Job Discussion Forums

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I've been reading some of the posts here and I'm amazed at the amount of vacation time some of you guys get.

How on earth would you ever land a job where you basically work half a year and get half a year off, then get paid full-time wages?!

I work for an American uni and I hardly get any time off--the public school teachers have it better than we do!

[rusmeister]

I would think a majority of teflers abroad does not see summer pay. All of those who do, correct me! (If you get minimum wage, it doesn't count!)

We pay for it in different ways. There ain't no free lunch (TANJ! as Larry Niven put it)

[gaijinalways]

In Japan it is possible as part-time uni lecturer, but we don't get;

an office

our own computer

any research money

job security

class schedule security

an assistant

someone who makes copies for us

much chance to put input into the admin end (if any)


We do have

more lesson planning

more lesson teaching

less attractive teaching times (depends on the uni)

more numerous commutes to different campuses


You tell me, is it worth it?

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

At the more sought after establishments in the Gulf, 3 months + religious holidays ... all at full pay ... is pretty much the norm ...

Add to that the re-acclimatisation and wind-down time and you're cooking ...

Of course, it's not all roses, there's plenty of wind-up time in the middle ...

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Oh, we get summer pay--as long as we work from May-August!

Well at least we get offices and student workers to do our bidding (like getting coffee or making our copies or powerpoints).

Still, we teach a minimum of 23 hours/week (I teach 27) and get about four weeks' paid vacation/year, which is almost enough to make you want to go back overseas. I hear Korean unis are the place to be.

Oh, and gaijinalways--

Research money...what's that??

[Gordon]

I can't speak for all universities in japan and I am pretty sure my situation (in some ways) is better than most. I teach f/t at a university in Japan.
I have a 3 day work week (most years it has been 4 days/wk) teaching 12 hrs/wk
I work approximately 30 weeks/yr (2 big breaks and a 3 wk Christmas break)
a massive office
research and travel budgets (worth about $3,000/yr)
no office hours are necessary and very few meetings
subsidized housing

From talking to other uni teachers in Japan, this is a very good situation, especially in regards to virtually no meetings. However, to offset this, I get significantly less pay than at other universities in Japan. But I am happy to get less pay for more time off. It is enough to support a family of 4, go on 2 overseas trips/yr and save a little (very little).

There is no way I was able to come even close to this when I was teaching in a college in Canada.

[Glenski]

gaijinalways wrote:

[Gregor]

In China, we at the language mills don't get so much time off. More than a full-time job in the US, sure, but still...
In Indonesia, we got all the Christian holidays AND all the Muslim holidays AND the vacations. It seemed like we got almost half he year off, when you count in weekends. It was awesome. That's just one of the perks of TEFL.

There are two sides to that coin, by the way. I used to go NUTS listening to all the uni-pukes who had just finished school, never worked a day in their lives, and complained about how much they had to work in their TEFL jobs. That used to just SLAY me.
Before I was a TEFLer, I worked in a union shop printing the Austin American Statesman. Jesus, even in a union gig, we had to WORK. Compared to the economies of where I've lived doing different jobs, working in a Chinese language mill is probably the best pay I have ever had for a job. I don't think I'd EVER have been able to buy a home even as a union salaried printer. Certainly not in a thriving downtown area, like where I live now.

[mondrian]