Job Discussion Forums

[Mnizzle]

Is it possible if I take the course with BKC that I will be hired by English first or language link? I want to position myself in the CELTA course that will ensure the best job prospects. If that means taking CELTA with the school that offers the most benefits to its employees, I would consider taking CELTA directly through that school. Which school is best to its employees?

I have a place to stay in between the course and my employment. How much time do you think it will be between completing the course and getting a job? THese schools say that I have to go abroad to extend my visa after the course, to Estonia or the Ukraine. How long will it take to get my visa? Can I do it in Finland?
Thank you all so much for your responses. This is a very helpful website!!

[canucktechie]

A small clarification - Russian visas cannot be extended, you have to leave the country and get a new one.

I do know that you can get one day service on visas in Helsinki. It will cost you. A good place for visa questions is www.expat.ru.

As for the major schools, they all pay about the same, so you would probably make your choice based on other factors. I looked at the EF website a little while ago and got the impression that you had to work 35 academic hours and find your own accommodation. As for BKC vs LL, if you have a preference it would make sense to take the CELTA at the school at which you would like to work.

[steven_gerrard]

Language Link Russia don't run CELTA courses any longer. If you choose to take the course at BKC, do ask them what are the chances of securing a position with them upon completion of the course- as far as I am aware it is rather low (Didn't someone on here say 30%?)

If you do plan to do the BKC CELTA course then seek alternative employment within Moscow/ Russia, get this sorted out before you arrive in the country. Your bargaining power and benefits decrease massively if you are already here. If you apply in-country, you will definitely lose out on flight reimbursement. You may not get accommodation or visa support and perhaps will only be offered hourly-paid work. As a newly-qualified, inexperienced teacher, this is not a good position to be in.

When you're out of country, the language schools need you more than you need them. If you're already here it's the other way round -they know it and take full advantage of it.

[kja]

The only CELTA course I know of here in Moscow is the intensive course offered through BKC. It's a month of 8-9 hour days, 6 days a week and quite stressful to say the least. While they do offer visa support and a place to stay you do have to pay extra for it.

From what I know, the visa is a year-long, multi-entry and the accommodations are shared apartments in the inner suburbs (i.e.: not in the center, but not in the boondocks either), though some are on the outskirts of town.

At the end of the CELTA course, we heard the recruitment schpeel through BKC and a lot of us were shocked. 500 bucks a month if you wanted to stay in their housing and I think 750 if you didn't. However, given the fact that you will NOT find an apartment in Moscow for less than 400 bucks a month, I reckon you should stick with their housing. They have a pseudo-health plan (you pay for health care at a selected Russian hospital and they reimburse you later). As far as preference goes, BKC may give you some because you spent a lot of money to take their course, but you're not guaranteed a job. My suggestion is that you job hunt when you get a chance and don't sell yourself short. Having that certification is a major plus in your favor.

When it's time for a visa trip, the Baltics are a nice place to go. I used to go to Vilnius all the time and never had a problem with their consular section. Recently I went to Riga and found out that the "srochna" (visa in a day) visas take 6 days to process due to some new law, though I talked them down to 3. Now, I didn't go through an agency--I dealt with the consulate myself. It was kind of a pain in the tuckus, but I'm used to bureaucracy and can speak Russian so it was no worse for me than any other day. Your results may vary. The paperwork is going to be the same regardless of where you go but if you don't speak Russian, you may be better off going through a visa company. However, if you're up for an adventure and/or really wish to experience the wringer that is Russian bureaucracy, this is an option to consider.

It all comes down what you think holds more value--your time or your money. Good luck!

[canucktechie]

[BELS]

Mnizzle, may I suggest you take a recognised TEFL course in your own country and area first, you may find it a lot cheaper, Perhaps courses are subsidised in USA like the UK. When you complete your course, you can then start shopping around for the right job in Russia.

Recently I discovered that employment agencies such as bonne.ru are a good start for finding employment in Moscow. I saw offers of up to $40 an academic hr , one vacancy was 800 GBP per month, another $4000 per month.

Visas, one idea is to learn russian, a few courses per week, and get a years invitation visa from the school, and then start working

[Mnizzle]

Hello all...
I am from the US (Pittsburgh), but I have an uncle who lives in London. I am planning on vacationing to the UK at the end of the summer and might be able to stay on with him after my trip to do the course. SInce there is no CELTA course in my area, this is appealing. If I were to get certified in, say, September, how soon after my certification would I receive job offers? I believe I could stay on with my uncle for about 6 weeks before feeling like I have overstayed my welcome. If worse comes to worse, I have some means to travel around Europe for a month or so, but after that I will probably need a job. Is it likely that I will get a job offer in that time? If I am in the UK will these programs reiumburse me with the amount that they tend to reiumburse Americans?
Maureen

[canucktechie]

I don't want to sound too negative, but the peak hiring time for teachers pretty well everywhere is September or perhaps the start of October, and schools are recruiting for that right now. I know that BKC also has a hiring period starting in February. Vacancies do occur year round of course in various places, but this is mostly due to contingencies (i.e. teachers quitting mid-term, or just not showing up). Certainly if you have a CELTA you should be able to get a job somewhere, perhaps for a partial school year.

