Job Discussion Forums

[joesped]

looking for anyone having taught in the US and then taught in Kazakhstan???
all experiences welcome....?? and thank you

joe

[travelingirl68]

Hello!

I am just wondering what kind of information you are looking for? I taught in Kazakstan for 2 years in a university, had a lot of connections with local school teachers as well...

Ask some questions so that I can respond better!

[philbags]

I'm not from the states , but worked in kaz for 3 years awhile back. I heard things are changing pretty fast there so I may be out of date,but unless miracles are happening; stay away from anywhere except almaty. I heard Atyrau is a sh8thole and I can say from personal experience that Astana is a total DUMP. folks are induced to work there but you'd want to be looking at a big salary.
Generally BE CAREFUL. any school that wants to stiff you can simply do so, although I havent seen any negative postings about schools on here since that stuff about KIMEP.

[joesped]

thats all i needed and thank you
atyrau is exactly the place they want to put me, and its not huge money......at all
i really appreciate the information
joe

[travelingirl68]

I have some very close friends (Kazak) living in Almaty, and while it is the bright spot in Kazakstan, it has become very expensive to live there as well... You would need to make at least $1,000 a month to live fairly comfortably, closer to $2,000 to save a little bit...

I was in Taldykorgan - beautiful little city in a valley about 3 hours north of Almaty - would go there again in a heartbeat, but there are not any good paying gigs in that area...

Atyrau - even more expensive than Almaty and absolutely nothing to do...

I do recommend Kazakstan in general, love the people, interesting culture, some amazing landscapes (and a whole lotta steppe too)...

[joesped]

thank you
i wont rule it out completely for the future, but will for my first tour.....
joe

[philbags]

Two lawyer friends of mine who work for Chevron were debating whether it was worth taking a job in Atyrau and the salary for them was HUGE. still not worth it they said, life in a foreigners compound for them.if you were lucky,you might get that - otherwise some rundown apartment building.
For a first teaching post, indonesia is quite nice,or, if you like cold weather , try eastern europe.
All the best.
Theres a guy who posts on the indonesia threads called basiltherat. says his location is kaz. you might P.M. him for more up to date information.

[joesped]

thanks for the replies, I think I was good to let that offer go, and it wasnt a high paying gig, anyway.......
I will definitely look into Indonesia........as well as a few others...
thanks, joe

[philbags]

Indo is pretty cool- Thailand looks like it might be too, and both probably equal kaz for salaries if you can hit the mid-upper end, if not hang around there for a year and you will.
Kakakhstani living is for the adventurous (hard work); if youre just looking for a good time, south east asia MUST be a better bet.
Miss that Taraz vodka though.
You sound like youre trying to set up a job in advance, there are definite pros and cos to that in the case of Indo - PM me if you want my take on it, or go onto that forum for details,careful tho - there a bit nasty to some folks (the forum posters, not the indos)

[joesped]

please tell all those pros and cons that you can.........to setting up a job while in the states??
i feel like the travel across is so high, that i could get over there and somewhat stranded on what i have vs what it takes, to live.........thanks

[philbags]

ok, I'll draw comparisons against kaz to justify staying on this site , but if we're talking indo, we really should be on the indo threads.
Firstly you cant , to my knowledge , just turn up in kazkhstan to look for a job teaching. when i was there 5 or 6 years ago; getting a visa required all sorts of paperwork - invitation letters etc just to get a tourist visa.For Indonesia, you simply get on a flight and pay 25$ for a visa on arrival.
A major pro for job hunting in-country is that nearly all the jobs you see advertised here or elsewhere are the 'mcdonalds' type franchises that pay peanuts. There is far more choice in indonesia than there is in kazakhstan (which still doesnt seem to have many language schools) so if you go there and ask around, you can choose whether to work in a place like jakarta or somewhere much smaller or possibly even Bali - tho i hear jobs there are hard to find.
Kazakhstan can be quite a hostile place to hang out - cops are constantly looking to shake you down, there is a very high level of alcohol use and the young guys like to fight. Indonesia is mellow as anything (until they start rioting) and people there would much rather give you a big grin than get into an argument.

kazakhstan is still not geared for tourism ;cheap hotels are hard to find and on first turning up - you definitly do need a translator. Most folks arrive in indo in jakarta, which has a very busy backpacker strip (jalan jaksa) also frequented by efl teachers - making contacts wouldnt be difficult and you can get a room for as cheap as 3$ a night.

basically, the only reasons to organise a job before going to indo would be that you had absolutley NO back-up money or felt insecure about doing the footwork to get a job. in the case of the latter, if you didnt find something better in the first couple of weeks, you could still take that EF job that theyre advertising on the net.

A return ticket plus 1000$ would be a perfectly safe amount of money to do it on ( and it could be done on less

Oh, and chicks - no contest.

All of the above is probably true for Thailand as well.

anything else - just ask.

[joesped]

thanks for the info, all very good stuff
I am not regretting turning down the Kaz job last week, and who knows, maybe later, it'll be a better trip........??

I am heading to the Indo forums and listings later, today
joe

[Vanica]

Any info on International House?

[Aussie Chick]

Just be aware of the travel warnings for Indonesia:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_918.html

[basiltherat]