Job Discussion Forums

[B0RGNINE]

Hello all,

I have some questions about finding university work in Vietnam, but before I start, I just need to mention that I can't get the search function to work on my computer for some reason. I've tried three different browsers (Firefox, Chrome, and Explorer) and all I get is a blank white screen when I hit the search button. Anyone else have this problem? I'm assuming it's something going on with my computer. Anyway... just had to mention that before I have 10 people berate me for not knowing how to/being too lazy to perform a search.

I'm interested in working in Vietnam. I know there is work for English teachers there, but I'm more interested in teaching adults, and more specifically, doing university work.

About me (list-style to save time/space... I tend to be long-winded):

AGE/SEX/MARITAL -

36/male/single without children or dependants

EDUCATION -

MA (Curriculum and Instruction - TESL)
BA (English Lit.)


QUALIFICATIONS -

Colorado State Teaching License (Secondary English Language Arts)
Colorado State Professional Teaching Endorsement (TESL - Linguistically Diverse Education)

EXPERIENCE -

April 2010 � Present: teaching English conversation classes at a private language school Chiba, Japan

April 2009 � August 2009: Taught accredited English classes at a college in Kawasaki, Japan

January 2006 � August 2008: Taught English for Academic Purposes at a university Intensive English Program in Denver, Colorado, USA

July 1999 � July 2002: Was in the JET program as an ALT in Sapporo, Japan

PUBLICATIONS -

not published

-----------------
I'm currently trying to find a university position in the Tokyo area (because I speak Japanese, and have an established social circle - difficult to give up) but competition is really tight right now for uni positions, and I need to consider other options if things don't work out here.

My education and qualifications I know aren't bad, but there are a lot of people out there with similar quals but who have more experience than me. And I'm not published (I may start working on this soon, but even so, I doubt anything will be ready to include on my CV before the spring which is when my contract is up here in Japan). Unfortunately, the schooling for the teaching license, ESL endorsement and my MA wasn't cheap, and I have some hefty student loan debt in the States. I wouldn't be so concerned about money otherwise and would consider teaching anywhere I think I might be happy living regardless of how much I'd be paid, but under my current circumstances if I'm unable get a handle on this debt over the next couple of years, I'll be under it for a very very long time. It's rather a make or break situation for me at this point.

Considering the above, what kind of options do I have available for me in Vietnam? Under a realistic scenario, what can I expect to be paid, how much might I be able to save, and what kind of paid time off is offered?

Thank you everyone.

NOTE: you may see a modified version of this same posting on a couple of the other boards. Thanks for understanding.

[shanewarne]

Ah yes, you wanna work in Thailand. Well, you've come to the wrong place my friend .

[B0RGNINE]

[tefl peasant]

Uni in Vietnam tend to be unorganized and hap-hazard. Not ciriticizing or being negative, but that is the general experience, here. Older facilities.

You can find work, either at a Uni, or international school, I assume.

[JHat]

If you want a specific answer, I know the Ho Chi Minh International University is hiring English-teaching lecturers. It's the first publicly-funded international university in HCMC and opened just 6 years ago. I talked with the head of the English department and she let it slip that half of their English faculty must be 50% foreign. With your qualifications, you would be hired easily. The only catch is that it's in Thu Duc district, about an hour away from downtown. Here's their website if you're interested: http://www.hcmiu.edu.vn/deptofenglish/

[tefl peasant]

[tonyjones01]

[snollygoster]

Maybe some perspective is needed here:
A University in Vietnam probably equates to a High School in your home country- Although students study for 12 years before they come to Uni, the quality of what they learn at Uni is not much better than what a year 12 student learns in say, Australia.
I have seen with my own eyes how local establishments bring a foreign Uni on board to validate their program, then spoon feed the material to the students, priovide web addresses from which assignments can be plaguerized, and even give students names etc of people who will "ghost write" their assignments- mostly from copy and paste sources. I once asked a MBA graduate what a profit and loss account was and she had no idea, stating that she did not sit the exam herself, but had paod another to do it. She just wanted the "bit of paper".
So if you are coming to Vietnam with stars in your eyes about an honest Education system and your exhaulted place in that system- I suggest you think a bit lower down the scale.

Some specifics.

Saigon Tech at Go Vap is a new shining building with great facilities for the rich but academically challenged students whose parents are willing to pay for a Uni education that will be recognized by Houston Community College.
Facilities are good, but the program is far from what we might call "Academically challenging", and the people who are in charge are egomaniacs whose prime concern in life is fighting and point scoring against each other. Nice place to work if you can stay out of their childish bun fights and can swallow your pride and delude yourself that what you are teaching has academic merit. (A pass is 50% and if the student writes his/her name on the paper, a mark of 52% is awarded- get the message?)
Uni grad paper in return for payment of fees.

Hoa Sen, or Lotus University, in the city centre, often has vacancies for English Instructors. To say they are disorganized is to understate the case, I know ESL teachers who have torn out their hair working here, but as always in Vietnam, if you can ignore the fact that you are employed as an edutainer with dubious academic merit, and stay out of their very childish management techniques, with nerves of steel, you could survive.

RMIT has a Uni with campuses in the city and one way out in the southern outskirts- you'd need to live out there if you worked there.
I have not worked with RMIT, but I believe basically it is foreign (Australian) run, and therefore sets the bar a bit higher than Viet run Unis.

The Uni at Tu Duc- Forget it. As another poster says -its full of rats, cockies, birds nests in the class-rooms- broken equipment, rather dirty, and a hell of a long way from anywhere worthwhile- and the pay is commensurate with the quality of instructor they expect to attract.

SEAMEO in the city used to be a really good place to work- well organized, central, and runs kids, adult classes as well as some Uni programs. I have heard that it has gone down-hill over the last few years, but that may be just a rumour. Getting a job here is not as easy as at other "unis".

All that having been said, the Vietnam National University which has a campus in District 3, is in comparison, well run, and markets itself rather well. Quite a breath of fresh air actually, and certainly very unlike most Vietnam Unis. It IS a good place to work, and they DO care about genuine academic achievement.

Good luck!