Job Discussion Forums

[gonzoteacher]

Hello,

I am an ESL teacher in a public school system in the U.S. Being an ESL teacher, I have the itch to move on at times. I would like to know any good job possibilities in Moscow, St. Pete, or large cities in Ukraine.

I have at least 4 relevant years of ESL teaching experience. Two of these were in Ukraine while in the Peace Corps. I grew to love the culture while I was there. This is why I would like to go back to this area.

I have an M.S. in Education with an added certification in TEFL. The coursework is the same as the M.S. in TEFL. I have other teaching experience in American/Social Studies. I also have all but a dissertation in coursework for a Ph.D in Educational Psychology.

I have just tried BKC-IH in Moscow, but strangely enough, they say I don't qualify for a teaching position there. Does anyone have any ideas. I would be able to start my August or September.

Thanks.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Sounds to me like you're qualified to the gills, especially in relation to many of the people one runs across in the CIS. Perhaps BKC-IH is only looking for people they can charge for their courses, and then place them...who knows.
Anyway, seems to me that you could find a job somewhere in Ukraine (Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv, DP, Odessa, et al) easy enough. If you're looking to get rich there, however, it might not be the place; of course, you've lived there before, so I'm sure you know the score.
Don't know much about Russia, sorry. There are a ton of pros on here who can help you out, though.
I have one or two contacts in Ukraine. PM me if you're interested.

[canucktechie]

Sounds strange about BKC - perhaps there was a communications problem.

Anyway the other big school in Moscow is called Language Link, you may want to try them. English First is also big in Moscow if that's your cup of tea.

All the IH schools post their vacancies on www.ihworld.com. BKC is the only IH school in Russia, but there are several in Ukraine. However vacancies are few and usually seem to be filled internally by IH, before being advertised. There are exceptions however - I did see a posting by IH Odessa not long ago.

[Katyusha]

BKC recognises MA TESOL, MS TESOL and MEd TESOL and has employed people with those qualifications.

[Phillip Donnelly]

BKC IH recognise the CELTA, and its bona fide equivalents. The problem is knowing what is a genuine equivalent is, and what is just a worthless TEFL Certificate, handed out like smarties by some many �illustrious� institutions. It�s no easy business sorting the wheat from the chaff either, as there are just so many TEFL certificates out there.
I think jpvanderwerf2001 is being unfair, however, in claiming that BKC reserve their jobs for people who have done the CELTA with them. The fact is the number of new teachers they recruit every year far outnumber the number of people doing the CELTA in Moscow who actually want to work there. When I was DOS there, we recruited about 3 or 4 CELTA graduates from each class, and in a school with over 100 teachers and a high turnover rate, there simply wouldn�t have been enough of them to meet demand, even if we had had that policy.
I�m not saying that Gonzoteacher�s qualifications are not a valid equivalent. It may simply be that they haven�t been officially recognized by the doyens of Cambridge yet. You certainly seem far more qualified (and experienced) that the majority of teachers at BKC, or most of the others schools I�ve worked at, come to think of it.
Perhaps canucktechie is right in advising you to contact recruitment again. I say 'perhaps" because I don�t know the details, and I�m very much �out of the loop� these days.

[Castro]

It sounds like gonzoteacher is qualified enough for any TEFL schools throughout the world.

But you shouldn’t forget that any certificate (recognized or not) is not enough to be accepted.

A bunch of teachers (according to papers very good teachers who would be full of conceit) are rejected because of their not well done pre-interview tasks.

Cheers,

[gonzoteacher]

Just to clarify, my TEFL certification is from one full year of full time university graduate study. Certification in this sense just means qualification.
It is not a certificate, but a qualification. This is opposed to the certificate programs which are from 2 to 4 weeks long. At that point, you are given a certificate and then told, "Alright now, you are a teacher". I may very well be wrong, but aren't the CELTA certificates a 4 week long program? How is this compared to an MS in TEFL or it's equvalent? Of course, Castro is right. I have seen these teachers. Many come into class and read from a book. You should also look at experience, etc. Be your own judge.

But we are digressing from the topic. Like one person said, there are many pros on this board who can help. I am interested in coming to this part of the world to teach. Job boards are good, but the people on the ground provide much better information. If anyone can offer information in this area, it will be much appreciated.

[Phillip Donnelly]

Not too clear what you mean, I'm afraid. Do you want information about teaching in language schools, academies, universities...working for Yukos?
BTW, I wasn't trying to question your credentials, or certification or qualifications, or whatever else you want to call them. However, you may make yourself rather unpopular in a teacher's room by harping on about their superiority to the CELTA in teacher's rooms.

[Volodiya]

Gonzoteacher,

I lived and worked in the CIS for eleven years. You taught English in the Ukraine for two years. You know, without asking anybody, that your qualifications are fine. You know that it's easy to find official work, and tons of privates there. So what's really got you in this holding pattern, if I may ask?