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kellrobinson
Joined: 22 Apr 2012
Posts: 33
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 Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2015 7:03 pm Post subject: Coming to VN next week (July 2015) |
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I have my return ticket for a lengthy stay, alight Jul 26 HCMC, returning to the States in January.
I am 59 years old, Bachelor of Science in Engineering, class of 2012 (woot!), no experience teaching English. But I used to be a proofreader 
Today I got my diploma and state criminal background check authenticated. Monday morning I'll take them to the Vietnam consulate in New York for translation and hope they get it taken care of by Thursday, or Friday morning latest, because my plane leaves Friday afternoon.
I bought the plane ticket on impulse not even two weeks ago, so everything is happening pretty fast. I haven't contacted any language schools or done any planning, beyond getting the documents. I welcome words of wisdom and practical advice. |
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ExpatLuke
Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2015 5:17 am Post subject: |
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| How about your teaching certificate? |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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| Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| I have my return ticket for a lengthy stay, alight Jul 26 HCMC, returning to the States in January. |
That's actually quite short compared to the average TEFLer. Some schools may not be that interested in hiring someone who's staying less than a year. You should still be able to get some work though.
Anyway, you should mention which city you are flying into and what your goals/expectations are. You say you bought the ticket "on impulse".
Have you got your visa yet? I think visa waivers are still not available for Americans. |
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kellrobinson
Joined: 22 Apr 2012
Posts: 33
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| Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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I have a one month multiple entry Visa on Arrival (VOA). As I mentioned I'm landing in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I don't have certification.
When I bought the ticket I wasn't thinking about English teaching. It was in the back of my mind, but mostly I simply wanted to get away for a while, and was contemplating Cambodia as a destination. Then I found a very cheap return ticket to Vietnam.
A little googling suggests that an employer could help me convert my tourist visa to a work visa. Hope it's true.
I can't find hard and fast information about age limits on foreign workers in Vietnam. |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:54 am Post subject: |
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| As I mentioned I'm landing in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). |
OK, sorry. I missed the part about HCMC.
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| When I bought the ticket I wasn't thinking about English teaching. It was in the back of my mind, but mostly I simply wanted to get away for a while, and was contemplating Cambodia as a destination. |
Well, in that case, come and have a look around. HCMC is not a particularly pleasant city but these days there are a fair number of schools opening up around the country, so you could go down to the Mekong Delta area or up the coast and live near the beach. Of course, there's also Ha Noi. Have seen a few jobs in the mountains advertised as well.
Cambodia is generally considered a much nicer place for tourism. Phnom Penh is a comfortable 5-hour bus ride from HCMC. Mekong Express is supposed to be the best company on this route, if I remember correctly.
There are teaching jobs in PP and maybe Siem Reap, but not nearly as well paid as in Viet Nam. Also, there are opportunities to do volunteer teaching in both countries.
Thailand, Laos and Burma are also in the neighborhood.
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| A little googling suggests that an employer could help me convert my tourist visa to a work visa. Hope it's true. |
Don't worry too much about this. Visa extensions can be obtained in-country and/or you can do a visa run to one of those countries mentioned above, although I am not sure about Burma.
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| I can't find hard and fast information about age limits on foreign workers in Vietnam. |
This is the way it is with information in VN. Again, don't worry about it. The teaching industry is still largely unregulated. Just keep your visa valid and network with other expats for recommendations about schools, travel agents, accommodation, etc. in order to avoid any pitfalls.
By the way, if you are interested in Cambodia, you might check out this forum:
http://cambodiaexpatsonline.com/
Last edited by sigmoid on Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:13 am; edited 1 time in total |
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ExpatLuke
Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| kellrobinson wrote: |
I have a one month multiple entry Visa on Arrival (VOA). As I mentioned I'm landing in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I don't have certification.
When I bought the ticket I wasn't thinking about English teaching. It was in the back of my mind, but mostly I simply wanted to get away for a while, and was contemplating Cambodia as a destination. Then I found a very cheap return ticket to Vietnam.
A little googling suggests that an employer could help me convert my tourist visa to a work visa. Hope it's true.
I can't find hard and fast information about age limits on foreign workers in Vietnam. |
Without a teaching certificate you won't be able to work for the kind of employers who help with visas. That will probably be up to you. You'll likely have to work illegally on 3 month tourist visas, and after renewing twice it's cheaper to fly out of the country and get a new one. So a trip out the country will be required every 6 months or so.
I definitely would say that this is a really bad idea on your part. At best, you're looking at expensive visa renewals every 3 months. At worst you'll be deported. |
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skarper
Joined: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 477
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:34 am Post subject: |
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Many people work on tourist visas in third rate jobs for years. It's far from ideal but people are willing to do it and employers are willing to exploit the supply of eager young - or old - foreigners.
OP seems to be on a long holiday rather than a serious attempt to set up as an English teacher. As such why not? Any teaching work he gets will be low paid, frustrating, and never reliably available. He's old. Not impossible for oldies to find work but far harder than a younger man. Simple prejudice on the part of employers I'm afraid.
If he has income to fall back on then doing a bit of teaching work for extra spending money would be no problem. If he needs significant income from the work to live then many red flags are raised. |
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VietCanada
Joined: 30 Nov 2010
Posts: 590
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:31 pm Post subject: Re: Coming to VN next week (July 2015) |
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| kellrobinson wrote: |
I have my return ticket for a lengthy stay, alight Jul 26 HCMC, returning to the States in January.
I am 59 years old, Bachelor of Science in Engineering, class of 2012 (woot!), no experience teaching English. But I used to be a proofreader
Today I got my diploma and state criminal background check authenticated. Monday morning I'll take them to the Vietnam consulate in New York for translation and hope they get it taken care of by Thursday, or Friday morning latest, because my plane leaves Friday afternoon.