[Katyusha]

From what I know from ex-BKC/BIS teachers:

- BKC gets CELTA trainees 3-month single entry visa.
- Less than 30% of BKC's CELTA trainees stay on to work for them. 2 or 3 out of every batch.
- BKC run CELTA courses to make money. It is just another course offered by BKC and it is the most profitable course they have to date.
- visas can be extended! Everything comes with a 'price' and it can be done.
- BKC salary packages go by your passport and not where you do your CELTA course.
- $300 of housing allowance! Not likely. They are NOT that generous. Perhaps the DOS gets that for his/her houseing allowance?
- If you have a teaching degree, you can earn a decent living teaching children & teens in international schools in Russia. With a CELTA, you might still get a position teaching EFL in an international school but with less pay.
- BKC's mission is to be the largest privately-owned language school in Russia. Please note that the largest does NOT mean the best.
- BKC is a good place for newly-trianed EFL teachers.

[steven_gerrard]

I agree with Katyusha- both BKC and Language Link are good places to work if you're a newly-qualified teacher. While you're learning your trade, you'll be given lots of academic and pastoral support, everything will be sorted out for you- from visa invitation to accommodation and registration and you'll be provided with an instant social life. And that's exactly what you need in a first teaching job. The job itself will be hard enough in your first year so you don't want to be worrying about all the other stuff- let someone else take care of that.

Bels is a little optimistic about the prospects for a new teacher in Moscow. There may well be jobs advertised which pay $40 an hour or �800 a month. However, as someone who is new to the teaching world, you just won't get these jobs. The salaries paid at BKC and LL are the going rate for these kind of places.

Freelancing in Moscow is not an option for a new teacher. Apart from not actually knowing what you are doing, if you had to sort out your own visa, work-permit, accommodation and everything else- where would you start? I have been here for 5 years and let me tell you, it's not something I'd like to have to do all on my own, never mind if I was new here.

[BELS]

Yes , I totally agree with Steven-gerrard , Unfortunately their is not much option apart from the two major schools for prospective teachers arriving in Russia for the first time. I could not have survived finaancially in Moscow without the assistance of my now Russian wife.

Wouldnt it be a great idea if these agencies could expand their services? and provide the whole package? By the whole package I mean travel, work invitation and accomadation arrangements.

[canucktechie]

Just a quibble - BKC really does pay $300/month housing allowance. This is not any kind of giveaway, as you cannot rent anything for less than $600/month (all inclusive) near the metro in Moscow today. As well, people living on their own have to deal with landlord and registration hassles themselves, which can be a giant pain.

Also, some people might infer from the post that BKC's CELTA program is inferior in some way due to the school's undisputed profit orientation. I know the CELTA tutors myself, and they are just as good as the people who taught my own course (elsewhere).

Apart from this, I fully agree that starting teaching in Russia is challenging enough without taking on the whole range of hassles that goes with living independently, and that going with BKC or LL is a very good idea for a newcomer.

[Xenophile]

Just to give you an update from the horse's mouth, as it were, from September the starting salary for a full-time contract at BKC will be $650 per month, and hourly-paid teachers can earn up to $18 per academic hour (45 minutes). A flat is provided for full-time teachers, or you can take the monthly rent allowance of $300. Normally you can expect to share with one other teacher, though EMT members can have a single flat. The school also organises visa registration with the landlord for full-time teachers.
As for taking teachers from the CELTA course, it really depends on the timing. Our biggest intake of teachers is in the autumn, and if you finish a CELTA course successfully in late summer, you have a good chance of employment with us, as we take about 90% of trainees on in some capacity (either full-time or freelance) at this time. At other times, there may only be freelance positions available.
We also invest a lot of energy, money and human resources in teacher-training-we have two trainers working on a full-time contract, as well as a large EMT who are also involved in teacher-training/support, and this really makes a difference to teachers, especially the newly-qualified ones. Some people stay on to develop their career with us, while others find other good jobs in Moscow or elsewhere-lots of schools here willingly offer part-time positions to ex-bkc teachers.

[BELS]

Are there any schools offering western standard wages. $650 month is well below the uk legal minimum wage. Isn't BKC a British company?
Is Moscow not claimed to be the fourth most expensive City in the World.

To be honest I could not afford to survive as a family on this income, even if my wife was contributing with the same income. Brits are better off staying at home and claiming unemployment benefit.

How do you manage to attract English native speakers to leave their country, come to Moscow and work as a professional EFL Teacher?

[steven_gerrard]

Brits are certainly NOT better off claiming the dole either financially or in any other way. Have you ever signed on Bels? Do you know how soul-sapping it is not to work? In addition, the minimum wage in Britain is �4.85 per hour, so assuming you work 24 hours a week-standard in teaching I think, for minimum UK wage, then your monthly salary woud be around �500 (just a bit less than $1000) so when you consider accommodation costs, it's about the same.

$650 or whatever is enough to live on when your accommodation is provided. I did it well enough for two years and had a great time. As you get more experienced and confident as a teacher, you can pick up private work if you want. Don't forget you and your colleagues/ friends will all be on a similar screw so you'll live accordingly. Moscow can be an expensive place to live but it can also be very cheap - you just cut your cloth.

If you have a family to support then of course $650 isn't enough. I don't think anyone who has kids would apply for the position in the first place.- it would be irresponsible to do so. However, as almost all newly-qualified teachers do not have families and have only themselves to please, the salaries at BKC and LL and the like are sufficient. The companies don't aim to employ those with families- rather younger people looking for a start in EFL.

The only schools in Moscow who pay anything like salaries you'd get at home would probably be the BIS and the British Council- both of which (despite what some members post on these boards) are very difficult to secure employment with.