Job Discussion Forums

[teachsab]

Greetings,

I'm just curious if there are any Native English speaking teachers currently working in the Metro-Manila area? If so I wouldn't mind sitting down and talking about your experiences whether it be online or over a cold one. Just send me a PM with your email and I'll drop you a line back. Thanks!!

SAB

P.s. Ghost need not reply to this post as I live here and yes I do work here, lol.

[vessel2000]

I am in teaching in South Korea, but I vacation in Manila or Cebu. Send me a pm with contact info, next time I am on my way, I will send you a shout.
By the way, I am looking to teach in the Phils, actually, if I could make a living there, I would never leave!
I cant see how there are few jobs teaching English there, most of the natives I spoke to had atrocious pronunciation. Even a few that spoke no English whatsoever!

[ghost]

Do you folks ever wake up and smell the coffee?

Your chances of getting paid work in the Philippines are virtually nil for the following reasons.

1. Teaching English is not a profession that foreigners are allowed to engage in, because it is not a needed skill. The Philippines Dept. of Labor does not recognize TESL teaching as an import skill. You would be found out, and deported, and maybe never allowed back into the Philippines if you break their laws which are draconian and based on the U.S. model.

2. The few schools that exist are owned in their vast majority by Koreans who have a Philippines work permit, and they (the Koreans) employ native Filipinos for about 50 pesos an hour. They don't need and can't afford peope like you, and besides, you would probably be less effective in the classroom anyway, compared with those Filipino educators who are full of life, and have, generally, much better teaching skills than most of us.

Employing Filipinos is a win-win situation for the Korean school owners. Trust me you will not get anything from applying.

Last year, to prove a point, I applied to the 30 language schools in the Philippines, sending scanned copies of all my diplomas. The result? - just one response (yes, one response!) from Berlitz Manila.....that is it.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but that is the reality. I am a long time part time resident of the Philippines, with part ownership of a guesthouse. I know the ins and outs of the system.

Work in Korea and other places where you can save $15.000-$20.000 a year, and go to the Philippines on vacation or for retirement.

Ghost in Korea

[teachsab]

[thrifty]

[ghost]

[thrifty]

I agree that working as an ESL/EFL specialist is unlikely to happen but you could always TEFL with some mill like Berlitz.

[cosmosmariner]

If you are interested in ESL in the Philippines, check out the call centers in Manila and Cebu. You wont get rich, but they do have openings from time to time.

[ghost]

[thrifty]

[quote="ghost"]

[ghost]

[teachsab]

There are places that search only for American/British Nationals.

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+category/id/54/Education+/+Sports

The average starting salary for agents in Manila area is 13k -20k for an inexperienced agent (260-400$ a month). Experienced agents make from 15k - 40k+ a month. Trainers make from 17k-50k+ a month depending on skill sets. Experienced IELTS instructors make from 30k-100k a month. Teaching for a Korean owned company is probably not the best bet as they underpay everyone (they still think the 2$ an hour rate is the industry standard) and the quality of education is low (in my opinion).

It isn't much money but it is more than the 2 dollars an hour previously stated in an earlier post. The huge drawback is the visa issue as most companies don't want to spend the 1000 USD to sponser that however it is possible. The other drawback is that if you live in the Manila area, 50k is not going to go very far anymore, cost of living can get pretty high in Manila depending on your spending habits. You won't get rich but you can have some fun for a couple years.

[smitten13]

I would agree with Ghost re Philippines as a money making destination. Having lived there now for four months with my pretty young Filipina, I have learnt that it all comes down to who you know and who can trust. Fortunately she is from an influential and well connected family, so my various small business ventures should bear some fruit.

Additionally, living out in the provinces is far cheaper than say in Manila. I hope to stay indefinitely as the Philippines is as cheap if not cheaper than China to live in and the relative stagnation of the economy will, hopefully, at least protect the buying power of foreign currencies for some time into the future. Something that is unlikely to be the case in say China.

Finally, living there is paradise in comparison to my experience in my previous life in the Middle Kingdom. Clean air, food and water. Friendly locals most of whom have some command of the English language, and who also have a far m ore positive attitude to 'Amerikanos"

I love the place.

