Job Discussion Forums

[CelesteCielos]

Anyone?
Anyone out there with no degree but still making ends meet? If so, how hard was it to find your current job and what do you think helped you bag it? Your smile? Your wit? Your CELTA cert.?

[naturegirl321]

Not me personally, but I know plenty of peopel who do. It's easy to make ends meet if you live like the locals, for example, in Peru minimum SALARY (not wage, but salary!) is about $200 a month. Most English teachers make triple that. Which sounds like a lot, but basically that's like saying you make triple what peopel at McDonald's do.

Let us know about you. Are you older with experience? Ran your own business?, etc? Or are you straight out of high school?

If you the former, you can get jobs more easily if you're the latter.

[CelesteCielos]

Hi NG,
By the way, I love your TEFL TIPS! I follow your blog daily and it's been a great treasure trove of info for us newbies.
Here are my stats. Maybe you and others can give me an idea of what I can expect to make out there, if anything. And based on this, approx how long will it take me to find a job.

I'm a 34 yr old (black) female here in NC, USA.
I am a high-school grad (one semester of beauty-school that I took at a local college I'm sure doesn't count for diddly)
I started working in a pre-school professionally at age 16 and did so for about six years.
Thirteen years ago, I taught third grade learning disabled students at a public school for one school year.
For the past six years I have worked as a nanny for elementary-aged kids and have made up my own lesson plans and help them with homework/tests.
I have a ten year old daughter that I have home-schooled for three years, which I can show I'm "registered" to do as well as her excellent test scores that hopefully show I'm a decent teacher.
The girl I nanny now has Downe Syndrome and I help her a lot with her speaking skills.
I have no TEFL certificate, but am saving $ to take a CELTA at Southern Cross next spring, unless you posters advise not to.
I'm not new to traveling or being accepting of other cultures.
I lived in Otavalo, Cotacachi, & Intag, Ecuador for a year volunteering helping my neighbors learn English in their homes.
I speak intermediate Spanish.
I think I have a great smile which I love to flash, AND I LOVE TO TEACH!

MY (LEGAL) JOB REQUIREMENTS:
To have a job/jobs that will keep me in Ecuador for the rest of my life
To make a minimum of $600 in 2012 (we live SUPER frugal)
To work somewhere where they will provide some type of visa for me, my husband, and daughter
To work at a school with honesty and integrity
World peace (well, I just threw that in there)

Posters, is this too much to ask??

All the best,
CelesteCielos

[naturegirl321]

Your teaching experience in a public school will be a great asset. How were you able to get that without a teaching license? I'd add that to my CV. And definitely add the info about being a nanny, espeically since you are lesson planning, testing, etc.

I will be honest though, taking a child complicates things slightly as you'll have to worry about money and schooling. You homeschool now, I'm not sure about yoru work schedule, are you working FT? If you are, then you should have no porbs homeschooling if you work FT abroad.

Keep in mind that you won't have all the help that you have at home. Good news is that nannies, maids, and cooks are commonly hired in Latin America and you could probably afford one.

I honestly would advise you to look for jobs at the primary level in Latin American countries. Look at bilingual schools. You might, big might, be able to get into the lower tier international schools, so try emailing them as well. You basically have 7 years primary teaching experience. The big problem you might have is not havnig a degree. CELTA is aimed at adults, and you seem to prefer teachingn kids, so for now, I'd advise you to continue to save money, but only do the CELTA as a last resort.

$600 a month is doable and if you got a job in a primary school you might get a bit more plus either free or discounted schooling for your daughter. Teaching adults, TEFLing tends to have odd hours, early morning or later at night to accomodation business people. And you might have to work in more than one institute.

I don't know about Ecuador personally, I lived in Peru. BUt I think you should try PMing some people like Justin Trullinger and looking at places that commonly get visas, such as EIL Ecuador. And don't forget primary and secondary schools. International schools can be found on many websites as well, so that might be worth a shot.

Best of luck

EDIT: I just saw that you're married. What does your husband think about going overseas? What are his quals? Is he thinking about teaching? If he is and has a degree, he should try applying too. Tell us more about him as well. Or are you going to teach and he'll homeschool your daughter? Two people can make twice as much as one.

Just a warning, make sure he knows what he's getting himself into. My husband came over to Asia and lasted a whopping 10 weeks before he up and left (and 3 weeks were spent on vacation in SE ASia). It took him 5 months to come back as well.

[CelesteCielos]

I was able to get the public school job minus a degree for two reasons: I knew the director and I had a great resume. After a year I moved on to another state, but they begged me to stay, so maybe that says something in my behalf. Now I wish I had stayed longer for more experience.
NG, you bring up some really great points that I never thought of before and I'll have to meditate on. What a great post for other mothers out there too.
I work just 20 hours a week now and am able to home-school my daughter in the mornings. My husband is willing to take over those roles but not how long he would last. Hopefully more than 10 weeks! Yikes! But if we put her in public school or an institute, he'd like to also take a shot at teaching. We lived together in Ecuador before for a year and he loved it.
About him:
37 yr old white male (very handsome, might I add )
no degree of any kind, like myself
extremely friendly and positive attitude, loves kids
will be getting TESOL certified before we move
no teaching experience at all, but seems to come naturally to him when teaching my daughter on her homework.
Did I mention how cute he is??

maybe he has a shot at working in a public school or private tutoring?

