Job Discussion Forums

[misteradventure]

This company is advertising here on Dave's and I'm a little curious as it seems to be a start-up.

The placement fee is about 3 months' wages!

You provide your own airfare.

There are no guarantees: "For those teacher applicants that are reviewed and accepted by a Chilean teaching institution, TeachingChile provides a number of services" (http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/index.cgi?read=10902) What happens to our money if we 'are not accepted'???

After Enron/WorldComm scandals, I'm a bit cautious about US companies EVERYWHERE. Is this legit? A scam? Anybody ever heard of them? Could I get the same 'help' free from the Board of Education?

I'm gong to need a job next fall, you see...

[geardad]

yo misteradventure,

i've been in touch via email with bruce thompson, managing director of TeachingChile. he indicates they are currently working with a university called DuocUC which has nine campuses in Chile. from their ad it appears they work with other schools as well.

the application fee is usd$50. then if they offer you a position and you you choose to accept the position, the program fee of usd$1200 is due. the program fee does include several helpful benefits, like a health insurance policy and support personnel.

this program sounds like it could be good for someone wanting a support system during their initial entry into Chile, or who wants to have a position lined up before arriving. if you don't need either of these, and especially if you're going to be in Chile for just a year or so, the program fee then becomes a pretty big chunk of change.

if you need more info let me know. i'm thinking about applying to the program for the initial entry benefit. also, this is my first post, so i hope this comes out right.

[AndyRoofman]

I viewed their website and offer with some interest.

I would hope Duoc wuold have campuses outside Santiago in say Valpo/Vina where I ideally want to work, (at university level preferably).

A key question is that the monthly stipent is about $300 000 pesos (by memory from what it says on it's site), from which I assume money for the homestay and tax are taken out. So, yeah, you would be needing time to pay back their $1200 fee.

I noticed on their site it states you work 18 hours at the academic institute you are placed at. The key questions I have are:
Does that exclude lesson preparation, review, marking and (if necessary)cirriculum design time?
Are you prohibited from doing freelance work (ie do TeachingChile insist upon this) outside of the 18 hours per week at your placement?

In an ideal world, one would work 18 hours at the placement school (for $C300 000 per month, in Aussie $ approx680 or $160 per week- therefore $US120 weekly for Yanks) then hopefully find another perhaps 15-20 hours at an institute (Norteamericano, Wall Street etc) for approx $Ch4500 net- $A10-US$8 with any privates icing on the cake to top up my earnings.

If this is possible, then the benefits TeachingChile provide are well worth looking into, given it will be possible to save some money (I save plenty in Korea ATM) and enjoy a ski/snowboard/surfing expedition, depending on season sporadically, maybe once a month.

Perhaps what potentially excites me most about this is working as a TA for a year at a university, then coming back the next year with uni experience and negotiating a contract with a tertiary institution given the experience that would be under the belt and cutting the middleman out of the loop to the tune of $US1200. I'd love to know if TeachingChile sign some sort of exclusivity agreement with the schools in this regard.

[geardad]

AndyRoofman asks some good questions, most of which would need to be answered by TeachingChile. Their website, www.TeachingChile.com, has an email address for interested persons to contact them, and they responded very quickly to me when I initially contacted them.

As far as the 18 hours per week of work, I'm relatively sure that is 18 contact hours of actual teaching. My son and several of his friends are teaching university level English in Russia and some of the former Soviet Republics (CIS), and they indicate you need to plan on 1 hour of prep for each contact hour. If the TeachingChile university positions match their experience, there would be some time to pick up privates/institute work, but not 15-20 hours worth - assuming there is no exclusivity agreement with TeachingChile.

[flax]

i'm going through teachingchile so i'll let you know how it goes.

i didn't want to teach in Santiago and that's the main reason why i chose them. The director called me the day he received my application and has been in contact ever since.

The process was very very quick so I assume not many people have applied yet as the deadline is Oct.

I'm going to be teaching at the duoc in Valpo o Vi�a, and they already have a set course syllabus to follow etc. They're structured with a more American system.

I didn't want to teach children, and I wanted to teach university age. Perfect. The price is comparable to other TEFL courses I've seen, plus you get a job guaranteed. I lived in Chile for a year so I'm very happy to be going back to Valpo.

[grillo]

has anyone gone through this program yet? I am thinking of doing it myself but haven't found any comments from people who've actually done it.

[-Stu-]

Guys

I'm sure you've read the other posts on here so you'll be aware that there are lots of TEFL opportunities in Chile, and these are opportunities that you don't have to pay a third of your annual salary to.

Ch$300,000 per month isn't a great deal of money here, certainly not enough to live comfortably.

I would seriously think about it before forking out US$1200.

[flax]

I agree that $300000 isn't that much working fulltime, but looking at the website with TeachingChile you work an 18 hour week in class. So I guess it depends on how much you want to work and look for private students or teach with another institute. Unless you earn more than that working 18 a week. Since I don't know how much you make

And there are a bunch of opportunities in Santiago but not necessarily in the outer regions if you want something secure before you go.

[-Stu-]

Hmm 18 hours per week and $300,000 per month works out at $3846 per hour, which is a way lower than 'normal' Chilean teaching wages.

There are lots of opportunities outside of Santiago through the plethora of mining companies, gas companies and of course the military/navy/airforce if that's your thing.

Look you guys are intelligent enough to make your own decisions but it strikes me as strange to opt to pay an institute to get work, especially in a country where it is so easy to obtain work. I know it's common to have to pay to get voluntary places in many Latin American countries, but in Chile it's just not necessary.

Maybe I'm just cynical but it seems strange that this thread is being 'bigged-up' by people that haven't posted on this forum before.

[flax]

sorry! i have posted on this forum before, and.. well i don't think i should have to justify my credentials on a message board. i at least am not trolling if that's what you're implying.

i know someone who's going the route of teaching marinos and le van a pagar callampa. bueno. es que a mi me parece util tener un trabajo ya fijo cuando me voy. y probablemente es que tmbn ya tengo bastante plata y quiero la experiencia y el prestigio de un instituto conocido por todo chile... y de all� vamos a ver que pasa despu�s de que termina mi contrato. and ni cagando trabajar�a para una mina. (jaja bueno una jefa si, una compania mineria no.)

if anyone has questions about the process i went through, pm me so i won't keep "bigging up" this post to the top.

[-Stu-]

My post was not meant as a dig at you at all. I was only offering advice as someone that actually lives and works in Chile. The bit about working for a mine was only a suggestion, which I think you may of misunderstood as I wasn't suggesting that you bring your pickaxe!

I hope you enjoy Chile, it's a great place to live. Best of luck.

Stu

[flax]

oh i was making a play on words...

you know how una mina in spanish means an actual mine ...and in chilean slang it means an attractive girl? (well mino/a can mean be used when referring to any guy or girl too, but it generally means they're attractive.)

so i was saying that i would work for any girl "mina", but not for a mine "mina".

jaja..ja?

but yeah i got that you were suggesting looking to work and teach english through other routes.