Job Discussion Forums

[Brighton Blade]

Hello!

I'm rather new to this forum, have been half-lurking for a couple of months but decided to join the forum to ask for some advice and maybe participate in some threads in the future.

I'm a fresh-faced teacher, recently completing a degree in Language and Literature and as of last month completed the Celta course at International House (not in Russia). Essentially qualified to the nines without taking a teaching job, yet! I've had to return to the UK to finish off some business but I'm available to begin my adventure in a TEFL career from January 2011.

So the dream has been for quite some time to teach in Moscow. I'm a borderline Slavophile (certainly one in production) and I was initially hoping to jump over to IH Moscow for their nine month contract. After serious reconsiderations influenced through a google binge, I think it's more than clear that this wouldn't be a wise choice and would result in a metaphorical soul rape. The question being (although I know you guys aren't ones for giving away places to apply for) is there such a true thing as a 'safe' school in Moscow? Can I spend a year or more in Moscow without feeling completely destroyed and spending the remainder of my life in desolation?

All replies will be completely welcome. I'll be travelling for the next three weeks (from ten minutes time...No time for proof reading, sorry!) so replies maybe stagnant but everything will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Houston]

For every school in Moscow that hires teachers with no experience, there will be some people with bad things to say about it.

Teaching in Russia is what you make of it. Some people have bad luck or get in bad situations, but the vast majority of teachers do fine here, provided that they are moving to Russia with realistic expectations. I haven't been in Moscow long, but I've talked to quite a few teachers on the ground, and they're all doing fine.

It's a beautiful city full of beautiful people, and it's very easy to enjoy life here, even you are working for a so called "mcschool".

[VladJR87]

Through my research there does not really seem to be any alternative to the McSchool route. However, it really makes sense if you think about it. Not many institutions that meet a standard Western ideal are going to hire someone with such little interaction.

In other words, you cannot expect a great job from someone who will not get the opportunity to meet you prior to hiring.

I suspect you and I saw a lot of the same information, but came to different conclusions. I have no dreams that I will show up at BKC and be a wealthy man eating caviar for lunch... but I am not real worried that I am going to show up and be stuck in squalor unable to buy a warm meal either.

For the record, I am set to do the CELTA program with BKC in January, and am still at this stage just hoping for a job offer .

[Sashadroogie]

No real route around the indentured servitude that is the McSchool system. Call it paying your dues, and move out on your own and make real cash. With local knowledge and contacts you can look forward to pulling in 4000 a month. But this will never be the case with McSchools, so don't kill yourself for them.

Learn the ropes, then set up on your own, if you plan to be here long-term. If only for a short stint, throw your lot in with BKC, but be warned that they don't care if you live or die, so don't depend on 'em for anything. The city is full of beautiful people, true, but also seriously badass criminal types, some wearing policemen's uniforms, so don't be too naive.

BTW you can eat caviar cheaply in cafes like Shokoladnitsa. Not great quality, but hey, it's caviar!

[mayumi_kaneyuki]

To be objective I've made a research of what people write about BKC-IH Moscow in internet.
I think, you can spend a year or more in Moscow feeling completely OK

"I think it is fair to say that for me at least, BKC-IH was quite a career rocket. In other words, there are many opportunities for teachers in Russia. I am not saying, of course, that every teacher who goes here will have the same positive experience. Indeed, many teachers at BKC and the other language schools do not enjoy their time in Moscow and seem to start counting down the days until the end of their contract almost from the day they arrive. In general, teachers who feel like this are new to teaching and to living abroad. Perhaps they arrive with unrealistic expectations of what teaching life is like."
Phillip Donnelly
http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?theme=mag&docid=145876

"BKC isn't as bad as people try to make it out to be. You don't get to be picky when you're first breaking into the ESL business.
They provide a lot of support for people who are new to Russia, which is more important than you think. Russia is not Western Europe, something you will learn very quickly once you hit the ground here."
Houston
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=84589&sid=7eebe8926c4f854ef1ba0b9e94e30f9c

"I did two contracts with BKC, Sep 2006-June 2007 followed by March-Dec 2008. I had no big problems with the school on either occasion. They did what they said they would (paid me, housed me, visa-ed me); I did what I said I would (taught people English)."
Andymackem
http://www.expat.ru/forum/showthread.php?p=694816

"So for newbies, due to the fact that you have the advantage of having a telephone interview from your home country, and they are actually offering you an expensive package of accomadation, travel costs, visa and work permit, etc, only Language Link or BKC can look after you."
Bels
http://www.expat.ru/forum/showthread.php?p=694816

