Job Discussion Forums

samii · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 16

i'd like to be teaching in a mexican university in the fall. i have a MA in tesol, about 10 years of experience in comm colleges in the us. what are my chances of landing something? i'm leaning toward DF (UNAM!?!?), but not deadset on it. is it worth it to send out resumes cold? i will be in mexico in june. should i just make the rounds? ive searched the internet for university openings but haven't had much luck. any help is greatly appreciated!

yankeechemist · Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 50

This is the only thing I have found on the net (just a source of schools)

http://www.4icu.org/

MELEE · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 2:26 pm Post subject:

You have a very good chance of landing something. You could go ahead and send out resumes, but don't be surpised if you recieve no responses. It's not common to send out "thanks, but no thanks" letters here so if your resume never makes it into the right hands or they don't know if they have openings or not yet, you will likely hear nothing back. But I do think it is worth a try.

Why UNAM? I've met some UNAM teachers at conferences and they are for the most part Mexicans and part timers. UNAM teaches English through CELE (Centro de Ense�anza de Lenguas Extranjeros) there they have a wide variety of classes and students, from English majors, to students of other majors who want to take English, to the general public who sign up for classes. It seems that the situation is very similar to US, lots of part-time, hourly, no benefits positions, lots of politics surrounding who gets made perminate, etc. etc.

You might get a much nicer job at a private university. Full time, better pay, fewer teaching hours, full benefits, tenur track. ITESM has campuses all of the country, but I've also heard of many of them perferring to start professors out part time with just one class.
The university system where I work in the state of Oaxaca will be hiring several teachers for the fall. All the positions are in small towns, which have a very different style of life from Mexico City. The positions are all full time tenure-track positions, pm me if you are interested in hearing more details.
I watch the job anouncements for the country because I'm interested in seeing how we measure up and I have see university positions advertised on TEFL.com, a yahoo group called TEFLJOB, and TESALL.com to name a few. I wouldn't expect most universities to be thinking so far ahead. Caladars vary and fall semesters start in August, September or as late as the first of October. I think hiring would start in June most places.

The poster named Naturegirl has complied a list of schools in Latin America including many universities, there are also lists of universities in Mexico on the internet through google and such.

Good Luck!

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

We advertise regularly on www.englishjobmaze.com

bdbarnett1 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 3:10 am Post subject:

MELEE,

If you don't mind saying, what is the approximate starting salary of a professor in the position you're describing?

Are you MamaOaxaca, too?

mapache · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 202 Location: Villahermosa

In regard to MELEE's comment about ITESM preferring part time teachers, be careful about any offers of full time work from ITESM and don't turn down any other offers until you receive a contract from ITESM. ITESM in Tuxtla, after many interviews, demonstration classes, paperwork, references etc, offered me a full time job.
I turned down other work as a result. At the last minute, after I had been very flexible substituting for them a few hours a week, someone at ITESM realized that I already was established in Tuxtla and changed the offer to 20 hours per week. I lost the other full time opportunities as a result. Part time work at ITESM involves many free hours of tutoring, computer reports, administration and teacher meetings. ITESM may not be the same everywhere else but my point is to be careful when you deal with them

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I can answer for MELEE, as I teach in the same system. The salary for any professor (with a BA) in Oaxaca's state universities is about 12,000 pesos per month. Someone with an MA would make about 1000 more per month. You'll lose roughly 10% in taxes and deductions right off the top, so your takehome will be about 10,000 pesos per month, or roughly $1000 US.

In addition, there is a mandatory savings fund: about 1000 pesos per month is deducted and put into a fund. The university matches this 50/50, and pays it out in July. Essentially, it's a bonus of up to one month's pay that you receive in July. There is also a Christmas bonus of 1000 pesos per month, up to 12 months.

It's a pretty good salary by Mexican standards. You can live very well on it if you don't travel out of Mexico a lot.

MELEE · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject:

Actually the MA salary is 2000 more than the BA salary. But the rest is like LS said, there are some good benefits for people looking to stay long term that most short termers don't take advantage of. For example IMSS provides for daycare. And Mexico has a housing plan where you earn points towards a no interest housing loan. You'd have to stay at least 4 years to have enough points, depending on your salary. The retirement funds are also not bad for people looking on settling in Mexico.

bdbarnett1 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject:

So for an MA (which I am 9 hrs shy of):

14000 pesos/mo. � 1400 pesos = 12600 pesos/mo � 1000 pesos = 11600 pesos/mo take home pay x 12 = 139200 pesos/yr

1000 x 12 = 12000 x 2 = 24000 annual savings

1000 x 12 = 12000 Christmas bonus

139200 + 24000 + 12000 = 175200 pesos/yr ~ 16,147.61 USD / 12 mos. = 1345 USD/mo over the year

Not bad.

What about health insurance? And how much does an average middle class Mexican family need to live?

MELEE · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 2:59 pm Post subject:

It's not bad.

But I'm not sure you got the tax figured quite right. I haven't had enough caffine to do math yet today.
The take home pay with an MA is about 12,000 pesos a month. The easy way to describe the bonuses is 14 months pay a year. BASIC health coverage is included.
I don't think there is such a thing as an "average middle class Mexican family".

Most of the middle class where I live own houses outright. Rent on a two bedroom place goes for about 1500 to 2000 pesos. It can be hard to find larger places to rent. School can cost a lot if you have kids. Food and utilities are fairly cheap. Travel back to visit family in your homecountry is very expensive. Especially when you look at buying 3 or 4 plane tickets instead of just one.

bdbarnett1 · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject:

Thanks, MELEE. I have about a thousand more questions, but I'll do some searches first. Smile

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

What constitutes a proper second degree? Mine is in photography, the first is in English literature. Would I get a salary based on two degrees or solely on the bachelors?

MELEE · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 6:12 pm Post subject:

You would need to have an MA in TESOL or related.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

MELEE · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 4:14 pm Post subject:

Were currently taking applications for the fall if anyone is interested pm me.