Job Discussion Forums

[chuckd74]

I have also worked in Moscow, for Inlingua specifically--
back in 2006 , 1Qtr- before i took a job in Saudi Arabia

(I dont care about my spellign here, i think fasta nd i type fast-

i think this is more important to get the truth out there in a quick/decnt way than spend an hour checking everythign, and if you dont agree- fine, i dont care)

I know Tatiana as well- she is not to eb trusted, she is a consumate sales lady, she is a little bi-polar, and an extreme control freak

as with most schools, the owners/bosses are problem, the teachers and stusndets were great- the admin was very cool as well

my experience was less than impressive

the business is owned by a weird son and mother in law team (I think Tatiana is the mother in law)

the facts are:

a) they lied about housing, hours, classes- they promsied help with housing, a $2k salaryat 30 hours a week, help with visa- via email

when i got there, there was no housing, no classes and no expesne reimbursement

i was not at a hotel (as promised via email), i was at ladys' apartment, (good news is she was very nice, she even loaned me $500 to rent an apartment when the school would do what they said they would)

then i was told, if i didnt find an apt in 7 days, I have to start paying rent at the lady's hosue, $30 a day for a tiny room

then i was told to find my own apt, and they'd help with the initla payment- only to find out this was pending Tatians's approval-

so, she vetoed everythign, and she even balked on paying the rental agents standrd 1 month finders fee, again as was promsied in email

this got so bad that the russian guy who worked at teh school part tiem was getting pissed as he had to escort me for 6 days to view all these damn apartment in the Moscow cold

mahn- those were long days


anyway, they made it very clear email is not a contract, and they said so themselves

**make sure you get a contract, sioned, in writign before arriving- period. standard EFL practice, unfortunately**

in the end, they wanted to make a cash settlement for much less than was what thigns should have been- but, they basiclaly paid for th hours i worked, so I will chalk all of them up to a learning expericne or a very expensive vacation in Moscow

furhter more, facts about Inlingua

b) they seem to be making a lot of money there

c) their office is much nicer than alsmot all others (i visited 3 other operations, all were half assed- IPT was good, but they are kinda selfish, but they should be, that i what "the biz" is about, da?)

d) Inliingua pays higher than other groups- stnatd is $12-15, ING pays @ $17-20, if you do your own- look for 25Euros (!!!), minimum

e) they just called me one day and said, "eh, we dont have the full time housr to warrant your monthyl salary, so we are voiding our agreemnt- still no contract



and this was a month after i just put a huge deposit on a place to rent, by myself

all these negatives aside, I LOVED MOSCOW- and I love the Russians, they are great people- very trust worthy AFTER you make a solid friend ship, not before


just be careufl who you do business with, and dont trust anyone

if their lips are moving, they are probably lying
and, a written contract doesn't mean jack- it is only paper

good luck finding an attornery to help you, ha


good luck

[chuckd74]

oh, PS

RENT WAS THE BIG PROBLEM

very very expensive, far from teh center, they want x3 months in cahs up front (simialr to Beijing/NYC), and standard practice is hirng an agent, and they get one month's rent as well as a finders fee

and this was 2 years agao, my guess is thigns are more expensive

everythign else is rather inexpensive, if you dont party every night

this is not Korea- free apt, high cash, month bonuses

[andidance3]

wow, thanks for all the info. i guess i should be glad i didn't show up - it's so hard to believe that people who seem so nice would be so deceitful.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[chuckd74]

so, I ahve taken 3 days off to do some real life stuff and what do I see, every where when I return

2 very sepcific blogs, goign around and posting nasty blosg about me

why, b/c I caught them lying

simple

and- read my post, then read the other guys post-

he simply confirms my factual statement


then read mr. nasty's post- no fact, no validity, just negativity


pls feel free to draw your own conclusion- I am not goona wate time having a childish arguement in cyber spce, I live in the real world


but, this does bring a giood point either way-

no matter who the post is from, everyone should be careful b/c everything here is simply rumor mill- there is no real way to confirm any statement unelss you investigate personally


the hope is, if enough people all say teh same thing, then you ill learn the general trend- simple

best policy is use your brain, ignore most negativity about individuals, but when more than 3 people say negative things about an institution, be warned

good luck

[maruss]

In this case,I would consider the allegations made against them to be true as several other past employees of theirs will corroborate them!

[hHold]

Hi all

has anyone worked with Inlingua Moscow more recently? I have just been contacted for a position there by the DOS one Anastasia Smirnova.
She claims the school provides up to RUB 15000 accommodation allowance a month. How helpful is that in Moscow which am told is quite expensive?

Ta

[maruss]

Is about half of the amount you would need to rent the cheapest appartment in a suburb of Moscow-IF you can find one without paying two months rent up-front ,plus an agency fee-yes,tenants are also expected to pay commission in Russia,not just landlords!The other problem is whether your landlord will agree to register you at his address for visa purposes,unless your employer can arrange this for you,which saves a lot of hassle!Also factor in where you will be working in comparison to where you live because of the travelling time and work schedules,especially with winter on the way!
I have no up-to date info. about In Lingua though,unfortunately or seen them advertising for quite a long time so all I can say is to consider the latest postings about them on this site,which are not very encouraging,despite their rather prestigious address and seemingly friendly attitude when I went to them in January 2006........