Job Discussion Forums

[robertokun]

Hola a todos,
I was wondering if there is any summer camp work in Northern L.A. or if there is likewise any Winter break work in Southern L.A. around July-August. I'm a teacher toying with the idea of going abroad to work EFL this summer. So far, the most opportunity for that type of work seems to be in Korea. The money there is nice, but since I am a young profe de espa�ol here in the U.S. I�d be willing to work for relative peanuts to get more experience in L.A. I taught EFL (eikaiwa, for those who know the biz over there) in Japan for a year, so I have some experience in the field, but no TEFL/CELTA/etc. cert. I'd also like to go for my ELL endorsement, so more EFL experience this summer would be helpful.

[naturegirl321]

Not usually. It's usually Europe and Asia that do that type of stuff. Check the PM I sent you.

In the four years here in LA, I've never heard of camps.

[naturegirl321]

I forgot I had written this and planned to put it on my website next month.

Working Holiday Visas and Short-term Jobs
Working Holiday Visas are a chance to spend a short time working legally in another country. You often work between three and 12 months, depending on the visa. Depending on what country you are from, your age, civil status and whether you are a student or not all come into play when applying for a working holiday visa.

A good website with information is http://www.anyworkanywhere.com/whvchart.html . Here you can find out more information about working holiday visas and what choices are available to you. Keep in mind that new programmes are always being added as well. Another great website it
www.bunac.org and if you�re from Canada, try www.swap.ca . You might also try going to specific country�s embassy�s websites, for example the Embassy of Norway in Canada http://www.emb-norway.ca/Passport/youth+exchange+mou.htm and the Working Holiday in Korea website http://www.workingholiday.co.kr/old_workingholiday/english/wh/wh.html have information about working holidays in their countries.

There are also plenty of discussion forums, such as those at The Student Room http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=88, Gap Year http://boards.gapyear.com/ Boots N All websites http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve and Expatica http://www.expatica.com//working/employment_list.html

If you�re looking to work short-term in a country, there are many opportunites, such as picking fruit, au pairing, being a tour guide, camp jobs, waiting staff, sports instructor, just to name a few. WWOOF www.wwoof.org , Gap Year www.gapyear.com , Gap-Year www.gap-year.com, Find A Gap www.findagap.com , and Season Workers www.seasonworkers.com are just a few of those offering short-term employment.

Teaching English short-term is also a possibility, especially during school breaks as lots of schools offer intensive summer camp positions. Just remember that you�ll be with the kids for the majority of the day teaching English in the morning and usually games or sports in the afternoon. Material, organisation, pay and benefits vary, so be sure to ask questions before you sign a contract. Some things you should ask about are: salary after taxes, the accommodations, books and syllabus, air conditioning (lots of places don�t have it), number of children per class, days off, and airfare. Many places will offer you airfare and a bit of spending money in exchange for a month or so of teaching.

Although you won�t get rich doing so, if you�re energetic and ready to work hard, it can be a very rewarding experience. Dave�s ESL Caf� www.eslcafe.com and TEFL.com www.tefl.com are good places to look for camp jobs. Usually places start advertising around mid-March for summer camps jobs (June to August) and around October for winter camp positions (January � February). Summer camp positions may last between two weeks to two months whereas winter camps are usually only a couple of weeks.

[john_n_carolina]

...when in doubt, i go to www.idealist.org for these types of things:

here's one starting in June (6-10 weeks) Camp Leader in Ecuador:

(hurry, i think the deadline is June 1)
http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/272721-244

here's another one, an Education Specialist to Ecuador (3 months min.)
http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Internship/120695-246

..you get the idea...just put in Ecuador, or whateve L.A. country you are looking at and browse the opportunities...

[naturegirl321]

[john_n_carolina]

...in his original post he said he would work for "peanuts". so, that's basically volunteer. actually, a lot of those volunteer positions pay room / board which is in reality about $400 / mo.

here is one in Ecuador i highly recommend. it's a 1-6 month duration. it's PlanetDrum and is based in Bahia de Caraquez on the coast, right on the beach.

http://www.planetdrum.org/

...also check www.volunteerabroad.com there are 208 positions just for Ecuador alone.

[robertokun]

When I spoke of relative peanuts, I was talking about the pay in Latin America vs. Asia. I appreciate all the ideas, although, yes, I am looking for a real job, not a position where I have to pay a company to work for them or live with a host family or whatever. The PM's I've received about opportunities have been helpful, so thank you to those of you who have sent them.

[naturegirl321]

good luck and keep us posted.

[john_n_carolina]

.....in your original post, you stated you are only going to be here for July/August? that's only 8 weeks....there are no 8 week "jobs" in most L.American countries.

if you're going to be here such a short time, you might as well sit in a bar and pick up 10 privates.

as far as money goes, you might as well join the ranks and consider yourself lucky if you save $100 / mo. no one saves here, it's existentialism at it's best.

(unless you're K-12 certified)

[robertokun]

As a matter of fact, I am K-12 certified . . . in Spanish. So that doesn't help me very much in Latin America. The American schools abroad have native speakers teach their languages, as they should, so unfortunately I can't go that route.

[john_n_carolina]

....if you could only add on to that K-12 cert., with a cert. K-12 English? then, you'd be worth a lot of money at the private schools.

...don't really know what you should do. you really have to make a 6-12 month committment here in L.A. to get anything out of it.

another option is to do a type of intenational internship where you would get credit towards getting your K-12 Ed degree. but again, most of those would be a one semester committment.

your plane ticket alone will be $1000. saving $200 / mo here in L.A., you would still come out in the red.

in addition, it's almost July now? you still have to go through all the tourist visa process which takes a few weeks, and another week once you get "in-country".

[naturegirl321]

You'll need experience in addition to the license. And most places want two to three years of a committment. An internship might be the way to go.

[john_n_carolina]

....either way, i think he's too late to do anything this summer. i'm not sure you can start planning for July in June...too much paperwork..

[naturegirl321]

There's a couple of openngs at my school, but you'll have to committ more than 2 months, let me know if you're intersted.