Job Discussion Forums

[BananaLake]

Hello

I wonder if anyone could help me. I�ve tried to apply for a few teaching jobs in Hanoi with some of the big names I saw advertise on some websites (ILA, Apollo, Bell) but have had no luck. Someone told me about the newhanoian.com website but the vast majority of the jobs on there require some teaching experience � and that I don�t have.

Some of the people on my course were able to get a job in China fairly easily, without any previous teaching experience. I don�t know what to do, find a job in China get some experience and then try Vietnam or come out to Hanoi and start knocking on doors � what are my realistic chances of getting a decent job if I do that? Or can anyone suggest any schools I can try?

I can�t decide what to do - and so I thought I�d ask on here! I�d be very grateful if anyone could offer any advice!

About me � female, 26y.o, from the UK, psychology degree, CELTA, been working as a political assistant for the past three years and volunteering as a youth group leader for young people between the ages of 13 and 26. I�ve also had a few temping jobs while at Uni as a 1-on-1 classroom assistant in English classes (at local high schools).

Thanks

[mark_in_saigon]

You imply you are not in VN, but do not state it directly. If you come here, you can find work, but you may be disappointed in the number of hours, the conditions and the locations. If you apply from the west, you are not perceived as being ready to work. My personal suggestion for any and all is that if you have money and want to live here for some particular reason(s) that you already know VN will satisfy, VN is fine. If you want to use VN for income production, it is a lot shakier, especially if you have never been here and are not up to speed on the difficulties here. Your financial situation is the key. If you can afford to just hang out and take jobs that will work out for you, then you are fine. It does not cost much to live without work here, you can get by on $500 a month or so unless booze is a big part of your life. The natives make it on a lot less than that. I can't say much about China, for some of us it might be more likable, my take on it is that we are probably more appreciated and liked here in VN, and may find ourselves feeling more free in ways, but I just read about China, I never go, so this is mostly speculation. I do read that jobs are easy to get there, they are easy to get here also, but substantial jobs may be more difficult to get in VN.

[sigmoid]

[deadlift]

He said "get by", not "live comfortably".

[mark_in_saigon]

but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and comfort is rather the same concept. An average VN would feel VERY comfortable on $500 per month, considering the average national income is like 1/5th of that (or some crazy number like that). The average western expat is not comfortable without going out to places where he can consume alcohol, I expect that runs up the need on what is considered comfortable for most of us. $500 can keep you fed, housed, cooled and pay for your own transport (that is, a less expensive motorbike, not the so called "fashion" motorbikes). It can also give you a beer or two a nite in your own fridge. Most of the savings for the conservative is in housing ($250 per month is low, doable and livable, but it is not a large quarters), food (I just had a good lunch for half a buck, but if you go to the western type places, you can spend ANY amount you want) and transport ($300 will get you a decent bike, but will not impress anyone with its stylishness). The partying, well, the sky is the limit on that, honest to god it is. I know a guy who gave away more than the average lifetime income of a VN worker in one nite in an Asian bar setting. There is no limit to how much you can blow, and there is no limit to takers if you want to give it. It is my opinion that spending large amounts of money here does not dramatically improve the experience of life here, that is, once you have clean food, water, aircon and a safe room with a private bath. One could argue a bit more room in your housing setup would be nice. But I have found that you don't have to spend a lot of money to impress the natives, if you are educated and polite, conservative and solvent, they still are plenty impressed. If you are a drinker/smoker/carouser, they have seen plenty of that already, not sure spending a bunch of money will improve their opinions of you, it might just increase the size of the target on your back. I am not sure what impresses our fellow expats, but personally, I do not come here to seek out my own people, if that was terribly important to me, I would have never come over in the first place. I am actually comfortable spending a bit less than that, but as my funds are building up rather nicely, I will probably opt for a bit more expense in my housing budget and splurge some more on my motorbike hobby. Of course, flying back and forth is a huge expense for us, the more you do that, the more it throws the whole equation out of whack.