Job Discussion Forums

bayabule · Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 82 Location: East Java Indonesia

Just to throw my 50 pfennig's worth into this discussion... I walked into a job in Inlingua Dresden straight off my CELTA course in 1999 and was offered 20DM per hour which I took as I knew no better, and was a newly qualified teacher who wanted the work. By the time I left Germany in 2001 I had freelance jobs paying up to 50DM per hour which wasn't bad at that time, and it was a cheaper place to live. BUT that was outside Inlingua. Most teachers arrived for a job with them and moved into freelance stuff within a month or two. After a year with Inlingua (but also doing freelance stuff) I found out that an 18 yr old gap-year boy with no degree or TEFL cert was getting DM25 per hour so I asked for a raise (since I had an MA and CELTA and a years experience by that point) I eventually managed to get the DM25 per hour and suddenly had no hours to teach! What a shock! I finally left Germany and went to Asia. I agree with Hod, I have a much easier time of it. Teaching's better, the school is amazing, lots of professional development, I have a better lifestyle and I don't have to brown-nose some Wessie businessman for the few scraps he can send my way. At Inlingua the "teachers room" consisted of a few ancient National Geographics and the occasional born-again-christian weirdo, in my school now we can't move for resources and nice normal teachers (ahem well mostly...). Also we had to pay for our own photocopies even though the students' companies paid the school for that.
Anyway the point of this was that I went back to visit some friends in Dresden last week and found that not only are they STILL going through the same old crap they appear to be earning even less with the Euro. AND they're all fighting each other for the jobs, which is sad as they're all friends too.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my time in Germany, loved the students and would gladly go back if I could but life's too short, and I've seen better things. Things there have changed a lot and there's not so much work on offer. When I was there there were more jobs than teachers so we were lucky.
Also I have friends who've gone on to work at Inlingua in other countries and loved it. It's just a franchise after all, some are run by "biznizzmen" who only look at profits, others are run by proper teaching professionals, so it's all the luck of the draw. I really enjoyed my time in Germany, and often miss it, but now I've seen other places I can't believe the hand-to-mouth existence I put up with at the time. I guess it's true that you get a bit pampered in Asia. Good luck to all the Germany teachers I really do wish you well Smile

misterkodak · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 5:40 pm Post subject: I Agree

I left a decent (but steady) paying job in Turkey to come here to Germany to work for Inlingua. I'm not a big fan of "fast food English chains" but I saw it as a way to get my foot in the door. My wife is Turkish/German. We speak German at home and we both had our hearts set on coming back here. THe school system would definitely be better for my 6 y.o. daughter. I have a BA in Germanistics with 5 years teaching experience and a TEFL. I had been in touch with Inlingua Halle for about 2 months before I came over.
I arrived here in Halle in August, and was "laid off" by october. Why? Well, the teachers already here were whining and complaining about not having enough hours, or if I believe the excuses from the adminstration, one of their plans "fell through". Anyhow, they wanted to send me to Dresden which paid even less than what I earned here in Halle. Actually they told me the people in Dresden were going to help me etc etc. When I went and interviewed there, they didn't even want to know about me. Go figure! Then again, after I saw a sign saying that teachers have to pay 15 euro a month for internet. This combined with them not reimbursing me for my travel expenses.. and the fact that the teachers tehre were telling me I would need a second job to survive, I decided I definitely didn't want to work for them. I also interviewed with Inlingua Leipzig and Fulda. Leipzig was bizarre because they didn't want to discuss salary with me until I accepted a job. The owner and director of Fulda wanted to work with me but for some reason the "Head Teacher" there decided to pass on hours to the existing staff rather than taking me on.
So, here I am 6 months later doing 2 part time things, and whatever else I can get on the side. I saw last month on tefl.com that Inlingua here was hiring again. It was interesting. I called them up and the director (who incidentally can barely speak english) told me that'd call me back next week. That never happened.
Am I upset? Darn straight I'm torqued. I mean I haven't seen my wife and daughter for 6 months. I am barely making ends meet and these geeks are hiring what I consider young kids who could care less about anything but drinking beer and "scoring" ever night of the week or are members of some sort of Jesus sect. I loved it when a colleague of mine did nothing but show movies to his class and let them do what they want (hey.. they're arbeitsamt.. right?) for like 3 months until the management caught on.... and the other colleague who showed up for work noticeably stoned. Professionalism in this industry is nonexistant anymore. It was amusing to do the inlingua training with the "head teacher" who came from some asian mail order bride country whose english was as bad as her German.
I can't count how many different job interviews I have had in the past 5 months. I get tired of people telling me "We'll get back to you" or "We definitely want to work with you, but give us some time" or the old classic "Really, you're overqualified for this job".
Inlingua and other "chain"firms are definitely a gamble. I would leave them alone.

