Job Discussion Forums

[john henry]

Hello,

I am looking for info on salary levels for ESL teachers in Vietnam, especially Hanoi. Would anyone be so kind as to share what the going rate is per contact hour? I know salary levels vary, but I am just trying to get a rough idea of the market rate.

Thanks for responding!

[BenE]

About $25 an hour is the starting rate now for a qualified teacher. (meaning one that can get a work permit)

The rates went up recently because of the crackdown.

[hot_rock]

$25 an hour is hardly the going rate. VUS in HCMC are starting those who have good demo lessons at $17 after tax. ILA $17.25 BEFORE tax. I have no idea on the specifics of other schools but i cannot believe anyone who works a decent number of hours (ie over 20) is getting that to start off with.

But please, prove me wrong! Anyone else got any opinions?

Perhaps Hanoi is very different from HCMC but really...?

[londo]

I can confirm $17 net is the going rate for 'new' teachers (with quals) or the remaining unqualified teachers. This usually rises with time and after WP issue. $25 is very high however, and usually only for those who have been here for some time, have a 'name' or have experience in specific areas such as IELTS, TOEFL, biz communications etc. However I do see a general increase in the offing with probably $20 being the base rate towards the end of the year.

[Mattingly]

[shanewarne]

I would say the average going rate for a beginner is between $15 and $17 in HCMC. That is based on my own experience and my friends. I dont believe anyone could jump in at $25.

[LettersAthruZ]

Ben E's correct.....

The work permit crackdown HAS had an upwards effect on Tay (foreign) Teacher salaries because a lot of us have thrown our hands up in the air and have said "Screw it!!! I've had enough!!" and just left. This has resulted in a shortage of qualified instructors.

A couple schools who either cannot pay or refuse to pay these new salaries are starting to go with Filipino English instructors......it's really thee funniest stuff to watch.

I work in a city in Central Viet Nam........have seen several colleagues flee because of the headache of GETTING a work permit and of hearing about how the Five-Oh are asking questions about them.

I freelance and do contract classes.....but I have an overloaded schedule and have NEVER had to take less than $22USD/hr. - 450,000VND/hr. in the past six months....

You have got to be gullible and naive if you're letting them start you below $18.....

[tin man]

I am in the USA and trying to find a decent sales job. If no go, I was going to take a teaching job in Hanoi but decided against it after reading this forum.

I read that it is a very polluted city with no fresh air.

Also, the school places the teacher on a lower probation salary for 3 months or 25% of the contract. It works out to below $17 for the contract teaching hours. If one takes into consideration lesson planning an so forth it could be half that.

[hot_rock]

i think Mattingly's correct; there's now way "average" salaries are that high, BenE. Nowhere near. Obviosly there will be a few jobs that (perhaps for good reason, btw) pay that high from the start but to talk about that being the norm is silly.

This is by no means at the top end of the wage scale, but if we're talking about norms and averages we really should look at what VUS are offering as our first point of call. I started 3 months ago, with a really good demo lesson, on $17 after tax. I know it was a good demo because, after them telling me that, two other guys got stated on just $16 (same qualifications), and a month later I know of another guy started on $15.

Whilst there will be many reading this with better jobs than ILA and VUS, there are a LOT of people with worse ones.

One crucial thing to note when talking of average salaries is tax; as I said, VUS is after tax, but I'm sure a lot of other people (including BenE in fairness) are probably quoting before tax figures.

To be honest I hardly think the work permit issue will be making wages increase too much as the western recession will be forcing so many more teachers over (combined with supposed lower numbers enrolled).

These are only my opinions based on admittedly meager (albeit recent) experience of finding a job. International schools clearly pay a good bit mroe but forget it without Master in teaching and experience. Like more of what is written on this or any forum it is based on very few solid 'facts', and instead basically on snippets of info from people probably as clueless as to the overall 'picture' as myself. One thing becoming clear to me recently is the urge everyone must have not to tell others about good jobs/job leads they've found etc; tending to focus on bad news. This probably makes us all think situations are worse than they are... I'm plased to see Ben E writing what he did, but like I say I fear it may be a bit optimisitc

[BenE]

Sorry I just go on what I hear from others. I'm on a higher rate though I've started to specialise in IELTS. I know when I started fresh with a CELTA I was on $18 an hour but that was when you could get a 6 month Visa for $100 with no need to show anything.

I think it depends which school you end up at. Some schools like ACET pay well here in Hanoi if you end up with them while many Vietnamese run institutions pay right down to $14 an hour for a native teacher. I once got an offer from London English from a 'friend' to work for $1000 a month on a 25 hour a week schedule. We didn't stay friends after that...

Good luck out here!

[vancouver_syndicate]

what's the lifestyle like at 18-20? can i live well and save some money?

[mrjonathan2000]

$25 is the going rate if you have contacts that can get you into the universities. But you'll be teacing 30 students and have to be experienced/qualified. And you don't have benefits.

Internatinal colleges pay about $20 per hour with benefits.

English centers - for most people who have little experience, qualifications, and do not consider ESL their career - will make $15-20 per hour. THe higher the pay, the more school expects from you. Remember that when you're thinking of wanting more.

CEFALT is a good government school/center that pays $15 per hour but it's not hassle and the easiest English lessons you'll every teach. Little prep time required, they have a comfortable first rate building and facilities, with snacks and teacher break rooms.

Universities many times require experience or a masters. They pay more, but they also are hot, sometimes inadequate facilities, more students per class, and the quality of teaching is expected to be high, despite the surrounding environment.

Colleges are the best way to go - int'l colleges have benefits, ins, and good pay. But jobs like these are hard to come by. I've been here for 3 years and have a MEd.... I just now got one.

[mrjonathan2000]

If you come here to work as an educator, you can do well. If you come here to work as a "teacher" for a while and save some money, save yourself and Vietnam the trouble and DON"T COME. You'd be better off getting a hard labor job in trucking/transportation or construction that pays $20-40 an hour and doing that for a few years.

I came here with no experience, no teaching degree, and $3000 to my name. Now I have a MEd, ESL cert, 3 years experience, a motorbike, a flat, and a wife. But to get where I am was the most diffifcult time of my life. I took the bus and walked everywhere, ate very little, lived in a small one room "apartment" in a Vietnamese family's house, wore the same shirt pants and tie, and went through several teaching jobs because I was a terrible teacher.

[blateson]

A note to people asking about ESL wages or salaries: when looking for information about the 'latest' or 'best' rates for esl wages, pretty much disregard what you hear on internet chat forums. If you do regard it, usually the lower to lower-mid ranges are more realistic.

A word of advice to general readers who haven't been in Asia yet, or for very long: this isn't meant as a degradation on anyone but, take it very lightly when you read others' stories about the 'great life' they are living overseas. First, these experiences vary to the extreme and that is no exaggeration. Second, if you were actually living the life they described you may not find it at all 'great' when you actually are there and see it. Third, what one person may think is a great life might not at all be another person's idea.

[blateson]