Job Discussion Forums

[KateFS]

Where to begin.
I'm a teacher. Licensed ELL & Spanish, K-12 in the US. My husband is Mexican, from Durango. We have been talking about moving to 'la playa' for about 8 years now. I tried applying for jobs on-line a few years ago and realized I would need a Master's to get a better paying job in order to keep supporting his family (not to mention ours...we have a lil guy too) and live in Mexico as a teacher. We went to Playa del Carmen (S. or Cancun) a couple of weeks ago. I was amazed at what a pueblote is has become in just 12 short years since I'd first visited. I had interviews set up there, Valladolid, and Cancun. I got offered jobs at each one, but the highest pay was $13000/pesos per month. Most others offered $8000/pesos per month. Is this normal?
Then, I've been reading these posts and I noticed Meelee who works in Oaxaca (and shares many of my ideals about teaching, but perhaps not my responsibility to her mexican in-laws?) and loves it. I recently emailed a couple of Universities in Oaxaca. Universidad del Mar (Puerto Angel) emailed back with lots of info, but not salary schedule. I was thinking maybe they would pay $13000 and we could make it work. But then I realized they work 8am-1pm and 4pm-7pm. That's basically all my sons waking hours! Definitely not ready to give up his childhood to live in Mexico.
Anybody have any ideas for where I can find a job that pays at least $13000/pesos per month teaching ESL that is not too far from traquilidad and la playa?

[MELEE]

You could easily support your family on 10,000 pesos a month if you are living in a smallish city.

As for working 8-1 and 4-7, You son's inner-Mexican will come out and he will quickly adjust to those hours. My girls are 3 and a half and they still nap two to three hours a day usually 4-6 or 7 and stay awake until 9:30 and wake up at 6:30 am. They've been on this schedule since they were about two. As for giving up your son's childhood--this is an important issue, because your son would have a VASTLY different childhood in a small Mexican town than he would in the US--no matter what hours you work.

What does your husband do? There aren't a lot of opportunities in Puerto Angel, apart from the university. (There isn't even a bank there!) I assume he speaks English? So maybe something in the tourist industry? My husband was a stay at home dad for 10 months between his MA and PhD. While he enjoyed it immensely and it was great for our girls, society didn't get it and EVERYONE from his mom to strangers put a lot of pressure on him to go to work. We knew he was going to be entering the PhD so it didn't make sense for him to work. But no one else was able to comprehend that.

UMAR would pay about 13,000 pre tax with a Bachelors and 15,000 pre tax with an MA, take about 2,500 out for taxes. There used to be a poster here who worked in Puerto Angle--but he's in India right now. But if you look up delacosta you should be able to find his old posts if you want some ideas about what it's like.

Another poster worked at UMAR Huatulco.

Are you only interested in the coast? As a Licensed K-12 teacher you could get a good job with good hours at an American/British/International or other private collegio, that would probably have hours from 7 to 3. But those would not be located on the coast, but in the larger cities.

[Samantha]

Melee wrote:

[MikeySaid]

If the original poster has some time and a SkypeOut account, s/he may do well to consult a map of Mexico and/or read up on what kinds of communities would be desirable to live in.

The states that have beaches are:

Baja California (both), Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, Veracruz and Tamaulipas.

Searches on http://www.seccionamarilla.com.mx for terms like ingles, colegio, escuela, etc. by state will show you where there's schools (they should be divided by city at that point and you'll have to check a map or know what communities you're looking at.

I just took some time to look at Colima and narrowed it down to Schools, Institutes and Universities in Manzanillo and it gives you 113 places to call. Even if the odds are 1% that there's a school there that meets the OP's needs and is hiring, there should be at least 1 school in that group.

Note: Manzanillo's got 100,000 people plus tourists, it's not huge, but it's no fishing village.

