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mapache
Joined: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 202
Location: Villahermosa
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 Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:45 am Post subject: |
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| Mexico is not a plan ahead / respond to email culture. Most schools think about hiring someone when they need someone. Your best bet is to walk in off the street. |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:00 pm Post subject: Re: job opportunities |
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| geaaronson wrote: |
You should be able to get the best idea of present job opportunities worldwide by looking at DAVES employment opportunities. Most ESL jobs available today are in the Asian Rim countries. There are several reasons for this including that area`s phenomenal economic growth vis a vis the rest of the world. The other reason, is of course that it is furthest from GB, Canada, and the US, so more people from those countries will be reluctant to travel so afar.
In fact, whereas I have seen hundreds of ads for teaching in the Far East, in the same website Latin American jobs are in the single digits. Simply put, there are more gringoes ready for teaching jobs just vagabonding around all of Latin America, ending up in small cities, and grabbing a job on the fly. |
I disagree that Dave's is a good way to gauge the job market in Mexico and LA in general. Most Mexican schools have never even heard of Dave's, so how would they advertise on here? There are jobs being advertised all the time, just not here. Also, most schools won't even begin to consider you unless you are in Mexico, usually in the same city. They want to see you before they hire you.
Timing and luck count a lot more here than in other places. I went to a job interview one time just to find out that the director had hired someone 20 mins before. What happened? The person I spoke to on the phone failed to tell the director that I was coming for an interview. The result was the school hired a lesser qualified Mexican teacher. The director told me that if she hadn't already signed a contract and given the other teacher the books and the job it would have been mine. Oh well, the early bird gets the worm. |
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jillford64
Joined: 15 Feb 2006
Posts: 397
Location: Sin City
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| As others have said, most employers in Mexico prefer to hire in person. Also, your qualifications may be preventing you from finding a job before you arrive. If you plan to work legally, your lack of a degree or TESL certificate might be a hindrance depending on which immigration office you will be dealing with to get your FM3 (work visa). In Morelia, for example, migracion requires proof that you are qualified to teach English. This means either an applicable degree or a TESL certificate, so you would not meet the requirements. |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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| jillford64 wrote: |
| Also, your qualifications may be preventing you from finding a job before you arrive. If you plan to work legally, your lack of a degree or TESL certificate might be a hindrance depending on which immigration office you will be dealing with to get your FM3 (work visa). |
I agree about your qualifications. Here in Mexico City, I've been told that since none of my three degrees are specifically in TEFL (though my B.S. is in foreign language education), it will be a little difficult (though not impossible) to get an FM3 so I can work legally. If I had a TEFL certificate, though, then there wouldn't be any problems, apart from the usual bureaucratic rigmarole that everyone has to do through. |
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wildchild
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 519
Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I agree about your qualifications. Here in Mexico City, I've been told that since none of my three degrees are specifically in TEFL (though my B.S. is in foreign language education), it will be a little difficult (though not impossible) to get an FM3 so I can work legally. |
jesus, maria, jos�! What more do they want! 
Sounds like an awesome degree to me. I've got the same thing, although it goes by a different name: BA Linguistics with option/emphasis in ESL. At least mine has got the word 'English' in there. Jeez.
shortly after I graduated, they changed it to: option/emphasis in TESOL. Now that woulda' looked mighty fine on the diplome.
sounds like an issue of framing it the right way when you do the translation: BS in Language Instruction including but not limited to English.
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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| wildchild wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I agree about your qualifications. Here in Mexico City, I've been told that since none of my three degrees are specifically in TEFL (though my B.S. is in foreign language education), it will be a little difficult (though not impossible) to get an FM3 so I can work legally. |
jesus, maria, jos�! What more do they want!
Sounds like an awesome degree to me. I've got the same thing, although it goes by a different name: BA Linguistics with option/emphasis in ESL. At least mine has got the word 'English' in there. Jeez.
shortly after I graduated, they changed it to: option/emphasis in TESOL. Now that woulda' looked mighty fine on the diplome.
sounds like an issue of framing it the right way when you do the translation: BS in Language Instruction including but not limited to English.
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I appreciate your consternation at my situation!
