Job Discussion Forums

[MIKEBUCHAN]

silasbilas,

I only spent a couple of weeks in Zelenograd (near Moscow) and that school's owner refused to pay anything. He told me I had the wrong visa! How do you get the wrong visa??? And that is AFTER leaving me stranded at the airport in Moscow, all my bags were lost, and a bogus telephone number to call him. By this time I had friends in Togliatti and went there until my bags showed up! When I arrived by train again in Moscow -- no one was there again for three hours and then his wife came to get me. I was told that they searched high and low for a nice apartment -- I got a dirty, dead rat and dead coackroach, full of someone else's stuff sh*t hole. And that someone else was the Canadian woman that just left and did not tell them -- very smart lady as I did the same!

I can tell you that in Togliatti, I was fired after nine months because I would not have sex with the office manager - a married woman!

In ufa:
Language Link refused to pay for all the over contract hours -- 2 1/2 months of double contract hours and not a kopek!

Center for Foreign Languages decided that I should not be paid for a month and a half because I did not come to work -- the temperature for that time was -35 C and the law states that school childern do not go to school when it is that cold - they told me to go home and they would call me when they opened again.

American Bashkir Inter College is a total rip off! Russians get paid more to teach there and I got the worst of the worst high school sweat hogs while the Russians got the best students. Here I was not paid for anything and they refused to assist in getting a visa extention or renewing one and I missed getting out of the country by a few hours and was arrested (the only country in the world that does this -- most countries let you leave with an expired visa and tickets to go) and held for three days --- in a hotel at double rates - the police were involved and fined $4000 - yes that is US dollars.

Want to hear more? I do not work anymore as my pension started, so I live well and laugh at them now.

If you want to teach ONLY grammar and nothing else - Russia is a great place to teach -- their methodologies are from the 17th century

[silasbilas]

Mike, quite a set of experiences! Are you currently living in Moscow?

[MIKEBUCHAN]

I have never lived in Moscow and never plan to live there. It is too big, noisy, dirty and the people never seem friendly as in other less international cities in Russia.

[maruss]

This is a comparitive question.....
The argument people like myself and other old hands have against these schools is that they work on supply and demand,knowing that there is always somebody who will take a job just to experience living in Russia for a while.On this point they are probably right because let's face it, not many people are keen to go and live there on a long-term basis for many reasons,some of which are obvious!
But with that in mind,they use deceptive recruiting adverts to lure people there,especially their claim of 'middle-class salaries' which is a total lie!
As a result,staff turnover is very high because teachers soon realise that they can earn far more somewhere else and off they go....Consequently morale is low,both among the staff and students who are paying good money for their lessons and see different teachers coming and going.How long you stick it depends largely on you and how determined you are,although obviously if you have a sympathetic DOS it helps a lot!
Working split-hours is no joke in Moscow and once you see how the metro and buses are you will understand why,especially if you have a long journey to and from work from your accom.In winter this situation is a nightmare because you can effectively be stuck all day between classes in the morning and evening and will probably end up marking papers and preparing lessons,rather than trying to go home and rest and then come back again for your evening classes!Unless of course you are lucky enough to get a schedule with continuous hours during the day from late morning to evening which I managed to do by working freelance(not for any of the notorious schools by the way!)
Concerning accomodation,I am not a gipsy or a refugee so I don't go around sharing my living space with other unknown people and like my privacy.If I want to invite someone back to eat,drink or anything else and use my bathroom etc. that's my prerogative and not something I should be forced to accept as part of my working contract!O.K. flats in Moscow are expensive,especially nowadays but if my employer wants me as a foreigner to go and work and live there,they should be prepared to provide suitable accomodation-ex-pat firms do so why should I be any different??Unless of course I happen to have my own place and they give me a realistic allowance instead as compensation....
As you have probably read from other postings on this site,$1500 per month is the MINIMUM a person needs in Moscow nowadays to get by and anything less will mean hardship and survival in a place which is tough and stressful to live in at the best of times,as you will soon discover!
But of course if you are not aware of the true situation and get your info. from recruitment ads. by these kind of firms,you will find out the hard way.
A careful glance through the vacancies on sites like tefl.com will reveal that these same firms are always recruiting and that can mean only two things:either that their business is expanding at a formidable rate and they need extra staff continuously,or,as is the case, there is high turnover of staff!The question then is why?I hope some of the points I have made above will help you understand the reasons.

All the best and please feel free to correspond for further advice etc.

[MIKEBUCHAN]

Maruss,

You are correct about the adverts and the schools here! And foreign teachers bite, hook, line and sinker at those adverts. They get bragging rights back home --- I survived a Russian winter! In most cities outside of Moscow and Petersburg a salary of $550 USD is standard, but much lower is common, however, a slum garbage dump apartment usually goes with the job.

One thing that I have learned in the five - yes, 5 years - that I have lived in Russia is this: These hillbillies are going to learn that their rude, ill mannered and very bad behavior HAS consequences!

In the Moscow News, 27 April - 3 May 2007 on page 09 - the article listed as 'Minority Report' with a by line, Marina Pustilnik and titled "Difference in Perceptions has some stats from a British survey. I am quoting from the article. "...British business people find their Russian counterparts arrogant (62 percent), lawless (59 percent) and unreliable (47 percent)...."

I believe these stats are low!

Mike

[mdk]

Hmmm, the Russian lady I lived with for several years (and her neighbors) would probably give you comparable views of westerners visiting Russia.

I am reminded of the story of the seven blind men who encountered an elephant. One thought it was like a snake, another like a wall, etc.

Then there was another blind man who said it was smelly and squishy and full of flies

[MIKEBUCHAN]

MDK

Are you in Moscow or another tourist city in Russia? If you are, then I would whole heartedly agree with you - westerners are some of the worst offenders of civil manners!

I live two time zones east of Moscow, in the Ural Mountain area and there just are no tourists at all here. A few businessmen from Holland and a couple of other European countries, but no tourists come to this area. And most folks here have no idea what foreigners are like and sometimes treat you like a native - which can be abrasive at times.

I live in the capital of the republic and almost all of the people here are very kind - it is in the outback villages that far away from civilized Moscow society that are rather crude.

I cited the article in the Moscow Times as views from the UK - I am an American and did not connect that survey very well to my dislike of the school operators and their 'organized' cheating and withholding of salaries to western teachers.

I see that other posters are also notifying others about this somewhat common practice of short changing ELT'er of their salary.