[KateFS]

That is a good point MeeLee about my son easily adapting to a new schedule. My husband makes horseshoes in a factory. He would be classified as an 'obrero' in Mexico. He did work in Manzanillo for a time in construction and found it financially discouraging. He's also worked in Tijuana in factories. He came to the US to be able to support his mom, dad, sister, brother and nieces and nephews in Mexico. This move back to Mexico is not driven by him (although he did promise this pre-marriage;) and he is very concerned about what his job will be in Mexico. For that reason, Puerto Angel might not be the best choice....although we both like small towns and not doing much. His English is at a low-intermediate level and his literacy in both Spanish and English is low. I think he could work in a restaurant where he has to speak English as that is his other job in the states. Interesting what others thought of your husband being a stay-at-home-dad as we've entertained that idea too, however his self-esteem is highly intertwined with his bringing home a paycheck (to the extreme that direct deposit is out of the question).

Samatha, where are you in the Maya Riviera? Do you have suggestions for schools? The schools in Playa del Carmen were the ones offering $8000/pesos a month. The rent is at least $4500 pesos a month (for a small studio), so that leaves little to live off of. The cheapest house to buy would be like $800,000 and $8000/month. We can't do that. Also, I have $200 USD/Month student loan payment. YIKES. I am not usually so fixated on salaries, but for a big move like this, I had to get a clue and now I'm thinking it might be trickier than I had originally thought.

Thanks for the suggestions about looking for places I like and then researching schools Mikey. That is what I have been doing. A couple of times a few years back I traveled extensively around Mexico and a bit into Central America. I think I know the places I like (Maya Riviera, Oaxaca, and Chiapas stick out as favorites...but maybe I should check out Manzanillo more and Mazatlan as they are closer to Durango and might be more in my husband's comfort zone. He has a brother in Los Mochis, Sonora too. I should see about there too. Since I'm a teacher in US, I can have summers off if I chose, so perhaps I should take our one and a half year old son on a little tour down the coast and see what we find. I don't know how hiring is all the way into June and July though.

Thanks for all the suggestions...keep 'em comin'!

[Samantha]

I'm in the 'Pacific Riviera' on the west side of Mexico. For your situation, Mazatlan may just be the obvious choice (now that you have explained it in more detail). The schools and uni's here are partial to those foreign teachers married to Mexicans since they are perceived as more likely to stick around. Once you are established and become known and respected as a teacher, you will have increasing opportunities to make more money, plus there should be plenty of work for your husband. There's alot happening here. If you don't have to live terribly close to the beach, lower rents can be found throughout the city. Nothing is too far from the beach, and there is a good bus system.

The new Mazatlan-Durango highway will be completed some day, making it easy to visit family. Right now, it's still the "Devil's Backbone" and a bit of an interesting drive. A friendly word of warning: when you live at the beach, be prepared for lots of vacationing relatives to drop by!

[MELEE]

[NinaNina]

Good luck with your move to Mexico! I moved here with my husband and two children, and enjoy our life here immensely.

I just wanted to add my experience about working a split shift while having children. I may be in a different situation, because one of my children is already school-age (first grade). Working a split shift was definitely in opposition to family time. Although I could pick up my son at school (lovely), it was a rush to get through comida and then grab the bus to get back to work. We lost all of that lolling-around time that is so valuable. I also couldn't help him as much with his homework or go to after school events and meetings (sometimes a godsend to miss those meetings!).

I would echo the notion that you work hours that emulate those of your child's at school (if he's at school), maximizing your time with him. I also would add that, once children hit school age, that 9:30 bedtime doesn't always work so smoothly. None of my son's friends go to bed that late, except on weekends, holidays, vacation (which, okay, can be up to 35% of the time).

Anyway, dropping that split shift was the best thing I could have done for my family. I reminded myself that I didn't move to Mexico to have only rushed time with my child. We're all much more content now.

Good luck!
Serena
Mexican Pop Spot
http://www.mexpop.blogspot.com/