[poet13]

Money for teaching English in the Philippines?
You would have to be very very lucky. I was for a while. In my neighbourhood, there were several Korean families, and I tutored all their kids. One kid for 500 an hour, two for 750. I didn't intend to work much but someone asked me one day to help just once....and the next day I had enough kimchee to last a month. It went from there. I'm glad though that I wasn't counting on the money to support myself.

Public school teachers earned about 30,000 a month. For the average foreigner, that's beer, food, and gas. The average filipino can feed a family of 13 on that same 30,000.

Ghost.....so easy to get bitten on investments with people you can trust.
I konw some horror stories.
My family owns land there... Most of it is rice, coconut and mahogany farm, but there is some mountain forest. I'd like to collect maybe 500 hectares before I retire. It's in the south, so the price is still very low. My wife and 3 year old son are the primary owners. If we split, the land is his....

[American English pilot]

Ok...lets just set the record straight and summarize the situation in the Philippines:

1. Call centers are ALWAYS hiring agents...both inbound and outbound. Starting salaries vary from 13,000 to 22,000 per month depending on experience and the account. They are USUALLY looking for trainers/quality assurance people. Salary is 30,000 per month even if you are a native speaker. Centers are now located all over the place, including the provinces (Pampanga, Negros Oriental, etc) where the cost of living IS less than within (or near) the National Capital Region (Manila).

2. Berlitz will hire you, usually on a per project basis. Salary for native speakers is 3-400 per hour.

3. There are many nursing test prep centers that also do TOEFL/IELTS test prep. From time to time they DO hire native speakers. Salary varies widely, but is similar to Berlitz.

4. You can't swing a dead CAT around here without hitting either a Korean or a Korean owned English academy! Salaries are all over the place but trending downward at this time. Can be anything from 150 per hour to 500+. You can do private tutoring, for which I receive 500-750 per hour, depending on exactly what it was the student wanted. HOWEVER, please note that it is VERY difficult to get Korean private students here until you are an ESTABLISHED teacher. You could get lucky and "fall into something" as a previous post stated, but that is the exception to the rule. As people on this site know, Koreans only do business with Koreans! It's also possible to hook up with Japanese and Chinese private students. Also Filipino, but Filipino's can only afford a MUCH lower per hour rate for the most part.

4. Licensed public/private school teacher salaries here average only 13-15,000 per month...NOT 30,000. The 30,000 might be university level...certainly not elementary/secondary level schools. UNlicensed, experienced teachers earn less than 10,000 per month. So you can see why so many Filipino teachers have opted to work abroad as MAIDS!

5. There are several international schools here that will from time to time look for native speaking teachers. These are: Brent, IS Manila, Cromwell Int'l, Southville International and others. An Aussie friend of mine who had an Aussie teaching license worked at Brent and earned $30,000 per school year (9 months teaching...same calendar as U.S. schools) for 8 contact hours per day, 5 days per week.

Well....I think that I've just about covered everything. Now...my qualifications for posting this? I've lived, worked and taught in the Philippines since 2000. I'm a resident alien (i.e. "green card" holder) and my Filipina wife and I decided to raise our family here. So, you see, this is our HOME. If anyone wishes more information, you can PM me.
The financial information listed here is CURRENT as of December 14. The Berlitz information is CURRENT as of December 7 when they offered me a job (which I turned down due to the rate being lower than what I get a LOT closer to my home in Laguna province).
So...NO you ain't going to get rich teaching here! HOWEVER, you can earn a decent living wage which is usually MUCH higher than most Filipinos can even DREAM of getting.
Hope that helps!

P.S. Poet13...your information about having businesses here is correct-you've really got to know people and be careful. BUT...you mention that if you and your wife "split, the land is his". I'm sure you know that there is NO divorce law here. Once you're married, that's it! So, unless you take her to the States and divorce there, you can only seperate. Also, if you DO divorce in the states, the law will still show you MARRIED here. Which means if you marry here again, you will be in trouble for marrying one woman while being married already to another. Crazy place, but as they say, "only i
n the Philippines"!