Job Discussion Forums

longdistancewalker · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 12

Hi,

Anyone know if (any?) schools pay airfare for incoming pre-hired teachers?

Is it better to work for a public or private school in Hanoi? (for saving money and job stability). I've heard conflicting information.

Is it common for schools to pay airfare for exiting teachers who completed their contact? Are there standard loopholes or requirements to this? and is it common for schools to pay for the exiting teacher to fly where ever they want? I believe the latter part about flying is true for Korea and Japan.

Can work permits be obtained prior to leaving for Vietnam? And what is the deal regarding work permits? Are they becoming necessary in Hanoi?

I hold a BA in English Lit, am TESOL certified, mid 30's, have no experience teaching.

Thanks very much.

Mattingly · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 249

Mattingly · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 249

longdistancewalker · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 12

Thank you for your answers. I expect to arrive either the end of May or the end of August.

regarding your answer to my question 'is it better to teach in public or private schools?'

for saving money, so, who pays more? and which outfit tends (?) to have stability?

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

I have seen this kind of question in the past from time to time. When reading this, I often try to think of an analogy. The "deck chairs on the Titanic" one comes to mind, I am sure there are more appropriate ones. My reaction is that most of these questions ignore the basics of life and work here, and lead me to wonder if the poster is about to make a decision based on factors that are very secondary in nature. If you read this board enough, you will get a pretty good feel for working and living here for the expat. Additionally, the original questions are already answered out there, with some of those answers helping to lead to other more important questions. Whenever discussing this kind of thing with serious people, I always suggest that if they want to get advice, first they must openly state their real goals for coming to VN. One may want to teach here in order to achieve other personal goals, and I think that is the best scenario. If wanting to teach here for helping the people, or earning maximum income, you may find yourself disappointed. The same might be said for experiencing the culture, or visiting interesting historical or nature sites. I think it is a mistake to come here "all in", planning on working here sight unseen. If you are free to flit around from country to country, fine, if you are making a stand here, you really need more background information, which is best achieved by being here a while. Asking the kinds of questions you are asking leads one to believe you are going to make a decision based on things that are going to be of very small importance to you later.

Mattingly · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 249

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

Hi longdistancewalker, please note that I can only speak for Ho Chi Minh City. I hear Ha Noi is a little more expensive, however some schools compensate by paying you more there.

Receiving paid flights is very rare, but does exist. I worked for POLY School (a fairly big chain of schools in Korea) in Ho Chi Minh City. They offered me a return flight upon completion of contract, and I heard other teachers had incoming and outgoing flights paid for by the school. I haven't heard of any other schools offering this incentive there, though.

The mill schools (ILA, Apollo, VUS, etc.) receive a lot of flak on here, however I'd recommend starting out at one of these schools. My experience was with ILA. They don't pay the best, but they offer support in lesson planning which was very useful, in addition to some nice perks like airport pick-up, first week in a hotel taken care of (my hotel was their choice, not the nicest, but still nice to know it's taken care of for you while you're grappling with jet lag), and a relocation allowance amongst others. They're a bigger school, so they're more likely to give you stability, however nothing is certain. By the end of my contract, I was definitely ready to move on from ILA, but now that the dust has settled, I have to say it was overall a good first experience. I'm even considering returning to it to get my DELTA. A word to the wise: they offer 9, 10, 11 and 12 month full-time contracts. I've heard from others this wasn't mentioned to other teachers that were interviewed, probably because they want a teacher to stay for as long as possible. I would suggest a 9 month contract: it's a good way to get your feet wet and hopefully not suffer the burnout that some end up having.

Otherwise, I support Mattingly's advice as it's how I remember things. You won't make great money starting out (around $1500 a month), but that should afford you a nice standard of living in Viet Nam. Once you start getting a better feel for how the industry works, you can figure out where to go from there, e.g., young learners vs. adults.

Best of luck!

Beautiful Loser · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 80

I remember pouring over these boards in 2008-09, looking for the information that would assure me that I'd be able to find a job and make a living in Vietnam. I've survived, thrived and even nose dived over the years.

I've been lucky enough to land a job within days of my arrival in both HCMC and Hanoi. Hanoi has been the strangest. I wasn't looking for a job, but the job found me. I'm sure that I could find another job in a short time, but don't care to, because I like teaching there.

Some teachers become spoiled to the point where most jobs that're available won't meet their expectations. I came across an internet posting earlier that was written by the teacher whom I'd replaced. It was an error filled, anger driven diatribe that made him sound crazy and greedy, the same words he'd used to describe management. He wrote, "I'm sure they'll never find another foreign teacher..." He was wrong! There's a teacher like that in almost every school. When the right person presents themselves, management/ownership will replace the unhappy teacher with their friendly new find who . I've replaced several unhappy teachers here and I've been the unhappy one who was "invited" to never come back. Talk about an ego busting nose dive! That became one of the lowest points of my career, as well as my life.

All of the schools that I've worked at would be considered bad, but I played the game, saved money (about $1000+ a month) and eventually moved on, using the money I'd saved to stay afloat. If I'm able to save money, anyone can. It depends on your ability to "go native" and how well you can budget, etc. Per capita earnings were about $1800 a year, the last time I checked. I usually make that much every month, if not more. It doesn't get much better than that, so if someone says "You can't save money in Vietnam." what they're really saying is "I can't save money in Vietnam.", for whatever reason.

If you're flexible and patient you'll find work. Keep your appearances up and be punctual, polite, and friendly at all times. I feel that it's best to keep smiling, even when confronted with something that defies your sense of logic.

I've had to live and learn, because I didn't have the aforementioned traits when I first arrived. I've gotten better over the years, because I had to, but some days are still a struggle. I have to keep in mind that I can't change the people, or the situation, most of the time, especially if I'm angry. If I'm friendly, however, I stand a much better chance of finding a solution to a problem, or my way out of something.

That's my 2 cents worth. There plenty of work in Hanoi, or one of the nearby provinces and you can save money, if you want to.

Good luck!

snollygoster · Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 478

Well said!
When the locals get you down, its always good to remember-"Wrong" and "Different" are not the same word.

Beautiful Loser · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 80

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

Weird, I posted a response a day ago, but don't see it now. Then I just got a notification that I was responded to, yet my post is still not there. Weird.

Beautiful Loser · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 80

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

That's the one! Well I'm glad that my 2 cents are visible to other people, must be something wonky going on with my computer. Thanks Beautiful Loser!

Beautiful Loser · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 80

Glad I could help. I have too much time on my hands, so I'm bored. There's also a few issues cropping up at school that are keeping me awake, but hopefully we can work through them.

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

Best of luck with those issues. I've been enjoying your posts here, I'd hate to hear bad things were coming to someone with such a positive attitude.