Job Discussion Forums

[thebaggagecarousel]

Is it possible to get 6 month contracts in SE ASIA mainly Vietnam?

How hard or easy is it to acquire these?

Where can I find them?

Is it easy to find them on the ground?

Me and my girlfriend both ha BA degrees, and an 140 online TEFL qualification with 20 hours in class training. We will also have 1 or 2 months volunteering teaching experience in Cambodia or Vietnam before we look for a paid job.

Thanks:)

[skarper]

A six month contract is worthless. They will not be sufficient to apply for a work permit. Without a work permit all contracts are just a vague agreement, unenforceable either way.

But you can work casual jobs month by month and realistically this is what you will end up doing for the first year or two anyway. This is illegal though, so you should be aware of the risks. Many do do this however, maybe most jobs are illegal to some degree.

Lots of threads on moving into Vietnam. Bring enough spare cash to live for 2-3 months and a have money to leave if you hate it or can't get work you like.

And as beginners with no experience and minimal qualifications stick to the big cities - Hanoi or HCM. They are pretty nasty places to live [noisy, dirty, crowded and expensive] but demand outstrips supply for teachers, unlike the smaller nicer places where there is more supply and less demand.

[thebaggagecarousel]

Thanks for the reply. I have found a volunteering position near Hanoi to gain some experience and they will help and pay for proper work permit if you commit to 3 months...

So would some positions with 6 month contracts not also do this as well?

[skarper]

You cannot get a work permit if you have a contract less than 1 year.

I would avoid the 'volunteer job' too. You will only regret it.

[thebaggagecarousel]

Why would I regret a volunteering position? It offers free accommodation 3 meals a day and a way to gain teaching experience when I have none, it also pays a monthly stipend of £200. For 4 hours work a day 5 days a week.

[skarper]

Most of these volunteer deals are scams. They will make 2-3000 dollars off you each month. I can't be 100% sure this is true but I strongly suspect it to be the case.

You will probably find it is a private university or maybe even public school dispatch teaching - where they send you in to teach 50+ schoolkids in rooms with a chalkboard and a fan for cooling while the class teacher nips off for a snooze...

£50 a weak for 20 hours is only £2.50 an hour. Free accommodation is worth maybe £100 a month - maybe. Meals will not be great either, what the locals eat. You could buy better for about 5 USD a day.

If you think I'm overly negative then get the contact details of multiple previous volunteers to include phone numbers so you can talk in person. Often they fake such references or knock up generic answers to the obvious questions and email them to you. So beware.

Any problems with this and you should just drop the idea. If it checks out then knock your self out.

To be frank, in your shoes, I would just come, bring your BA and some money and find a job. [or rather bits of work to start with]. I wouldn't even do the 140 hour online course as they are mostly useless and seldom recognised.

Then if you like teaching and living in Vietnam you can take a few weeks off and do a real CELTA course. HCMC and Hanoi both have these. In time you can move up the ladder to the middle tier jobs that while they can be monotonous and soul destroying are reliable and easy enough.

You do really have to do your prep work. Read the older threads on here, and other sites. Come back with specific questions if you can't find the answers. It strikes me you haven't yet done your research and are dangerously wide eyed/naive.

There is considerable oversupply of people looking for teaching work and less and less good jobs available. I try to be discouraging while recognising that many have few better options at home. A 'by all means come if you want to but be aware it ain't what it was if indeed if ever was what it was' attitude.

[thebaggagecarousel]

[ExpatLuke]

What Skarper has said about volunteer positions is mostly true. I did that for about 9 months for my first teaching job, and it was awful. The accommodation was a renovated classroom within the school. Imagine listening to the school drum going off all day long, every day... Students stopping by your room wanting to visit at all hours of the day. No peace and quiet at all.

If you want to go back for a wedding after 6 months just mention that in your contract negotiation. Make sure they agree to it up front. A lot of schools will agree to that if you just ask for it.

While it might sound like a good way to get experience, it's not. You mention you'll just leave if it's shit. But you don't want your first job on your CV to show that you can't complete a contract. That's the only reason I stuck with mine. And if you leave it off your CV you're back to square one with no experience to speak of.

The only way volunteering would be a good idea is if its in a tiny town or village where you know that it's a charitable school not in it for the money. If youre doing it in any of the top 10 cities in Vietnam, you're being scammed.

[thebaggagecarousel]

[pooroldedgar]

From these posts, it sounds like early on in Vietnam schools hire you for a day or two and so you have to find a few jobs to put togethe a fully time schedule. Is that what was meant here?