Job Discussion Forums

[Gosta]

Hi,

Does anyone have any information about or experience of this school? Or about Tehuacan in general? Any information would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

[MELEE]

I've been to Tehuacan. It's two hours from where I live. What sort of information would you like to know?

Sorry I haven't heard of the school.

[Gosta]

Hi,

I was wondering what the place is like, climate/geography-wise, what there is to do there, any cool places nearby. I guess I basically want to know what it'd be like as a place to live and whether there'd be enough there to keep me occupied/interested.

Many thanks for your help

[MELEE]

Tehuacan is a SMALL city. It does have several large stores, even a Sam's Club (many people from my town go there regularly to shop). The climate is hot and dry, it is in the middle of a biosphere reserve that is home to many many endemic cactus species. There is a large amount of mineral mining in the area, including onix which is made into those beautiful chess sets you see for sale at every Mexican tourist destination. But most of the mining is for industrial purposes. There are also underground springs that produce mineral rich water, in fact the word for mineral water in Mexico used to be Agua de Tehuacan or simple un Tehuacan.
The center of town is very very cute, with a large zocalo filled with big trees and a tiled city hall building. There are some restuarnts and cafes around the arcos of the buildings facing the park, reminiscent of Oaxaca City. On the outskirts of town there are shopping centers and multicinemas, but it's certainly not a big city. However it's right on the Autopista(Interstate) Just about 90 minutes from Puebla City, which is Mexico's 5th largest, and 4 hours from Oaxaca City, a favorite among the tourists. It's also in easy distance to Orizaba and Cordoba in the state of Veracruz, and just a little bit further to Xalapa or Veracruz. So easy weekend trips are virtually endless.

[Gosta]

Wow, thanks for all the info! It certainly sounds like a pleasant place to live for a while, and a good base to check out other cities. How much do you think I'd need to earn a month to live there? My accommodation will be paid for.

[MELEE]

It's hard to say, because over the years I've found people have such different spending habits. If your accomodation is paid for, you only real expense would be food and transportation. If the accomodation is provided, I imagine it's near the school. So if you're able to walk to work that just leaves food and fun. Those are both pretty variable.
Is the salary hourly or monthly? How many hours will you teach? What about prep time? What is your experience and qualifications (in other words how much are you worth?)

If I have to give a figure, I think a take home of 4,000 a month would more than cover your food in a place like Tehuacan, but leave next to nothing to enjoy all those side trips. 6,000 would up the fun, 8,000 you'd probably be very very comfortable, but I personally wouldn't work for less than 10,000 a month any where, no matter what extras they gave me.
You'd probably pay about 2,000 pesos a month if you got your own accomodation incase you want to try to factor that into the package.

[Gosta]

The salary is $US300 a month, for 25 hours a week. I have an English degree and CELTA and one year's experience. Doesn't sounds like I'd have much left for 'fun' from what you've said.

[Guy Courchesne]

At the current exchange, that's about 4200 pesos...not a large amount, and if you're paying rent somewhere, you may be losing money rather than making it.

Those 25 hours per week..25 teaching hours or does that include prep and grading time? Sounds like it could be a lot of work.

[Samantha]

Gosta wrote:

[Gosta]

Well utilities are included, and the working week is Mon-Fri, so weekends would be free to travel, but obviously that would depend on whether I'd earn enough to do that. I am looking for a job to get me into the area, but I don't want to struggle financially.

[Samantha]

After Googling the name and reading all their ads, it seems they are offering a "voluntary" or "paid volunteer" positions for only a semester, with "a stipend of $300.00 USD". They have adopted what they might assume is a clever work-around of the Immigration laws. It's not legal. My advice would be, if you are going to be in Mexico for awhile, give them a miss and get hired by a school where you could apply for your FM3 and work legally. Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Let us know how it goes.

[Gosta]

Really? It hadn't occurred to me that it'd be illegal. Well thanks for the advice, I guess it's back to the job search.

[Dragonlady]

deleted

out of date

[Samantha]

This is not uncommon in the smaller centers which don't have Immigration offices nearby, but new teachers should recognise it for what it is. Unless "volunteer" teachers get FM3's in the appropriate category, this situation is not on the up-and-up with Immigration OR Hacienda. (A language school is a business). We see alot of missionary volunteers and foreign exchange students in this area, and they all require the appropriate FM3 to remain here legally since they are doing activities other than "tourist". Hope this helps.

[MELEE]

Gosta,

I with your qualifications, you could get a better job, but if you want to have something lined up before coming, that will be harder. You or someone could accept this job for one semester, then on the ground in Mexico you'd have a better idea of 1)what part of the country you want to live in and 2) want kinds of jobs and conditions are available. And plan on moving into a better job after your 6 months. You could even visit my town (just under 2 hours away) and apply with us for the following semester. We've been having a hard time attracting brits lately for some reason.
But I second what Sam says, this 1) may not be legal immigration wise, and 2, looks like a great job for a fresh uni grad who just wants some way to spend a semester in Mexico.