Job Discussion Forums

[anospi]

I was all set to return to Wroclaw in three weeks. Back to my old school, old flat, the misses, everything was set. Then I find out thanks to "the financial crisis" companies are pulling contracts and there is no longer a job for me at my old school.

Is this happening elsewhere in Wroclaw? Poland? What are my chances of finding full time work in Wroclaw if I hit the streets middle of Feb? I'm fully qualified, CELTA, MA TESOL, looking to net a minimum of 4000zl/month. Or am I better hanging tight in my cushy job at a uni in Aus for a couple more months?

[lundjstuart]

wait out the storm!
I lost a class because they fired my student!

[dynow]

crisis shmisis.

i don't have a CELTA, an MA TESOL.......and I could get 5 schools to hire me by next tuesday.

the other friends I have here, they work for multiple schools, and they have to routinely turn down work.

sure, my school as well made some cutbacks recently, had to tell a few part timers they should look elsewhere for work, but that doesn't mean that they can't simply go somewhere else.

if you ask me, if you're a native speaker, especially with all your fancy credentials to flash around, if Wroclaw is what you want, don't hesitate to come out here. better to come now then in say April/May when schools won't be looking at all to hire new teachers.

to say "wait out the storm" would be silly. this financial crisis is not going anywhere for a long time. if anything, come here and get a job now before it gets worse.

not to mention, once you get a job here..........in my experience, if you're a native and do even a decent job with the school, they will keep you on. i know countless schools out here without a single native speaker to their name, and if they do, it's 1, maybe 2. natives are still hard to come by in Poland, regardless what others may say.

[anospi]

This is interesting. Because it sounds completely different from my experience in Wroclaw. Despite my qualifications and experience, most DOSs seemed to treat me with suspicion, and either helped me out the door or offered me a couple of hours at a pittance. In the end I settled for less than what I thought I was worth (3000-3500zl/month net), simply because there was nothing else.

Furthermore, despite working my arse off, doing extra classes at the drop of a hat, even doing triple shifts and never complaining, my boss has said there's no work for me.

I also found a number of schools/businesses/students preferred Polish natives. I guess it was easier for them to listen to a couple of lectures in Polish about English grammar, then do some exercises from Murphy. I never figured this one out.

So you can see, I don't have particularly pleasant memories from teaching in Wroclaw.

If you know people who have to turn down work, I'd be very interested to know which schools they work with. Or are they doing privates or business classes on their own?

I want to come back because of my girlfriend. But I'm worried I'll have trouble scraping together enough hours to pay the rent and bills. With my current creds, I'd be hoping for a minimum of 4000zl/month. If you think this is possible to achieve in Wroclaw as of Feb, I'd love to know how!

[lundjstuart]

In order to do it, negotiate with the school that your interviewing at. Your bottom line is 4k net, ask for 5.5k net and come down but be hard with them!

The students that want Polish teachers are the ones that write great and can read very well in English but they don't understand anything when you speak to them and they are unable to communicate back to you. From my experience it's usually like that!

[dynow]

[PhilDuval]

Try Empik and Speak Up schools. They are part of the same company. Empik is traditional CELTA style, Speak Up is some mental multi-media place where you just have to photocopy the class materials and deliver them. That said the staff at Speak Up were a lovely bunch of people and the DOS is really kind. The DOS at Empik is not a particularly pleasant person and the manager even less so but the students are generally really nice. There are no supplementary materials at Empik and they generally leave the teachers to it. But the money is ok and they always wanted me to teach more hours - both at the school and in-company.

Empik has a Winter break the last two weeks in January. Speak Up works all year round.

I also got offered work at Profi-Lingua and Lektor. The DOS at Prof Lingua seemed nice, not so reliable at Lektor.

I found that all the schools play their cards close to their chest and for a while I didnt think I would find anything. They did seem a bit suspicious of native teachers. But this was in August - the quietest period. Once the academic year started I was innundated.

And yes the vast majority of teachers in the city are Polish (with the exception of IH which has a very good reputation). These locals have MA's in Philology and yet they get half the rate the natives get. Bit shit really.

I left Wroclaw with a very positive impression of the average Polish person but a shit impression of how they do business.

All the best