Job Discussion Forums

just noel · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 168

Hello all,

I've been reading for a while and now I've decided to ask a question.

I'm coming to Saigon in September. BA, CELTA and 2.5 years experience.

What are the top 3 school I should consider working for?

I'll ask around when I arrive, but I'd like to get a heads up.

What schools should be avoided?

Thanks to anybody who cares to respond.

-Noel

VC · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 35

I'm not sure what are considered the top three schools. I've been told several times by Vietnamese people that VUS (Hoi Viet My) is the top English school in HCMC.

Mr Wind-up Bird · Joined: 22 Sep 2004 Posts: 196

Depends what you mean by "good schools". Schools like ILA and VUS are very popular with people who study there, but seem to get a lot of complaints from teachers.

Proffeshnial Teachman · Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 60

ILA and VUS post jobs occasionally on this site. Ask yourself why they have to post. There are loads of schools in Saigon, but there are issues at ILA and VUS that make them unsuitable for some people. On no account should you accept a job directly from the internet, find out for yourself what suits you when you get there.

Best school: RMIT, but even that has issues......

NYCLizzie · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:46 pm Post subject: Top 3 Schools Saigon

I would love to hear from somebody who has taught/is teaching at a school in Saigon: particularly one of these three!

What, exactly, are the problems that teachers have experienced? What are the "issues"?

And when would it be the best time to arrive to seek out work after January 1?

Thanks!

Proffeshnial Teachman · Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 60

Alot of the 'issues' arise from the manager - staff relationship. Two schools previous mentioned are/have been subject to problems of this nature.

I worked at VUS and got on very well with the person in charge, no problems at all. I suppose where you get a workplace you going to get workplace issues and alot of this depends on interpersonal relationships.

The students were mostly excellent in all the many schools I taught in, with some exceptions in the richer teen bracket who were difficult. I found out through trial and error that these kids must be crushed. Threaten them with the ultimate sanction: you will contact their parents, after that they will crumble like dust and be as good as gold. All the adults I taught were exceptionally dedicated, bright and just plain fun to teach.

Schools hire all year long so the only possible problem is around 'tet' - late January/early Feb and celebrations go on for 1-2 weeks, but even that isn't a disaster.

lizarddoctor · Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Posts: 141 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

There really isn't a top school. There are tons of schools, but most don't give you the traditional full time work schedule that many people outside of Vietnam are used to having. As far as some schools that will give you a traditional full time job if you are a fully qualified teacher (not just an ESL certified teacher) South Saigon International School in District 7 and International School HCMC in District 2 are highly recommended. Daytime hours, nice salary and benefits, nice school orientated facilities, no weekends, and summers off. Most of the rest are just private language centers and have some serious upsides and downsides. Choosing some of them to actually be recommended as a top school depends on how you live your daily life outside of school. As for myself, I don't work into the late evenings. So the big meat-grinder schools are out for me.

just noel · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 168

Mr Wind-up Bird · Joined: 22 Sep 2004 Posts: 196

An alternative is to work in the corporate sector as an in-house teacher/trainer. I did it part-time for a year and have now gone full-time, the benefits being a full-time contract, regular hours, a much better salary than language schools, paid holidays, sick pay, more prep time and fewer contact hours. I've also been given the chance to diversify into writing web content/brochures/PR copy, managing website projects, and doing skills training.

Also, the environment is way more professional than any school I've ever worked at - compared to my last job, it makes a nice change to be surrounded by competent people who actually give a damn about what they're doing (rather than some of the wasters I had to put up with before), and where management treat staff with respect. The downside is there are no other expats to have a bit of lunchtime banter with, and my work is subjected to more scrutiny than it would be at a school, but I can live with that.

Such jobs are hard to come by but, as lizarddoctor posted above, once you've got yourself established and built up a network of contacts, the work tends to find you.