Job Discussion Forums

supertraveller · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 65 Location: Bolivia

I was just wondering about teaching in Ukraine. Has anyone taught there? I have a friend who taught for IH in Kiev and didn't like the school but liked the city. Anyone know of the London School? And what about Odessa, how is the place. Just trying to get a feel of how the place is. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Take care.

canucktechie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 343 Location: Moscow

Ukraine is probably one of the lowest paying countries for EFL work. Jobs are scarce. Most teachers have some sort of personal or academic interest in living there.

Aside from British Council, London School and IH are the only "real" schools in Ukraine. Note that London School has 3 locations, while there are 5 IH schools which are all independent operations.

Right now London School has vacancies posted at tefl.com (the agency is called Babelfish). You can also find vacancies for the IH schools at ihworld.com.

Digger81 · Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 4

I lived in Odessa last year and it is a really cool place to live if you are young and single, and also know some russian. It has excellent nightlife both in the town centre and at the beach in the summer. Right now the costs are not too bad but I would assume they will begin to go up in the near future. Beware though there is still a lot of mafia interest in Odessa. Now it is not all a bad thing, the crime rate is very low there (largely thanks to the mafia, who take a dislike to anyone who dares to threaten a tourist or visitor) and there is no yob like behaviour we have to currently put up with in the UK. The city itself is picturesque particaularly in the spring/autumn period, while the weather is generally agreeable, the summers are not as sweltering as in Kiev because it is on the coast while the winters are on the whole not too bad (by ukrainian standards),it rarely snows in Odessa.

If you needed a recommendation about whether to go there or not I would say go for it, just to talk to the girls there is a reason enough Laughing

Baby Angel · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

Hi! Let me disagree about 3 decent schools hiring foreign teachers. I know many schools in Kiev with mostly foreign staff. And as was mentioned before Kiev is a wonderful place to visit. Nowhere else would one find beauties like here. Exclamation

Ai · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 154 Location: Chile

What about the American English Center? Does any one know if that's a good place to work? They recently posted a job ad here.

Baby Angel · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

There's a Phoenix Center in Kiev that has mostly American and British teachers. I've been studying there myself. I think that it's a good place to find a job for a good qualified teacher. The director is Mike. Talk to him.

kyivprep · Joined: 08 Jan 2007 Posts: 4

I would agree that there are only three decent schools in Kyiv, IH, BC & LSE. While there are a lot of language schools that want native speakers, a lot of them are not great and best avoided.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

What are typical salaries in the Ukraine? Just curious..

canucktechie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 343 Location: Moscow

Freelance work pays about $10/ac hour. Salaried jobs pay about the same once you calculate the hours and the value of the benefits (housing, vacation, etc).

Does it make you want to leave Korea? Laughing

jonpernick · Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 12 Location: Ukraine

I currently teach in Ukraine. The school i work for hires on a continual basis. It is opening a new school in kyiv soon.

Salaries are a guarantee of $1000 per month for 26 contact hours. If you work more - like me - the you make more.

www.usenglish.kiev.ua

ColdRodear · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 36 Location: St Petersburg

jonpernick · Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 12 Location: Ukraine

all hiring at american english center is done through its main office in kyiv.

mulkanski · Joined: 07 Jun 2007 Posts: 12

london school is a good school to work for. pay is adequate. they are looking for people now in london and ukraine if you are available to interview. otherwise, your chances are limited of finding a job if you just 'show up'. i would agree with the other posts about the best schools in ukraine. don't know much about the BC but i think they have schools in kiev and perhaps odessa too. odessa's great in the summer, rough in the winters. ukraine certainly doesn't pay any lower than most other Eastern European countries, with the exception of some places in Russia. Most teachers in Eastern Europe aren't really in it for the money. Even in places like Prague and Budapest you aren't likely to make much more than in Kiev.

canucktechie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 343 Location: Moscow

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

I certainly agree with you in this point!I can tell you from my own experience that anyone would be mad to live in a place like Moscow if they were not earning decent money for it!Of course there are millions of people who get-by on a few hundred dollars per month there behind the deceptive window of glitz and glamour which the elite are so keen to boast about, but I doubt if many others even know of their existence,or if they do they mostly don't care!By no means all of them are uneducated plebs and layabouts either-very often they elderly members of the former intelligentsia such as scientists and researchers etc etc that the Soviet system simply threw away when it dissolved!
This,among many other reasons is why I so strongly dislike Putins Russia and the facade of lies he represents.