Job Discussion Forums

[lovetoteach]

Does anybody know what Language Link Vietnam are like to work for? And are you guaranteed hours? They said to me that I'd be guaranteed 70 hours but that "most teachers get 90-100".

Also as they don't provide accommodation I'm wondering what the rent is per month in Hanoi? Also are there any other websites / companies where I could find relatively well paying jobs in Vietnam? I'm looking for at least 1500usd per month including accommodation

Thanks in advance

[someshine]

I'm going to do the video interview with them today or tomorrow. I'm hoping to ask them a lot of those questions directly if I get past the first interview.
Good luck!

[snollygoster]

I worked at Language link in Hanoi. When I was there they were honest, up front and pretty well run. They also quoted 70 hrs minimum but that was very quickly exceeded.
What they are like now, I can not say with any certainty.
Rents-depends what you are looking for- I rented a 4 story, 3 bedroom house not far from Language Link on Cat Linh St for $400 a month. That was considered quite a bargain at the time.

[teacherajarn]

Language Link also guaranteed me many hours. When I arrived in Vietnam, the story changed.

[kurtz]

Rent in Hanoi can be cheapish if you share, at least USD$150 or $350+ for your own place.

LLV will pay you for at least 70 hours after 2 months probation. 90-100 hours seems quite high, I wouldn't count on it. It depends on enrollments, sometimes they are high, sometimes low.

I wouldn't listen to a certain person who seems to have it in for Language Link, I daresay he was fired not so long ago......

[tefl peasant]

[lovetoteach]

Thanks everyone for info!

Someshine..did you get past the pre-recorded interview stage? I did mine yesterday haven't heard anything yet.

Kurtz..you said they'll apy for at least 70 hours after two months probation, do you mean you get 70 hours for first two months then it increases after that?

Also does anybody know what pay per hour they generally give? They said 19-24$ depending on experience. i wonder how experienced you must be to receive $24 per hour?

Generally is Vietnam a good country to go to save money or would I be better off going to South Korea or the UAE?

Thanks guys really appreciate it!

[tefl peasant]

[kurtz]

[generalgiap]

Regarding the so called reputable schools in Vietnam, ILA, Apollo, Language Link, ACET etc, there is no such thing as a probation period in the contract. Well, possibly but I have never heard of this and I suspect that this idea came from my previous post on another thread.

Contracts are as follows:

Some of the schools will guarantee you so many hours and at a particular hourly rate per month. In addition, there is generally a one month notice period. So if they guarantee 80 hours, 15usd per hour, then your monthly salary 1200usd at a min, and if you teach more than 80 hours, get an additional 15usd per hour. Some schools also pay 100% of the PIT and some will make you pay the PIT. All of this must be in the employment contract that you sign, if it is not, then you have no guarantees regarding the number of guaranteed hours/salary. A reputable school will follow the above contract. Verbal agreements, emails, etc etc are not contracts and mean nothing in a court of law in Vietnam and most countries. A reputable school will send you the contract by email or post, which they have already signed and chopped with the company seal.

If you sign a contract with only the hourly rate, one month notice period, but no guaranteed hours, you may have 10 or 100 hours per month and they can dismiss you at any point. How do they do that? They don't give you any more teaching hours and they take your current hours and give them to another teacher-you are sacked! However, the teacher can't leave at any time because they have to wait until the end of the month to get paid for the hours that they have taught unless they want to lose that money. Also most schools don't pay at the end of the month but the first week of the next month and some up to the tenth of the next month to try to prevent teachers from doing runners.

Reputable schools want the one month notice period because they don't want the teacher to quit at any time which can cause issues with their current classes students etc. In addition, they want to guarantee a monthly salary so the teacher is happy etc and a unhappy teacher like to cause problems in the classroom, teachers room, outside of the school etc etc.

If a school does not guarantee a salary that is a red flag that there may be issues with that school, not enough students, can sack you at any time, dishonesty, lack of capital etc.

I have a few friends who work at LL and the hourly rate is not 19-24 usd per hour according to them, much less, most teachers start at 15usd and rarely will a teacher be on 20 or more per hour. This is not from my personal experience but from others, it may or may not be correct.

Also, the school is losing a lot of its market share due to Mr G the GD, who I know quite well..

[inhanoi]

I have current information for you, and I concur with Kurz. I'm not sure where the doom and gloom talk comes from, they just moved into a brand new building which was constructed to their specifications (8 floors with a panoramic view of the city and Long Bien Bridge, large bright classrooms and a huge teachers room), giving them 3 large facilities around Hanoi. They also have a very busy external schools program and a separate corporate program. I think they employ about 100 teachers total.

As for the contract, based on my research they seem to offer one of the better wage/benefit packages in Hanoi. The base starting wage is indeed $19/hr (before taxes) and will be higher with experience. They pay for your Work Permit and visa, and provide basic health insurance. All new teachers are hired under a 2-month probation during which they are guaranteed to be paid for 50 hours/month (that goes up to 70 hrs/month after probation). Some of your teaching is observed during probation and you are required to observe other teachers. If you do not measure up, you can be let go at the end of probation, but they do try to work with teachers to bring them up to speed.

There's a 50 cent/hour raise after 6 months (don't scoff, that would pay your electric bill and lots of beer), an end of contract bonus, and another bonus if you renew your contract. Lots of annual leave and standard holidays. If you're hired from overseas you get a flight allowance.

Yes, if you are full time you will of course have to teach some children/teen classes, that's the only way to fill a schedule. But the students seem to be wonderful and there is a lot of support and teamwork among the staff and teachers. They encourage you to talk to their current teachers and to observe their classes.

[generalgiap]

Thanks for the information.

What is the notice period during the probation period?

Also based on your research, what does that mean? Are you currently working there or is this what someone told you concerning the contract details?


It's interesting that your post sounds like an advert for LL, not a single problem with the school? Greatest EFL school on the planet.

It's also interesting that this is your second post and that you recently became a member, a possibility that you may have other interests.

Quote from LL website

[inhanoi]

My goodness, I'm just trying to give the OP some information, I'm a bit taken aback by all this. If I did something to offend you then I apologize. Perhaps I don't understand the protocol.

[generalgiap]

Again, as I stated before, thank you for the information.

But if one is honest, you have written a nice ad for LL and includes a lot of details. However, according to your post, you got the info from doing some research not from working there.

In addition, it is not uncommon for a manager or an owner of a school to write positive aspects about their school on a thread that may have some negative comments etc about the school.

Furthermore, it is a red flag that every comment is positive and you recently joined the forum, most people would probably agree with that. Also, during your research, you must of come across something negative about the school.

I also have friends who work there and they have given me different information concerning the hourly rate etc. I also called it one of the reputable schools in Vietnam so that is an indication that it is one of the better schools to work for compared to the cowboy outfits.

Also, it is an important question about the notice period during the probation period, which is not standard in the EFL industry in Vietnam concerning reputable schools.



I hope your research project was more than their last ad.

[kurtz]