Job Discussion Forums

db2006 · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 6

I am an older teacher. I'm gonna be 50 next month (I remember Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon live in 1973!)

Is there any problem about a 50-year-old teacher getting a decent job in HCMC? I have 6 years EFL experience plus BA+CELTA.

Thanks for any feedback or experience.

ReeseDog · Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 26

I'm almost 40 and would like to know the answer to that as well.

ajc19810 · Joined: 22 May 2008 Posts: 214

I will go out on a limb here and say the majority of teachers in HCMC are over 40 and male. My school has a staff at one branch of 10 foreign teachers I am the youngest (27) and the oldest is 63. 5 others are over 45.
Being older can work for and against you, but most of the time students don't care as long as you aren't a boring person and bring energy and humour to the classroom.

motown · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 68

I see that there aren't any further responses to this thread and I was hoping to see a few more.
I'm also in my 50th year and have just completed an online TEFL course to get a feel of what may be required of me. I did get my certificate but as many have posted elsewhere online courses aren't as good as onsite courses. (I'm actually considering the Bridge TEFL course)
My question is can a 50 year old without teaching experience (have a B.A. from 1981) get a job in Vietnam? Young and beautiful people seem to have no problem but what if you are ......ummmm....older and average looking? ( Smile

.
Please note that unlike backpackers I'm not looking for work for 3 months only to move on to Thailand.
What type of Visa would allow me to stay for an extended period and also allow for renewals in case I decide I want to teach there for some time.
Much obliged to all who reply.

No Moss · Joined: 15 Apr 2003 Posts: 1995 Location: Thailand

Jarvis and other "oldies", I am old enough to collect Social Security, and I have been teaching successfully for 8 years in Asia with an unrelated BS and a TEFL Cert. I have probably been turned down by some based on my age, but I've gotten plenty of jobs, and frankly, I've always made decent money.

You'll be welcome wherever you go in these countries: China, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan. You may suffer a little bit in the more desirable countries like Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I'd get a "real" TEFL Cert for better jobs in any country. Otherwise, you're a decade too early to think about being old.

Don't forget, you'll be competing with some people (old and young) who can't spell or write a proper sentence, who think teaching is a lark, who think the world owes them a living, who come to class drunk, late, or not at all, and who think everything in skirts is fair game. If none of those describe you, you're at a sizable advantage in this game. Dress up a bit, treat everyone you meet with courtesy, take your job seriously. You'll soon be king of all you survey.

If you need any more assurance than that, you're probably not ready to go overseas.

motown · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 68

Good advice No Moss.
Treat people with respect and you should get the same in return even if there are a few bumps along the road. I plan to take teaching seriously and I'm not looking at this as an extended vacation.
I'll look at Vietnam, China and maybe Korea as my ultimate destinations as it's possible, from what I've read, to save some money and not just break even. Thailand apparently is strictly a break-even proposition at best.
Thanks again.

lensman · Joined: 01 Sep 2004 Posts: 21 Location: Australia

God! I wish I was 50 again. I started my ESL career in China when I was 57. When I was 60 I landed in Japan on a three month tourist visa and had jobs with private language schools within a week. Before my visa ran out I landed an ALT job in a Junior High School which allowed me to get my work visa. I know I could go back and get a job again, especially in hiring season but I find Japan too civilised and boring. At the moment I am fixing up my �73 kombi that�s been sitting in the shed with its legs crossed for four years. Then early next year I shall be heading over to Vietnam to look for teaching work, by which time I will be 62. If you are lively, friendly, and look the part there�s plenty of work for us oldies in Asia. Just turn up and things will work out; at least that�s been my experience.
Cheers, James.

Texas_blu · Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 108 Location: HCMC, VN

I'm 50+ and going on 4 years here. Teaching since my feet hit the ground.

You could land a job for your security level before you get here - online, mail, and phone calls with some schools. But there are cultural concepts mixed with legal wording in these contracts which could be construed as a breach by you and "business as usual" for them. I don't recommend it. There are certainly a few honorable schools here but each has a different sense of that.

There are jobs here for the serious teacher as well as the entertainers.

Get on the plane, enjoy the adventure! Come find out.

kidefl · Joined: 22 Jun 2007 Posts: 40

I just got what I'd consider a very good university job in Hanoi via Email and a phone call. I am 64.

jirikiman · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 7 Location: Cool mountain

I am67 and have been teaching for five years in Vietnam, over 15 years in total. Your age may work for you as you may have plenty of work and life experience to offer your students. Corporate gigs prefer a mature teacher to a newbie or a sweet young thing who has never met a payroll or knows dick about marketing or what constitutes business correspondence. Take awhile to get into the scene and you'll do fine. Here in SE Asia, Vietnam is probably the best place to work as a teacher--good money and, if you perform well, grateful students (customers) who will praise you to the management.