Job Discussion Forums

[MikeySaid]

I saw this job description today:

[Jizzo T. Clown]

The pay and and requirements look standard (and I've been looking at a LOT of uni jobs over the past year or so). Some full-time jobs offer as little as $28k and only half medical!

Most IEP/EAP/ELI jobs also prefer (but don't necessarily require) overseas experience and fluency in a second language.

You definitely wouldn't get into ESL in the States for the money. The retirement plans are usually pretty good, though.


I suppose eventually you might land a gig as a coordinator, in which case you'd probably max out around $50k /year. Of course there are exceptions--some universities have more money than others!

[denise]

If you can get into an IEP program abroad, that experience will be more valuable back here than working in a private language school. I've seen some job ads that also want your teaching experience to be post-MA.

d

[canuck]

[Henry_Cowell]

As I've said elsewhere, ESL salaries in the U.S. vary by region and even district. In some places, the average ESL salary for those with MA-level qualifications and good experience is between $50,000 and $70,000. Yes, I said "average."

[gaijinalways]

Where is this? Many of the esl jobs in the US pay nowhere near that.

As to knowing Spanish, it certainly is helpful in many areas of the country.

[rusmeister]

[Jizzo T. Clown]

[MikeySaid]

Hmm... I already speaka the Spanish..

Anyone know of any "get your credential on the fly" programs in either of those states? I gotta get out of this office and into a classroom.

[Henry_Cowell]

I'm simply talking about the community colleges of California. In many of the districts, the average salary is quite nice. Yes, the cost of living in California is also high. On the whole, however, permanent full-time ESL instructors at California community colleges do VERY nicely indeed. And many of the instructors I know make much more than the $70,000 figure I quoted. Tenure and seniority combine to produce comfortable careers in these positions.

From a recent announcement for an English instructor vacancy at a northern California community college:

SALARY
$53,150 to $68,174 beginning salary range based upon the 2005-2006 Academic Salary Schedule. Final salary placements are determined by applicable education and experience.

[JZer]

[Henry_Cowell]

This is indeed an ESL job in the English department. In any case, the salaries of English instructors and ESL instructors are identical because they are in the same department of the same college. Do you think that ESL instructors get paid less then instructors of English grammar and composition in the same department????

As a side note, do you know that ESL instructors often teach "regular" English composition courses in these colleges? I have taught such courses. This is another reason that ESL and "English" are pretty much synonymous for salary and administrative purposes

If you want to be informed of such positions, I get the CATESOL job bank announcements and can easily let you know of openings. If not, eat your heart out...

[Mchristophermsw]

State UNi jobs are a joke for the investment you put in your education.
I have a friend at San Jose State that landed a teaching gig with a Ph.D. She is in the hole for about 100K and started btween 40-45K per year!
It is sad because you can't live on that salary in San Jose, especially if you have student loans that large.

I make about 68K (6mos) into my new job as a Child Abuse Investigator and will top out at 8OK in 2 years. Most people would not do my job but it is fullfilling and serves it purpose while I am planning to move abroad in the future. My point is ESL teachers and other professors in the US should get paid much more than the present rate. The one thing that I loved about Trinidad is that if you taught in a rural school you would make just as much as a teacher who taught in the CAPITOL but life in the country is MUCH, MUCH more affordable. Its not like that in the USA. You teach in S.F and you can barely live on 40 0r 50K per year.

[sidjameson]

But even $70k a year in California is not exactly a good salary surely Henry. How much is a house in the city where you would be working? How about other expenses? Is a man doing "very nicely indeed" if he can't eve afford to buy a house in a crap neighbourhood?

[JZer]