Job Discussion Forums

[jezebel76]

From reading past posts on this forum I've gathered that the school year in Argentina begins in March and therefore the best time to look for jobs is the end of February and beginning of March. However I am hoping to find work teaching adults (I'm planning to earn my CELTA in BsAs as well) and would be looking for work anywhere between the beginning of April through June.

Is there a season for finding work teaching adults as well? How difficult is it to find work teaching adults these days? Anyone willing to share experience or insight on the job hunt or the work of teaching adults please let me know.

Thank You!

[sammie08]

You won;t have any trouble teaching adults here in BA. Most work is done through "institutes" who hire you and then send you to various companies in the city. If you are lucky you'll get a full 6- or 8-hour day with back to back classes in the same office, but those harder to come by. You'll probably teach around 18-20 hours a week, 1 - 1.5 hours a class and have to travel between each class. Most jobs will be for professionals, some will be for college/high schoolers, very few will be for kids.
And April is a good time to come, it is when I came and when I sent out my resume, I got call-backs by that same afternoon and I ended up doing 15 interviews in 3 days! There is no shortage of work here, the only hard part is making enough to live off of or save, especially if you live alone, because the wages are crap (25 pesos/ hour... about $8us). (to give you an idea, I pay $400us for my room in an apt.)
The pay is pretty good by local standards but nothing by international rates.
good luck!

[che2007]

So it's possible to live there and not starve?? How much would you say is a good bet to bring down? i'm really worried about finding a place.... i guess looking in the papers, and online.. it should be pretty easy to find a place huh? so i guess for the first couple of weeks, a hostel isn't a bad ideA? let me know.. what do u do when u first arrive.. i need an Argentina ESL teacher guide for dummies.. STEP by STEP! hahah i'm going by myself.. so.. i need to know everything! i know you're probably just saying... ahhh just do it, but there are people that like things planned out! but i know it's impossible to plan everything and u just gotta do it. but u know.. haha
let me know.. any thoughts?

gracias!

[sammie08]

Yes, you can get by here working and not starve but you'll really have to work. The season does start around March/April. This was when I did my TEFL (with EBC International, highly recommended!). They sent out my resume at the end of the course and I had so many calls I just turned my phone off. I did 15 interviews the following monday, tues and wed. and decided to not do any more just out of exhaustion.

For the course, I lived in a hostel in San Telmo paying about $20US a day. I recommend this because they provide little extras like morning coffee and fruit and aren;t much more expensive than a nice apartment.

You can find tons of apt. listings on Craigslist but I found that I get much better results when I posted my own ad looking for an apartment or roommate. A whole apartment on your own will be prohibitively expensive... the problem is that as a foreigner, you can skip most of the hoops Argentines have to jump through (they have to get a "guarantor," which is someone who will pay up is the tenant skips out on their contract early, they have to pay months in advance, etc.) but you make up the difference in cash. Not SO much more, but more. Again, I paid 360 for a room in an apartment in San Telmo, and 400 for a room in a house in Palermo. It's generally the going rate for foreigners.

Like most of South America, schools will not recruit you from abroad. They want to see you face to face and they'll start sending you out to teach within the week they interview you. If you aren't careful, they'll dump 45+hours of classes on you fast and it's easy to get buried. Be confident and don't feel bad saying 'no.'

I taught about 18 hours a week and it paid about half my expenses. I do, however like to eat out a lot so that is a big chunk. I paid for my apartment with savings and paid for everyday things with what I earned.

I taught for three institutes: LV Studio, PLS and On Target.
LV was my favorite. They are very laid back, let you teach what and how you like, have no dress code, etc.
PLS, Professional Language Services was probably second for me because they still let me do what I wanted, they just have a little more paperwork to fill out at the end of the month.
OT was a good school to work for in that they planned pretty much everything out for you. They have lots of home made material to use and they pretty much assign stuff to use in a linear fashion, complete with audio and videos and stuff.

LV and PLS paid me $25 pesos an hour while OT paid 23. 25 is pretty much the minimum you should ever accept as a qualified (BA plus TEFL/CELTA) teacher. I once got offered 8 pesos an hour which is absolutely laughable. Some schools will offer closer to 35 but will often have more hoops for you to jump through. I hear IHouse pays 35.

You will not need a work visa. Nobody requires this and nobody cares. Come on a tourist visa and just renew it every 3 months for about $100. Argentina is changing their entry requirements for Americans in 2009 and I do not know exactly what the new regs. are. They are not posted on the Argentine embassy site and the US State Dept doesn;t have updated info, either. In either case, you'll not need a work visa.

Some schools will want you to get a tax number, though. You can do this if you want but it is not necessary at all. I opted out and as a result, gave up a $35/hour job. The bureaucracy is ridiculous down here and I choose to avoid it if at all possible.

I hope this helps you feel more sure about your next steps!

[sammie08]

Oh yeah, and if you do a CELTA here, your school should have a huge list of institutes to help you out. Remember, there is no shortage of work here!

[che2007]

Hey Sammie!!

Are you still here in Buenos Aires??? I'm here and looking for work... it's been slow, .. I got here a little too early and have been going crazy.. i also had a few interviews already.. you're right there is no shortage of work here..

let me know..