Job Discussion Forums

[robertpablo]

Ahh the Rose Parade on New Year's Day. Feliz Navidad a todos!! So after spending my aguinaldo on travel and Christmas, and with plans for the new year, I am realizing I might want to supplement my income outside of the classroom.

Seems that most teachers initial inclination in this situation is to add one or more private classes to their work week. This is a great option but I am looking for something that maintains my privacy (no students coming to the house) and allows me to work from home.

I have done some copyediting in the past for other professors who are working on their thesis or publishing papers but on a very ad hoc basis. Does seem like there are some good possibilities for supplemental income in this area.

My question is if anyone has any experience in taking this to a more professional level. Any ideas or experience in advertising, attracting clients, pricing structures, monetary return on time invested, and or whatever else might need to be considered in making this type of service viable.

Maybe I am completely off-base here but need to pay down those Christmas credit cards....

Happy New Year!!!

[john_n_carolina]

...i saw a few things on Craiglist Mexico.

other ideas:

local hotels - front desk
tour companies
translating for Mex. univ professors
translatorbase.com
or, changing careers into Human Resources -- check Latpro.com ..search Mexico City?

there are other freelance sites like www.ifreelance.com, and others but i can't remember right now.. hope that helps a little

[geaaronson]

I had a similar experience in Merida when a recruiter I was working with had a client who needed his website cleaned up. The man was quintalingual and his website was quite a linguisitic a mess. I can`t speak for certain of the other 4 languages but the english version was atrocious, barely understandable, but I was able to completely revise it to legibility.
For about 5 hours of mental labor I was paid 600 pesos. I never pursued it but I would think that if you visited the bulletin boards of universities and posted a notice, supplemented by dropping handbills off in professors`mailboxes,(every decent university department has a series of mailboxes) combined with personal contact with the professor themselves, you should be able to augment your income.
Here in my neighborhood of Cuauhtemoc, Mexico City there is a translation service with a huge vinyl banner in the front of his residential apartment. As there are several banner producers on nearby Melchor Ocampo across from the Plaza de las Estrellas mall, I am sure all the competition has significantly brought the price down.

I distinctly recall a similar enterprise in Merida over on Calle 68, I believe, next to the Fed Express Office that had incredibly low prices for vinyl banners, a highly popular practice of advertising in Merida on account of the amazingly low prices for such signage.

When in Merida I sought information about whether there was any possibility for advertising my services in professional newsletters but was unable to locate. That may be another possible outlet for you.
If you are located in Mexico City I can get you translation work with an economic commission that has been looking for translaters. Just pm me and I will send you their contact information. Apparently they do quite a bit of work and would keep you busy.

[john_n_carolina]

...i didn't notice that either; he's in Torreon;

[Gary Denness]

Blogging. Build up the Page Rank of a few blogs, look up some Pay Per Post companies and do paid adverts. It's easy, doesn't involve anyone else and very profitable. Although if you don't currently have a blog, you'll be looking to start earning in 3 to 6 months time.

[MO39]

[Milenka]

Translation is a profession, not a way to supplement one's income... unless you're into pushing rates down and deal with the lowest-paying jobs. It takes much more than being bilingual or near-bilingual and having a good dictionary to be a successful translator.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=685232&sid=d67cc2e522c96d840628fd33b36a4aa7#685232

Cheers

[geaaronson]

Not as underpaid as you might think. Yes, it was my first time around doing a copyediting job and I had not done copyediting since 1974. So it was an introductory price.

Secondly the difference in salaries and cost of living between Merida and DF is considerably more than you would think. I should have charged 140-150 pesos to arrive at the same rate as DF. Yes, there is about 25-40% difference in cost of living between the two cities, MO39. Your apartment in Merida would have cost less than 2,000 pesos.

[Milenka]

[MO39]

[geaaronson]

MO39
Simply not true. Your friend does not know what she is talking about.