~Celeste~

[BadBeagleBad]

I don�t think you will have much of a problem getting hired. *I* would hire you, you sound like just the kind of stable person that I am constantly looking for (but not always finding). You�re also at a good age, past that (sometimes) flightly, partying stage in the 20�s, but not old enough yet that anyone will not hire you because of your age. Most Latin countries don�t really understand homeschooling, it is not at all common, but I think you are right that it is a plus. Test scores are highly regarded, so I would make sure you mention that. Also, speaking some Spanish goes a long way. Of course, the CELTA is the name brand, but it doesn�t really carry any more weight in most Latin countries than an in-country certificate, and sometimes less weight than a well known program. In Mexico, at least, having something recognized by the Mexican Department of Education (SEP) is a requirement to teach in any SEP recognized school (which can be public or private), but probably isn�t any better than any other certificate anywhere else. If you think you might move to another region in the future the CELTA might be more useful in the future.

[CelesteCielos]

Thanks! I would hire me too. :p By the way, I've decided to take the CELTA with Southern Cross here in Ecuador after speaking with the director there. Now if we can just decide where to live...I hope to settle down in a small town anywhere but the coast. You are right--I'm not the partying beach-barbie type. Never was.

[naturegirl321]

Since you and your husband are in the same boat with no degree, I suggest looking at schools together. You have more experience than your husband. Whta's his job now? He might be able to do it there.

As for public schools in latin America, I'd skip them and head to the private ones. That goes for teaching at one and sendign your daughter to one. SOME are ok, but it's the luck of the draw, especially if you're away from big cities. I can only speak for Peru. I lived in a small city as well as Lima. I lived in one of the richest districts in the country and I wouln'd have sent my kids to those public schools ever.

Your husband could easily get private tutoring as could you.

If you present yourselves to a private school as a couple, you could do the main teaching and he could be a sub or help in the library or something like that.

What's so bad about the coast? Are you looking at long term or just a year or two?

Last thing: try PMing peopel on this board about jobs. Networking goes a long way. They might be hiring or know someone who is. I found my first job in Peru that way. And don't believe everything people said. The woman I emailed said she hated it. I ended up loving it and staying two years. I would have stayed longer, but my husband got a job in Lima.

Oh, and are you flexible on going to other countries or is it Ecuador or bust?

[HLJHLJ]

I've wavered for a while about posting this, and I hope I'm doing the right thing, as I don't mean to offend.

[CelesteCielos]

For now our plans are Ecuador or bust since we have lived there before and have many friends all over the country from the jungle to the coast. A new career, a new home...we can't take much more "new" all at once. So we are going to stick with a country we know and love for now, especially since we want to work "legally". No border runs. Who knows what the future will bring though, especially if we end up with degrees. Then I'd be open to Asia also.
As far as the Ecuador coast goes, the short amount of time I spent there left me hot, sweaty, and bug-bitten. But I am from NC, so that should have felt like home to me, huh? I also heard through other gringos that there's more petty crime there and it's a bit more expensive to live. I cannot confirm either statements myself, as we only lived north of Quito. Why? Are there more opportunities in the coastal towns?
I realize beggars can't be choosers. As my OP stated, I have no degree and I just need a job when we move next year to make ends meet. Any decent job. Anywhere. If it's in Manta, so be it. If it's in Tena, ok.
I prefer to live in a small quiet town where we are the only gringos, but if I have to work in the Gringolandia section of Guayaquil, sign me up!
Being a good teacher involves a lot of flexibility anyway.

Thanks for ideas,
Celeste
PS-My husband sells restaurant equipment for any company that would use an industrial kitchen. He's been in that field for a decade.

[CelesteCielos]

[CelesteCielos]

[HLJHLJ]

If you want to support a family on one wage, I don't think you'll have much choice but to work in a city. Certainly if you are after any sort of international school work (rather than language institute) it'll be a city. I don't think you can legally work as a teacher in a state school without a degree, though of course this is Ecuador, and what's legal and what happens rarely has much overlap. There are jobs to be had outside of the city, but far less of them, and they usually pay less. The exception to that is the oil field work in the jungle. That's typically something like 4 weeks on 4 weeks off, pays well if you can stomach it. You wouldn't be able to take your family with you whilst working though.

In terms of racial discrimination, the cities will be the worst, and on the coast it can go either way. If your husband is white, then your daughter I am guessing is relatively light skinned too, which will hopefully mean she won't be too affected by attitudes here. To be honest, I was more concerned about her than you, you sound more than capable of looking after yourself

f you are going to play their game here, then talk up your Italian/European parentage. Do you have dual nationality? Be sure to mention your white husband too.

In terms of visas, they have clamped down hard recently. It changes according to which way the wind blows, but in Quito at least they now want a degree in English if you want a work visa to teach English. They are issuing cultural visas instead, but they are asking for a CELTA or equivalent for that. As with anything visa related, what it says on paper, and what happens in reality, have little common. The bigger schools in particular will be able to make the visa happen for a teacher they want.

Working on a volunteer visa was always sketchy, and again it's been clamped down on. If you are actually primarily volunteering they will usually turn a blind eye to you working a little. But if you are caught primarily working on it, (and they are checking these days) your visa will be revoked.

Not having a degree in itself isn't the biggest issue here, as long as you have some decent experience behind you. I know a few teachers who are doing as well as anyone else without a degree.

As you are wanting to stay long term, if you have the finances, you might want to consider an investor's visa instead. For the 3 of you I think you would be looking at around $40,000 investment, but I'm not 100% sure about that. As your 'investment' can be your own house, it can be a neat solution. You would then have somewhere to live, and the right to work without being tied to a specific employer. You'd also have the option of just doing private classes then as well, or at least topping up your wages with them.

[CelesteCielos]

[quote="HLJHLJ"]

In terms of racial discrimination, the cities will be the worst, and on the coast it can go either way. If your husband is white, then your daughter I am guessing is relatively light skinned too

[CelesteCielos]

oops. I quoted my own self.