Job Discussion Forums

[laxer14]

I am a recent college graduate with a teaching degree looking to spend a year abroad teaching English. My friend and I are looking to arrive in Prague sometime in January-February to take a TEFL-certificate course and then begin teaching immediately. We have been looking at the Caledonian School mostly because of the job guarantee and would like some input from anyone who has taken the course and then taught at Caledonian.
-What was your schedule like?
-Did you have time to travel?
-Does the school maintain a friendly atmosphere for its employees?
-Will the salary be enough to sustain a happy existence if the two of us split rent?
-Would you recommend living in Prague or outside of the city? (Apparently Caledonian pays your rent if you live outside of Prague)
-Will other school be looking to hire midway through the year?

Thank you for your help.

[misteradventure]

Do a search for Caledonian School here on the forum. All of your answers are there.

If anyone currently teaches there, I'd love to get a PM or a reply here talking about shorter-term contracts, if they exist.

[spiral78]

Caledonian has been around for quite a long while and you can likely find information all over the map from their past teachers - meaning that some have had good schedules/experiences/etc and some probably haven't. Many (probably most) have had pretty good experiences with the school. It's got a reasonable reputation on the current job market in the Czech Rep. It's a relatively stable, large school.

So, for what it's worth, here's the GENERAL scoop on working in Prague in general as it applies to your questions:

First, Mr. A, regarding contracts, a regular school year is September - June. You could likely find a contract for January/February-June, but few schools are going to want someone for, say two to three months. Assuming that you're North American or Canadian, or Aussie, to try for this kind of time period simply means it's inevitable that you will be working illegally, as it takes easily up to three months to get legal work permits arranged.

If it were me, in your place I'd probably go with Caledonian for this contract period and save myself the time/trouble of pavement pounding for other jobs. If you're still around after the summer break, you'll be in a position to find jobs at other schools if you prefer - and you'll have been here long enough to know which ones may be better.

As for in/out of Prague, well, I have lived outside of the city for some years now and personally prefer it, but very much depends on you, your ideas about how to spend your spare time, and the actual location. If it's a reasonably-sized city, or relatively near one, you should be quite ok. A few people enjoy small, remote locations...
I'd wait to see what Caledonian's got on offer at the time.
There is always work to be found both in the city and in outlying areas. The biggest intakes are September, followed by January. There will be fewer jobs on the street in February (I am inferring that this is when you plan to start your job hunt). You likely could find work within a reasonable time period, but it would possibly take a bit longer and more time/energy to do so. Caledonian's work guarantee could make things considerably easier at this time of year -

Schedules: the bulk of teaching work in the Czech Rep (and Europe generally) through private language schools is given to business students in their workplaces. You'll usually be teaching individuals or small groups. Considerable amounts of your time may well be taken up with travelling to your students' businesses. Relatively few courses are taught in-house. Czechs start work relatively early, and it's possible that you can end up with a 7.00 am class, and, in the worst case, finish up at 7.pm iwth a gap in the middle. **Remember that you'll be arriving mid year, and you are HIGHLY unlikely to get the best schedules going at whatever school - they've all been snagged by people who've been here a while. If you're still around in September to sign a new contract, you'll have more pull.

The pay and work schedules in Prague generally give you enough income and time off (weekends, usually) to travel around the country and make one or maybe two trips to surrounding countries, in the winter/spring/early summer time frame. You would probably need to wait until July/August for anything bigger. Be aware that Czech pay rates do not support extensive travel in western Europe. You'll need outside funds for that.

YOu'll find teachers who like Caledonian and teachers who didn't. It's largely what you make of it.

Splitting rent is about the ONLY way to 'sustain a happy existence' in Prague - rents are very high relative to teaching salaries. Splitting is an excellent way to optimize your experience.