Restaurant dining is about 1/2 price. The most expensive steak meal in Merida is 200 pesos and includes all extras. If you visit a comparable restaurant here in MX City, ie. Quebracho Argentinian Steak House, you are paying 300 pesos for steak a la carte.

You can buy street food at a significantly lower price than here. Tortas max out at 12 pesos in Merida. Try finding a torta anywhere near that price here in DF. I even bought in 2003 a fantastic torta at 4.5 pesos in Merida.

The only high price was public transport at 5 pesos per ride. But no, accomodations were amazingly much lower than here in DF. I paid 1500 pesos per month for a private room with private showers in a mansion. Movies were 25 pesos. Coffee was always no more than 14 pesos for americano. I paid 200 pesos for my diploma translation for immigration.
Every comida corrida was 25-28 pesos per luncheon meal, try to get anything for that price here in DF. I even found lunches for 20 pesos.

And as for cultural events, there is a free one every night. On Thursday through Sunday nights there are free films at the Olympico Cultural Center. They are all art films and period piece flics. Merida whas been voted the most culturally active city in the entire western hemisphere by no less than the Organization of American States within the past 12 years.
Not only do you get free flics but there are free choral ensembles, symphonies, ballets, etc. as well as traditional fare. Yes, every nite there is a free cultural event and on several each week there is more than one free cultural event to choose from.

And if you choose to go to the other art film showings a block from the zocalo you only pay 35 pesos per viewing. Each month is a diffferent director, Pasolino, Truffaut, Hitchcock, etc. etc.

I paid 9 pesos a kilo for tomates out of season. Tunafish was 6 pesos a can. My favorite sports bar charged 25 pesos for Negro Medelo which included three plates of bonitas. Live music was free. There was no cover charge. That price was standard throughout the city.

I paid 125 pesos for guayaberras. They begin at 275 here in DF, even in the zocalo area where the prices for them are the lowest. 900 pesos for running shoes in Merida, unheard of. Tourist t-shirts with artistic pictures of toucans, jaguars, and leopards were 20 pesos apiece. And most clothing shops you can negotiate prices down further. I`ve lost my negotiating skills here in DF. That clientele ploy is not available here.

A complete fish dinner was only 45 pesos.

The hotel rates are the lowest in the country for a tourist city. Check out lonely planet`s take on Merida. They will back me up on that claim.

I could go on and on.

[MO39]

Actually, my friend in Merida is a he. And I won't get into an argument about the comparative cost-of-living in Merida and the DF, since I haven't been in the former since 1980. However, my informant did write that prices have gone up quite a bit in Merida since you were living there.

[Guy Courchesne]

I wonder if those prices are a bit out of date considering inflation. Every city I've been to over the last 2 years (not Merida though) has had slightly higher prices than DF, except for rent. I find restaurants in Guadalajara, Puebla, Taxco, Acapulco, Morelia, and even small town Chiapas were about 10-25% more costly.

Then again, you find all kinds of things in different places. Seafood will always be cheaper on the coasts, and consumer goods always cheaper in larger cities. Locally produced items will be cheapest locally. It's a simple matter of supply, demand, and distribution.

Comida corrida here in DF runs between 30 and 50 pesos...depends a lot on where you are in the city. I've seen 25 peso meals out in the east end of town, but I rarely get out there.

[geaaronson]

Inflation has struck Merida big time since you lived here. If you can still find a steak dinner for $200 pesos in Merida, you'd have to run down the cow yourself. Cheapest tortas you're going to find run between $18 and $23 pesos. Admission to movie theaters = $53 pesos . . . although on Wednesdays only $33 if you get there before 5:30. Tunafish $12.50 to $16 pesos per can. Except for free entertainment and bus fare, most of your prices are WAY OFF in your recent post on Dave's.


the above email was just sent to me by our mutual friend in Merida

Youre absolutely correct MO39. I left Merida in March of 2007. the prices I mentioned were prevalent then. Since then, as noted by perhaps the same e-friend, there has been rampant inflation in Merida. Wow! Tout ca change, tout cest la meme is an exception in Mexicos south.