Job Discussion Forums

[kclaib]

I am a US citizen in my early fifties, still strong and open to adventure. I have a successful thirty year career in Systems and Network Engineering. I have excellent language and presentation skills, and I have experience as a volunteer teacher of English to immigrants as well as corporate training skills. I am told I am a good teacher, and my family has produced several career teachers, my mother and grandmother among them. However, since I came up through the ranks, I never completed a four year degree.

I am interested in teaching for a number of reasons, and I am particularly interested in Russia and the Slavic CIS states, since as an Orthodox Christian I have a common interest with the people and culture.

To compensate for my missing degree, my thought was to obtain the best possible certification and training (CELTA) and obtain an entry level teaching job. I do not need to live/work in Moscow or St Petersburg, for my purposes a small city would probably be better. I want this endeavor to be self-supporting, so I would need to earn enough to sustain myself at a modest level wherever I end up.

My questions to the forum are:
1) Given the necessary level of effort, do I have a reasonable chance of obtaining decent employment in the area?
2) Which schools should I be looking at to obtain my goal? BKC seems like an obvious choice, but they seem Moscow-centric. Who else should I be looking at?

Thank you in advance for your help.

KC

[VladJR87]

McSchools are likely to be your best way in. BKC-IH CELTA is in Moscow, but I believe they have schools all over the country.

I would think with a CELTA in hand you would be okay without a bachelors. But I am not really sure, your age may also come into play in Russia- but I do not really know.

Hopefully someone will have more helpful answers .

[smithrn1983]

Lack of a degree may be a hindrance to some schools in the region, though definitely not all of them. I've taught in the region before, and have known a few teachers, both there and elsewhere, who were teaching without university degrees. Your experience as an engineer should more than make up for it, and I would highlight that on a resume.

However, given that you've worked in that field for thirty years, be prepared to make a strong case for why you want to become a teacher, and yes, getting a CELTA will definitely improve your chances of finding work in the region.

I've heard good things about the CELTA program at BKC-IH, and doing your training in the region where you want to teach is an advantage. Send out your resume while you're on the course, and try to make a few connections. Most of the jobs teaching English in Russia are in or around Moscow simply because that's where the demand is. That's not to say you can't find work in other places, but you do usually have to be there to land a job.

[jnanagirl]

From what I have determined by reading posts on this forum, I don't believe that your age will present a problem when it comes to teaching in Russia. There have been other posters who have started teaching careers in Russia over the age of 50.

[kazachka]

We have several teachers in their 50s where I work. OTOH if you are applying for a WORK visa, you need to submit an apostilled copy of your DEGREE now as of fall 2009.

[smithrn1983]

[coledavis]

I am going to raise the point about your being an 'Orthodox Christian'. Does this mean that you are a fundamentalist Christian, a strongly believing mainstream Christian or actually a member of an Orthodox church (i.e. Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, etc)? Do note that the main religion in Russia is the Russian Orthodox church and that the authorities do not take kindly to people coming over as teachers and trying to preach other versions of Christianity. If this is your idea, I would ask you to think again. Both of my employers in Siberia made it very clear to me that parents were worried about indoctination by western religious people.

[VladJR87]

[kclaib]

[VladJR87]

[kazachka]

[kazachka]

[kazachka]

[JohnLars]

---You now need an apostilled copy of your degree to apply for a work visa. THis went into effect late in 09 and I had to get my degree apostilled in the US on my last trip to renew my work visa---



I was under the impression that a degree was not required to obtain a work visa in Russia.


Are you referring to a college degree or just a copy of CELTA?

I truly hope a college degree is not required.. otherwise I'll have to make some serious changes to my plans here.


Thanks

[smithrn1983]