I bought the plane ticket on impulse not even two weeks ago, so everything is happening pretty fast. I haven't contacted any language schools or done any planning, beyond getting the documents. I welcome words of wisdom and practical advice. |
Your age and inexperience may be a problem. If you have a happy disposition and a nice face (lol) you may be able to find something but it's highly unlikely that you will find enough work to make a living here.If you can get any at all. Are you good with children? Can you handle a room with 40 to 50 of them? |
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kellrobinson
Joined: 22 Apr 2012
Posts: 33
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| Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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Regarding certificates: is this the kind of situation where they don't care about the substance but just want to see a piece of paper, or do the schools expect a cert with some solid training behind it?
If Vietnam doesn't hold out good prospects for getting a decent job, it's not the end of the world. I can move on. |
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ExpatLuke
Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 4:57 am Post subject: |
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| It's the same situation as most of SE Asia. The best schools require "real" and well recognized certificates. There are a lot of ok schools which don't require anything other than a piece of paper to stamp. And there are a lot of awful schools that don't require anything other than a white face. |
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I'm With Stupid
Joined: 03 Sep 2010
Posts: 432
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I know that VUS will accept the legal minimum, which is any old certificate. Even the so-called reputable schools will accept less than a CELTA equivalent if they're desperate. I've heard ILA were unofficially doing this recently, although that's second hand information, so don't base any decision on it. |
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TRH
Joined: 27 Oct 2011
Posts: 340
Location: Hawaii
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm With Stupid wrote: |
| Yeah, I know that VUS will accept the legal minimum, which is any old certificate. Even the so-called reputable schools will accept less than a CELTA equivalent if they're desperate. I've heard ILA were unofficially doing this recently, although that's second hand information, so don't base any decision on it. |
I doubt that the OP could be hired by either of these chains regardless of either academics or EFL qualifications. VUS explicitly states on their website that they accept applications up to age 40. I also have a Canadian VK acquaintance who used to work in hiring for ILA. In answer to two of my questions he told me that their average age at hiring was probably about 28 and their turnover rate was terrible at about 8 months. He had to concede that these two numbers were related.
At 64 years old, I applied to VUS twice. Once when I arrived in Vietnam, and after teaching for a year when they opened a new center near my home. They never replied. The two best teachers that I encountered while in Vietnam were retired high school teachers who wouldn't get a second look from these two big chains. Unfortunately the people of Vietnam are loosing the opportunity to recruit superior talent due to their own age related prejudices. I have no opinion on the abilities of the OP, but I will predict that he will be working for less than $20. |
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VietCanada
Joined: 30 Nov 2010
Posts: 590
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| Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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| kellrobinson wrote: |
Regarding certificates: is this the kind of situation where they don't care about the substance but just want to see a piece of paper, or do the schools expect a cert with some solid training behind it?
If Vietnam doesn't hold out good prospects for getting a decent job, it's not the end of the world. I can move on. |
Schools expect different things. Some expect backpackers who'll get paid $13 an hour daily.
Some expect to see a BA or a TEFL cert, maybe both and don't care if you bought them from some guy. Same pay or maybe even $15 an hour.
Some expect inexperienced people that they can pay the same.
Some actually expect notarized or apostillized docs but pay the same.
How well you do here depends on your experience teaching here and what kind of experience that is (just kids, IELTS or other exams at a well known school here). You'll need at least 6 months experience. Then maybe you can get $750 to $1000 a month!
You have to want to be here, pay your dues, network, and just learn how things work.
The only guarantee of a good job is if you have a BEd and a couple years teaching experience in you own country. But then this would be the wrong place to look for a job or much advice. |
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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: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:24 am Post subject: Re: Coming to VN next week (July 2015) |
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| kellrobinson wrote: |
I have my return ticket for a lengthy stay, alight Jul 26 HCMC, returning to the States in January.
I am 59 years old, Bachelor of Science in Engineering, class of 2012 (woot!), no experience teaching English. But I used to be a proofreader
Today I got my diploma and state criminal background check authenticated. Monday morning I'll take them to the Vietnam consulate in New York for translation and hope they get it taken care of by Thursday, or Friday morning latest, because my plane leaves Friday afternoon.
I bought the plane ticket on impulse not even two weeks ago, so everything is happening pretty fast. I haven't contacted any language schools or done any planning, beyond getting the documents. I welcome words of wisdom and practical advice. |
How about an update from you in regards to your situation on the ground in VN now? |
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ExpatLuke
Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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| VietCanada wrote: |
| kellrobinson wrote: |
Regarding certificates: is this the kind of situation where they don't care about the substance but just want to see a piece of paper, or do the schools expect a cert with some solid training behind it?
If Vietnam doesn't hold out good prospects for getting a decent job, it's not the end of the world. I can move on. |
Schools expect different things. Some expect backpackers who'll get paid $13 an hour daily.
Some expect to see a BA or a TEFL cert, maybe both and don't care if you bought them from some guy. Same pay or maybe even $15 an hour.
Some expect inexperienced people that they can pay the same.
Some actually expect notarized or apostillized docs but pay the same.
How well you do here depends on your experience teaching here and what kind of experience that is (just kids, IELTS or other exams at a well known school here). You'll need at least 6 months experience. Then maybe you can get $750 to $1000 a month!
You have to want to be here, pay your dues, network, and just learn how things work.
The only guarantee of a good job is if you have a BEd and a couple years teaching experience in you own country. But then this would be the wrong place to look for a job or much advice. |
Complete and utter nonsense. |
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