Job Discussion Forums

[puddin]

Hello. I've been reading these forums for quite a while. Thought I'd join in!
I'm currently planning to head South America to work. More than likely to teach English but I'm open to all sorts of jobs.

I'm trying to find the country which would be right for me. Which is a hard thing to do from thousands of miles away. (Backgroud info I'm 21, Irish, female)

My main concern is about work permits. I know in Korea the school owns you so to speak, and in Japan you're free to move as you wish. I'm hoping you guys know about the South America situation.

Here's what I have on the countries so far:
Brazil: speaks Portuguese, I'm learning Spanish!
Argentina: apparently EFL teachers can't earn enough to live there.
Para/Urguay: I need the ocean!
Chile: Seems good!
Peru: Also good, but I'm working there for the summer, a change of scene might be good.
Equador: Place I know the least about, but sounds good.
Columbia: Doesn't like the Irish apparently after a bit of a scandal....

So, my main question, is there any where I can get a work permit and then go looking for a job at my leisure. That would be cool.
Any suggestions where one could live by the beach for as cheap as possible? I know it's probably an unrealistic dream but sure everything starts as a dream!
Thanks!

[naturegirl321]

If you could get a work visa in Peru, then you could work at the place where you got the visa and have a part-time job on the side.
People do work illegally, pay is about 5 USD an hour. I think the best visa is due to marriage. I can work wherever I want.

[matttheboy]

the vast majority of people arrive in south america with no work permit. it's nigh on impossible to get a job over here before you arrive. there are exceptions but most schools that hire from abroad are the ones that have to hire from abroad because they have such a poor reputation with teachers on the ground. an example would be sam marsalli in santiago which i've only ever heard bad things about on the chile forum and from a couple of people who had the misfortune to work there. you can't get a work permit before arriving in south america that will just let you pick and choose a job, you require a contract in order to get a work permit.

countries that i know of where you've got a reasonable chance of getting a contract and a work permit are chile and mexico. everywhere else, the majority of people work under the table. in argentina it's simply not possible to get a contract and work permit, no school would ever go through the hassle of doing that for you. there are a couple of places in ecuador that offer contracts, KLS (at least they did when i was there for long term teachers) and EIL of which Justin Trullinger is the director and who will most probably give some insight into this at some point.

if you just want to live by the beach for a while, you'd probably be best off saving up some money at home and then just travelling. if you are vaguely serious about teaching then at the very least you should make some sort of effort to take a teaching course before you leave (if you haven't already). remember that for a lot of your students they'll be spending a huge proportion of their own money to take english lessons and deserve to be taught by someone who a) knows what they're doing and b) cares enough not to bugge r off after a couple of months, which is what happens quite often. for example, if you were taking spanish lessons would you prefer classes from a 21 year old unqualified traveller or a qualified 21 year old teacher?

btw- chile, despite having 5000 odd km of coastline isn't really a beach country at all. the water's freezing until you get up to the far north of the country. northern peru and ecuador have warmer water and are more beach oriented.

[naturegirl321]