Job Discussion Forums

songsMagnolia · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

Hi there,

I'm returning to Montreal this fall, and am curious about the current range of teaching wages at private language schools. Is it difficult to find jobs that pay at least $20 an hour? I would also be interested in private tutoring and corporate teaching. Do you have private or corporate students? If so, what do you charge?

About me and my qualifications:

I am a Canadian citizen with a degree (unrelated to English teaching) and a CELTA. I have two years of experience teaching in Korea and Vietnam. I'm currently teaching a mixture of teenagers and corporate classes in Vietnam; a combination I enjoy.

I'm returning to Montreal in September to begin studying part time for my M.A, but will need to work part time while I'm studying - probably no more than 10-15 hours a week. I really enjoy teaching and would much rather teach part time than say, work in a restaurant, but I don't want to starve! Smile

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated!

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

I'm not in Montreal yet but I've been doing a lot of research. In your position, I'd recommend offering private lessons to local students, or even elementary students. I had no problem charging that rate for university students and getting 10-15 hours minimum in Vancouver. If you are going to McGill, then you might want to try advertising at the francophone universities.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

I had overwhelming success charging $20/hour to meet with international students to proofread their papers with them, explaining why I was making the changes I did. I don't feel I ever crossed the line to revising or editing; all of the students just wanted their ideas to be expressed correctly. I went online to find the rooms and buildings where either ESL classes were being taught or where the students were likely to be mainly international (engineering, petroleum stuff, computer science, etc.) and put up flyers all around those classrooms. My flyers were really eye-catching and clearly outlined my qualifications. Obviously they had little tear-off strips, with each strip listing my name and phone number along with a description of my services. I would also go around and circle/highlight grammatical errors on my competitors' posters. Wink

That was in Victoria, not Montreal, but I'm sure the situation isn't much different.

songsMagnolia · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

Thanks for the ideas! I would MUCH rather teach privately than work for another language school, so I'll make a nice poster and see if I get any bites. Great idea to offer editing services as well.

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

The only problem I experienced was too many bites!

Alex Makar · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 7

How much were you guys making per week? I'd really like to be in the 400-500 a week range. In Ontario, it's easy to make that much if you work in a LINC centre and teach 15-20 hours a week. @_@ ($30+ an hour)

I'm wondering if the LINC centres in Montreal offer English language training, or if they only offer French...

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

Alex Makar · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 7

Symphany · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 117

Alex Makar

This theory has not been researched, but I would imagine that the situation in Quebec in regards to English teaching would be like that of the rest of the country in regards to French teaching. Basically speaking, -- in Quebec English is the second language and is taught in schools from K-12 and there is generally a lot of demand afterwards (for classes), from those we didn't get to the first time around. Just looking at Websites like workopolis www.workopolis.com and Monster I've seen a few job postings from private language schools and some colleges and universities that need English teachers to teach adults English as a Second language. The impression I also got was that the teaching is aimed at Francophone Canadian speakers.

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

timothypfox · Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 492

I worked in montreal some 5 or 6 years ago. And compared to my work experiences in japan and in new york city where I live now - it was harder to find work. I remember trying to send resumes ahead of time before I moved, but this had little effect. I think it took me about 2 months of actually being there to land a reasonable job.

Another point - language schools I worked for there seemed caught up with a particular method or adminstrators micro-managing staff. For this reason, the private route may seem berst.

Also, and I don't mean this in a bad way - but try to get an employer who is a native english speaker (although they may be bilingual). There is a lot of antagonism between anglophones and francophones in quebec and working for an anglophone employer can only work in yourt favor (I speak from experience here)

Best of luck to you

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

the British Council is in Montreal. Do they hire Canadians (or Americans)?

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

Any updates about Montreal from anyone?

I recently made a few calls to the south shore area and it turns out that the CEGEP at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Brossard is looking for English instructors. Any other news?