What I have is a B.S.ed. in Secondary Education with a major in Spanish (this is a degree from the Dark Ages when no such thing as a degree in TEFL existed), but several of the courses I took are applicable to teaching English as a Second or Foreign language. When I began to teach English overseas, I just "reversed" a lot of what I had learned in courses like Applied Linguistics and Methodology. Apparently, the INM bureaucracy in Mexico City is very narrow-minded when it comes to granting FM3s - if your diplomas don't mention the word English, then they have little or no validity in their eyes. |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007
Posts: 908
Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:48 pm Post subject: |
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| MO39 wrote: |
What I have is a B.S.ed. in Secondary Education with a major in Spanish (this is a degree from the Dark Ages when no such thing as a degree in TEFL existed), but several of the courses I took are applicable to teaching English as a Second or Foreign language. When I began to teach English overseas, I just "reversed" a lot of what I had learned in courses like Applied Linguistics and Methodology. Apparently, the INM bureaucracy in Mexico City is very narrow-minded when it comes to granting FM3s - if your diplomas don't mention the word English, then they have little or no validity in their eyes. |
Something has changed a lot, or I was lucky, or .... (who knows?) My degrees have nothing to do with my work, and I got my permission to work processed here in Mexico City without any problem. |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Notamiss, I think that things have changed a lot since you got your working papers. The information I posted about my degrees not being worth much in the eyes of INM has been verified by two professionals (a lawyer and an accountant) who earn their living by helping people like me get FM3s. Also, the fact that I want to work independently makes things more difficult. |
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Afrijen
Joined: 26 Feb 2008
Posts: 12
Location: Medan, Indonesia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:26 am Post subject: Someone is interested! |
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Hi All,
There is a school in Monterrey that's interested - Advanced English.
Anyone heard of them?
Is $100 pesos a reasonable hourly rate in Monterrey?
Thanks!
Jen |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:29 pm Post subject: Re: Someone is interested! |
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| Afrijen wrote: |
Hi All,
There is a school in Monterrey that's interested - Advanced English.
Anyone heard of them?
Is $100 pesos a reasonable hourly rate in Monterrey?
Thanks!
Jen |
I don't know if it's a good rate for Monterrey. For Mexico City it would be good for teaching classes at the school itself; if it involved traveling, it would not. I'd ask this school where the classes would take place, also, how many hours they can guarantee you every month. |
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tagastelum
Joined: 09 Jun 2006
Posts: 49
Location: Delegaci�n Cuauht�moc | M�XICO DF
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| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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To be honest, $100/hour is not a great wage here in Monterrey. The going rate in private language schools is now in the range of $125-$150/hour.
That being said, Monterrey DOES offer lots of opportunities for work. At the moment, there is a shortage of native speaking English teachers, so you may be able to negotiate an even higher wage here.
Monterrey is not the easiest city to live in. I maintain that it has all of the disadvantages of living in a big city (traffic, pollution, stress) with few of the advantages (cafe culture, walkable neighborhoods, cosmopolitan dining). However, the surrounding areas are beautiful and Vivaaerobus is always opening new routes making travel throughout the rest of republic a possibility.
For all my whingeing about my adopted home, I have chosen to stay here for almost 4 years, so it can't all be bad. There are now more museums and a much better range of cultural options in the wake of the Forum de las Culturas. If you're into the club scene, it's supposed to be good. If you like soccer, you'll find many like-minded friends. It's just not a sophisticated metropolis. It's a beer and carne asada kind of place. It's Albuquerque on steroids.
BUT, if you want to try your luck teaching in Mexico, Monterrey IS an excellent place to get started. Lots of places to teach and lots of enthusiastic students.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. Good luck! |
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Afrijen
Joined: 26 Feb 2008
Posts: 12
Location: Medan, Indonesia
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: Decisions Decisions... |
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So the job search is looking up.. a little.
We have two options... and it seems to be a case of finding the lesser of two evils.
1. In Torreon at a bilingual school with a quite good salary and free housing... but in Torreon.
2. In Tuxtla at a language school with a bad bad salary and no other benefits, except paid holidays... but it seems that Tuxtla is a nicer place and at least closer to some wonderful places.
Any suggestions/opinions?
Should we wait and see if something better comes up? |
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dixie
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 644
Location: D.F
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: Decisions Decisions... |
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| Afrijen wrote: |
So the job search is looking up.. a little.
We have two options... and it seems to be a case of finding the lesser of two evils.
1. In Torreon at a bilingual school with a quite good salary and free housing... but in Torreon.
2. In Tuxtla at a language school with a bad bad salary and no other benefits, except paid holidays... but it seems that Tuxtla is a nicer place and at least closer to some wonderful places.
Any suggestions/opinions?
Should we wait and see if something better comes up? |
DO NOT go to Torreon (hey, you wanted my advice  ).
There are several schools there. Could you PM the name of the one you are considering working for. If it is the one I worked with, run. Seriously, run, and don�t look back.
If not, I still have some advice for you regarding the area and one other school there. |
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Afrijen
Joined: 26 Feb 2008
Posts: 12
Location: Medan, Indonesia
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:07 am Post subject: ASFC? |
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Anyone worked at ASF Chiapas before?
Any stories?
Good, bad, indifferent?
Thanks!!! |
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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject: recommendation |
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| Check out www.teflwatch.org and click on American School Federation of Chiapas. They are rated on that website. |
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