Job Discussion Forums

[MELEE]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd try my hand at starting a new topic and people are always asking about how to go about finding a job in Mexico.

Rather than giving advice in general, I thought it would be interesting for people to say how they found the job they have now and/or previous jobs they've had in Mexico.

[MELEE]

So, I got my job from an ad on Dave's site. That was back in 1998. I've only had one teaching job in Mexico. I've also done a bit of consulting work with a textbook publisher (English Speaker on Display). I got that job by asking for it! (I said, hey, I'd like to do this, and they said, we'd like you to do that.)

[lozwich]

I got my job by emailing the director of a school who is fairly active here on Dave's. I felt fairly bold doing it, since the ink was hardly dry on my CELTA, but some past teaching experience helped too, I think. At the time, I was bumbling around Guadalajara suffering from culture shock and jet lag, and didn't have the wherewithal to go into schools in person.

The job I'm going to next is not in Mexico, but its with a large organisation, and when I went for the interview (saw the job online) in Mexico City, I was offered a job in DF as well.

[MixtecaMike]

Internet ad for my first job, I was in Guatemala at the time, then while in Mexico City additional work from The News (now defunct, gone but not missed) and word of mouth based on my fabulous performance at the first job.

Current job also from internet, I had previously applied from Guatemala but I think they wanted me to have some Mexican experience first, LOL.

Funnily enough I usually advise people who can afford it to come here on spec and look for work, even though I didn't do that.

I couldn't afford it

[Gringo Greg]

I got my school based jobs in Mexico from ads in various newspapers, including The News, El Universal, and one local one in Satelite.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

During my 9+ years here, I've only had 2 teaching jobs: private language school and state university.

I was in Merida one summer taking a post-grad course in education offered through my alma mater in the USA. While I was chatting with the owner and one of the directors of the language school where our classes were held (language school owner provided the facilities and arranged homestays for students and profs, for a fee, of course,) they suggested that I return in the fall to teach at their school, which I did.

While teaching at the private language school -- which really wasn't my cup of tea, I soon discovered -- a few people suggested that I check out job possibilities at the local state university. One day when I had some free time on my hands, I decided to check into it. In less than a week, I was run through about 5 very encouraging interviews (all for the same job) with various people at the university and was hired. I think it was mostly a matter of being in the right place at the right time . . . and maybe also having the right qualifications and experience helped a bit.

[delacosta]

Yeah, I'd have to say right place right time and proper qualifications did it for me. Being fluent in Spanish as well.
Back in 99 I had finished my DELTA in the summer and was teaching in Vancouver, mostly privates and at community centers. In December I met up with my parents and sister for a family holiday in Mexico, which ended up for the last week on the coast of a small town on the coast of Oaxaca. One day while walking to the beach I noticed a sign on the road pointing to a university, so being the curious cat that I am I decided to check it out, somewhat surprised that there would be a university in such a small town.
I strolled on in past the armed guards at the gate and asked the first person I met if there was an English department on campus. I was pointed in the right direction and timidly knocked on the door and was met by the then department head, who seemed pleased to meet me and receive me. I told her a bit about myself and that basically I was just passing by and checking out the place. Turns out she also got her DELTA at the same college as I had in Vancouver and lo and behold they just happened to be looking for a teacher. Basically we kept chatting for a while, I think she was a bit homesick for info on Vancouver and at the end of it she offered me the job! I asked her if I could sleep on it a bit and she said no problem, call her in a few weeks time.
So I returned to the cold, wet and dark winter which is January in British Columbia, mulling over the idea of taking up the offer of a six month teaching gig at the 'University of The Sea' in a sweet little town called 'Port of Angels'....
Hmmm, hard decision to make? Well I had just been offered a full time job teaching Business English at $30/hr to start, which was pretty damn good cash, but I loathed the idea of teaching a bunch of suits and wanna- be suits. But on the other hand, I really enjoyed living in British Columbia...Finally the adventurer in me couldn't resist and I made the phone call saying I'd be down as soon as I could get a flight.
Well that was over four years ago. Has it been easy living and working in what many fantasize to be some kind of 'paradise', as it sounds like? No, not at all. The state university is an extremely challenging place to work at, at times. And living in any small Mexican town has its own particular set of challenges. I've seen many teachers arrive in 'paradise' and leave soon after, some of them of the verge of a nervous break down!
Just remember folks, wherever you go, there you are-in other words you bring yourself with yourself wherever you go-there's no escaping that.
Oh and to allude to another post there aren't any chain stores within a few hundred kilometers of where I live and I say thank God! Actually, you could probably fit all the merchandise available in all the stores combined into about half an aisle of your average North American super store, if that!