Hod · Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 1613 Location: Home

Sorry to hear this tale, Mr Kodak.

Although most of my posts here make Germany sound about as much fun as life imprisonment, I was never short of cash there. Work is out there if you look, just avoid those mickey mouse schools you mentioned. Also, never ever believe the absolute garbage these schools sprout about how cheap life is in the old DDR states. I once posted this ...

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I like Germany but I would prefer to visit the place as a tourist and not work there.

Being a "Gastarbeiter" is not for me - at least not in Germany !

misterkodak · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:51 am Post subject: They're Looking for People Again

I just saw that Inlingua Dessau (also owned and managed by the same incompetent people in Halle) is looking for people. DO NOT work for these people. If you are looking for a decent job in Sachsen-Anhalt, I would suggest trying the Volkshochschule, ABLE sprachschule, or (if your German is good enough) approaching various factories and firms yourself. With almost 25 percent unemployment in Sachsen-Anhalt I wouldn't even recommend teaching there. I posted something in the Job Information Journal, but it seems it hasn't been updated yet.
I'm back in Turkey. I've already found 2 jobs and the money is decent compared to what I made in Germany and what Inlingua promised me. At least here, I am able to save money.
Join the Marines, teach in Afghanistan/Iraq/Iran, work for John Gotti .. do anything but DO NOT TEACH FOR THESE PEOPLE if you expcect to be treated fairly and with respect.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Sachsen-Anhalt has been described as "The Poorhouse of the Republic" (Das Armenhaus der Republik).

Not the best place to go for a job.

I have had flak in the past from the superoptimistic who believe there MUST be a job for them in a place they want to go to.

Germany is tough - not just Sachsen-Anhalt.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

See - even for people working legally, Germany is tough.

And you want to come and be a wetback !

Go and earn your money somewhere else and come to Germany on holiday.

jasonconga · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Posts: 36 Location: the black forest

those prices are shocking. The lowest around Freiburg is 13euro at Berlitz. I range from 15-36/hour with most of it in the 20s. I have 34 teaching hours this week at 10 different companies/schools/students. You can feel the "I hope it keeps goingness" of it all...

schminken · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 8:49 am Post subject:

These salaries are terrible.

Just curious, What is the average salary if you work at a university or Fachhochschule? Here in Austria I make about 2400 NET a month plus we have 4 extra payments a year of about 1000 Euros plus complete medical coverage and pension. And on top of that I get 2000 additonal Euros a year for Weiterbildung. This is all for 40 hours a week and about 18 contact hours.

American teaching assistants that work 12 hours in the local Gymnasium a week are making about 1200 Euros NET a month!!!!!! British assistants (because of some special tax law) make almost twice that amount. That's for 12 hours folks. No marking or teaching on your own.

My rent is about 400 ( I don't live in Vienna) and I pay about 100 � for telephone, strom etc....

Yikes! I don't think I will be coming to Germany any time soon.

A friend of mine owns a language school here and told me that the going rate for language schools in Austria is 18 to 22 Euros per hour. You are contracted for the whole course and paid that amount for the entire course. It doesn't matter if people do not show up or not, you are still paid for the time. You do still have to pay for your own insurance at a language school though.

Rock2134 · Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 20

I'm afraid my friends, the sooner you realise that TEFL teaching is not a career, the less your frustration will be. It should be a career, and it would be great if it was a career, but it's not. You must start up your own operation - or you will always be the losing party. The best soloution would be for teachers to form collectives and cut out the enormous commisions which the middleman takes. You could compete in the market because you'd be significantly cheaper while assuring the quality remains the same as an agency.
Good luck, my friends.

Kingbee · Joined: 26 May 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Bush-land

Inlingua Halle/Dessau = Evil

A fragment from a recent Inlingua job post:

'We offer full time positions as freelance English teachers at competitive rates for our region, beginning at EUR 10.00 per 45-minute �teaching-hour� (for the first three months) and 11.50 � after this trial period (on average 25 - 30 hrs. per week)'.

Please note that FULL-TIME and FREELANCE are mutually exclusive. 'Competitive rates for our region' means most of the region is unemployed or underemployed and can barely afford rent and food.

If you join this joke masquerading as a school you're entitled to a whopping 1,000 to 1,200 Euros for the first 3 months and 1,150 to 1,380 Euros after the trial period. Is it any wonder why this school is on a constant look-out for fresh meat?

Listen, my dear teaching friends, to the sage advice of Rock2134 and enjoy teaching in Germany.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The delusional still want to believe that ther MUST be jobs in Germany that pay. And in Norway, Switerland, the Netherlands and Austria.

The truth is that the jobs are in parts of the world that no one really wants to be in !