Job Discussion Forums

AdamLorts · Joined: 19 Mar 2010 Posts: 7 Location: Portland, OR

Hey,

So I had a Skype interview with a head member of Time2Talk English in Thailand, and I really liked him and everything we talked about made me not only excited about Thailand but also his teaching opportunities. I made a post earlier and people mentioned low wages at this school but I got to talk contract things so here's what I got from it-
note: This is not in contract form, I have not seen anything official yet. I really got a good vibe from him and there is a lot of openings to fill so that's why I'm acting assumptive.

First my mini-CV

-Bachelors Degree (non-teaching)
-Teaching Exp.
~6wk Summer Camp w/ High Schoolers
~6mo Volunteer with First Graders
~1yr Private tutor for college athletes in college
-NO TEFL CERTIFICATE OF ANY KIND

Some business experience, have lived in Europe before and i'm a 24 y.o. white male.

and his contract from the things i gathered -

-NO Airfare
-'Help' with Visa
-730-400pm required on-campus hours
-20hrs/week teaching, other hours are relaxed office hours
-High School, Private and/or Public (I stressed high school/private is best for me and he said it's wide open).
-Salay, 30k baht/month
-Rent stipend 3k baht/month

Here are the locations we talked about sorry if i butcher the names
-Nacon si Thammarat
-Chaya
-Surrathani
-Sawi

My questions are is this a good deal for me? I really liked the headmaster, he stressed that these were rural areas that I would be in. This means lower COL, but he said "you should enjoy the company of yourself during the week" I personally think I can be a really outgoing friendly guy and usually my thought is if you are the only foreigner in the whole town you usually come to almost celebrity status. Thailand also seems like if you have a scooter you can go somewhere awesome in an hour. Someone straighten out my noobness or I'm packing my bags. lol.

Gypsy King · Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 77

If you really wish to teach in Thailand for the experience and not the money than this job would be fine. Good luck! Smile

AdamLorts · Joined: 19 Mar 2010 Posts: 7 Location: Portland, OR

kingmalka · Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:29 pm Post subject:

I hate that you're required to be on campus for so many hours a day. It's basically a 40 hour job for 1000$/month in some cities I've never heard of before. Even though you only have 20 actual teaching hours, you're going to be spending a lot of time at the office with nothing to do, and for all you know it could be a sh*tty office with not many computers and/or good Internet.

This is basically the bottom of the barrel as far as job offers go. Now that you understand what the lower end of the spectrum is, you'll be able to judge other job offers a bit better. I'd highly recommend you continue contacting recruitment agencies and schools to see what other offers you can get. I promise you that whatever this guy says, these jobs will always be there Smile

Also, some recruiters/schools have a simple equation where they will add a certain amount of money to your wage if you have a TESL, certain amount if you have a masters, phD, 2 years of experience, etc. It might be worth it to just say you have a TESL degree and go pay 200$ to get one online.

Gypsy King · Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 77

With a 40 hour required work week including 20 + teaching hours with poor pay etc. Thais want you to be like a slave to their school. You will literally be stuck in an office surrounded by mostly Thai teachers who will gossip about you, talk down to you and treat you like a child. Office poliitcs Thai style is to slowly but surely make you as a farang feel inferior to them. Thais love to hold grudges and not speak to a farang in an office. If any one Thai teacher or administrator doesn't like you for anyreason (mostly personal) they will conspire to get rid of you in the office and/or school. The truth is that as a farang ESL teacher at a Thai government or private school you are disposable abd replaceable at any time. TIT! Smile

MaiPenRai · Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 390 Location: BKK

rostovru · Joined: 19 Mar 2009 Posts: 17

The salary is ok, and Time 2 Talk is decent.

I would say it's a good offer, and if you find something better once you're there, you can jump for it.

You're not going to have any problems. They say you should be there between those hours, but if you just play it by ear, you'll probably have quite a bit of free time that you won't need to be there.

That part of Thailand is beautiful.

I taught in Chumphon and never had a regret. You'll love your time there, and contrary to what people have said, 30k will be plenty to live on in those cities. You'll probably be able to go out for drinks whenever you want and save 8-10k baht a month.

MaiPenRai · Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 390 Location: BKK

kingmalka · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 3:12 am Post subject:

OP, update!?

NigerianWhisper · Joined: 21 Mar 2009 Posts: 176

I'm with MaiPenRai and Rostrovu on this one.

Geeeeez, no idea where Gypsy King has been working but his account is certainly not my experience. Not saying it does not happen but I think its unusual.

Schools I previously worked at were very good and the Thai teachers were generally very helpful.

As the above posters have said..........that salary should be fine in those areas.