Job Discussion Forums

[nortenagirl]

Hello all,

I have been thinking recently of teaching ESL in Querétaro, México, as I have read a lot of good things about this city.

I have some experience teaching ESL (years ago in Mexico) and have a Master's Degree in Teaching Spanish. I am completely/fluent/bilingual in both English/Spanish. I also have experience translating/interpreting between both languages.

Does anybody know what kind of job I could get in Querétaro, what ESL jobs pay (the better paying ones) in this area, and what kind of budget I would need to live there?

Thanks so much for your help! ¡Muchas gracias por su ayuda!

Norteña Girl

[Jultime]

I'm in Qro teaching English, I love this city.

I'm pretty sure you can find a good job here but I can't tell you what wage to expect.

Budget wise, expect to pay close to 5000 pesos a month for a small apartment in the center. You can find much cheaper accommodation outside of the center. You can easily live on 2500 a month for food. Public buses are 8.50 pesos and taxis run by zone so can be a bit expensive.

Its best to come here and look for work. There are something like 50 language schools, 5 universities, and multiple private schools for children. So there's plenty of opportunities here for ESL teachers.

[mmarc]

Hi Norteña,

I'm in Qro, too, and I have similar qualifications as you - bilingual, M.A. in Bilingual Ed., previous teaching experience mostly at the primary level, and I've been in Mexico a few years but just moved to Qro in August. I work at a private school and there are other foreign teachers here with just their undergrad degrees, less experience, etc. I think you can definitely find a teaching position here, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend showing up and looking unless you're prepared to pay for a ticket back home. If you taught here years ago you probably processed your visa in-country, but you can't do that with current immigration law.

This might not be the best time of year to get hired, but if you know what kind of setting you'd like to work in I would recommend just sending your CV out to whatever schools sound good to you. If you don't hear anything now you might have more luck around May.

As far as I know ESL school jobs are easier to get year-round versus privates.

[nortenagirl]

Hi mmarc,

Thanks so much for your reply. So, I have to request the visa from abroad? I think I had heard that there had been changes made in the past few years. I willl have to research it more and see how it works. I believe you need a TEFL Certificate in order to be able to work in Mexico now...

¡Muchas gracias por esta información!

Norteña Girl

[nortenagirl]

[mmarc]

Norteña, you don't need a TEFL certificate to get hired.. maybe if you had no other qualifications that would be a necessary step, but your M.A. in Spanish should be enough for many schools.

The way the visa works is you get hired and then the school processes the paperwork from within Mexico. When it's ready, they'll send you a document that you have to bring to the consulate in your home country. If you come here first to look for a job, you'll have to fly back to wherever you're from to process that document. The consulate puts a stamp in your passport so that you can enter the country on that visa, and once you're here the school will do the follow-up steps to complete the process.

It's really pretty easy and your school should know how to do it, so for now you just need to figure out where you'll work.

[Jultime]

Regarding the work visa. I got hired and started working without the work visa. My employer processed the paperwork here in Mexico, I then took my approval letter to the consulate in Houston. I'm Canadian, there was no need to go to Canada. The Houston consulate is very helpful.

[nortenagirl]

[nortenagirl]

Hi mmarc,

Thanks so much for explaining that!

Do you have any suggestions as to good schools to look at? I need to earn the best salary possible...do universities pay better? It seems that the salaries in Mexico City are better, but perhaps more expensive to live there?

Muchas gracias.

Norteña

[Jultime]

Use Google to find universities, I searched universities Queretaro and found all the universities. You can also check out this website http://www.teachers-latin-america.com/



Good luck!

[nortenagirl]

[MotherF]

[mmarc]

Norteña, are you only interested in teaching older students? My school is looking for a 2nd grade English immersion teacher at the moment.

[nortenagirl]