacancies.

cheers
Diana

koshechka · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject: thanks

thanks diana for the information
frankly, it left me gasping for breath, 900,000 is a lot of money. good for you. it's possible to earn this much teaching privates but it is far from stable and there's no contract, insurance and so on in sight. maybe in some time i will get over my fear of teenagers and try it out.
thanks for answering, most people don't like to give too much away,

ciao

koshechka

novia · Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Canada

Hi,

Yeah if you want the schedule, paycheck, headaches and almost daily discipline problems a school is for you. At least try to get a private school.

Here in Temuco being a gringa is enough to get a job. Pay here is about 500,000 and up. You will work a lot, a lot of marking, hours, meetings, and preparation. 8:00-5:00 in classes and whatever prep and marking you have out of class.

Some schools are good and some ARE BAD. Research.

After my experience I will never work in a high school again in Chile.

A good way is to work some hours in a school or institute (to get the monthly paycheck) and then fill your hours with privates.

Good luck!!!

capalito · Joined: 29 Dec 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Santiago, Chile

I think the best option is to teach privates. I currently have 12 students, work 23 hours a week at home, and make $1,200,000 pesos per month, and I have been making this amount steadily for about two years now.
In my opinion, if you�re a good teacher (not a kid wanting to make some easy cash in order to go packpacking in Southern Chile), you can make good money and work very little.
But you have to be a professional teacher, someone who is organized, dedicated, obtains results and motivates the students to continue paying for lessons. My students usually stay with me for about 12-18 months in average, so making this a stable job totally depends on you. If you are good, your students will definitely recommend you to their friends, as there aren�t many good teachers around (IMHO).

DHAPhotography · Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:24 pm Post subject:

I'm just wondering what $1200 a month in Santiago will get you in terms of covering expenses, etc., and how does this compare to public school work? Thanks.