"Several teachers I know at BKC re-signed for another tour of duty this year"
Sandy Higgs
http://www.waytorussia.net/Expat/Teaching.html

"You will find the websites of some of the countrys biggest chain schools: for example BKC International and English First. These schools provide an easy entry into Russia for teachers who are new to the country or even to teaching itself."
http://www.unr.edu/tesol/RCclass/rus2.html

"To conclude, I can wholeheartedly say that I had a fantastic summer working for BKC-IH in Moscow. I would strongly recommend this for anyone who is qualified. However, I would add that potential teachers should not think of it as an extended holiday � you will have to work very hard. But if you come to Moscow with the correct frame of mind and try your best, then I�m certain that you�ll gain a huge amount from the experience. I know that I did!"
Martin Pope

[Sashadroogie]

The simple fact is that BKC specialises in newbie teachers that can be exploited with impunity. True they provide a gateway to Russia and they give you a flat, though quite dingy, and visa you up, as they are legally obliged to. But they pay you badly, renege on basic contract obligations when it suits them, and diddle you on taxes. And most of all, they'll have you working all hours at all ends of the city.

Most teachers do not sign up for a second contract - they go home again or they go freelance, inasmuch as you can these days. Teachers who are foolish enough to sign a second time with BKC are hoping to climb the greasy pole but are very often disappointed by the lack of real opportunity available there. The ADOS positions are a joke etc, the pay worse per hour than the rates for newbie teachers that ADOSes are supposed to be responsible for.

In short, you need to go with BKC to get a foothold in Russia in much the same way an economic migrant needs to deal with a human trafficker to get into Europe or the States. You may be lucky and have a great summer etc, but stay with them any longer at your own peril.... Best advice is to drop 'em as soon as, if you plan to stay in Russia longer term.

[Grenouille]

[Sashadroogie]

There was once a time in the dim and distant past when staff members of BKC were obliged to monitor comments on this forum (and sometimes lobby for their removal). Replies had to be sent out to the legion negative comments and I believe there were even high-level meetings devoted to this subject in HQ. Have we seen a return to the paranoia and disinformation strategies of the past? Seems so, with former members of Recruitment and happy employees taking a more active interest in the boards...

[Grenouille]

[Sashadroogie]

No, it wasn't directed at you. You are not an 'ex-recruitment' girl (as far as I know) nor have you been sending me weird PMs offering me 'souvenirs' from BKC upon their instruction. But scroll up the thread and you'll see that you aren't the only BKC contributor.

[Grenouille]

[Sashadroogie]

We can all rest assured now.

[VladJR87]

Keep in mind I have no experience with CELTA (aside from the fact that I am leaving in January for BKC's CELTA training program, so I went through the interviews and everything)... But I have been to Eastern Europe!

Anyway, I am going with the same attitude that served me so well last time, and I would highly recommend it. Have no expectations. Not because it will suck, but because no matter what your expectations are, your experience will be different. And unless things are 100% sparkley-better than your expectations, you will naturally be bummed out when reality sets in.

It is the same advice I have given to everyone I have spoken with that was bound for the same study program I participated in. The fact is everyone who had any complaints, was being inflexible.

With this, I fully expect to enjoy my time with BKC.

That being said, I knew very little about the program I went on last time. Imagine my shock when on orientation day upon arrival in Kyiv they started talking about the tour of Chornobyl ... I think I will do a little more preparation this time .

[Sashadroogie]

The CELTA course is BKC is fine. Well-run quality course. You need not have too many worries there. The trouble begins when you work for BKC.

Not having high expectations is sound advice. But surely you'd expect to be paid your hard-earned salary in a timely manner and to be paid all of it? Surely too, you'd expect your day off to be your day off and not have a little admin girl switch round your schedule imperiously and not even notify you until the morning of your supposed free day? Is it too high an expectation to be told what your classes are, when and where? How about taxes - wouldn't you like to know what has been mysteriously deducted and why? Paid holidays? What are these exactly, and should you have to work on them for free? Fixed contract date of completion? A good idea? Visas? Wouldn't you expect the company to honour their side of the bargain and actually get you the visa you need to legally work in Russia?

Is this really being inflexible? The law usually is...

[Dyadya Misha]

I was in your situation 5 years ago and went with BKC. It's a great place to meet fellow teachers and be eased into Moscow life. When you have a year of experience and all the contacts that go with that you can look for better pay, your own apartment, etc. I'd recommend going with a 'McSchool' like IH to start with though. It's not an easy place to start out.