Job Discussion Forums

[eddievedder]

I am moving to Chile the first week in September to teach English. I have some questions of which I was hoping some of you would have the answers.

1) Have any of you or your friends had luck finding work outside of Santiago--if so, where? I am interested in teaching in a smaller city and was looking for some suggestions.

2) What were your experiences with pay per hour when you first got started in Chile?

3) Are there any things that you have found difficult to find/purchase in Chile that would otherwise be easily located back home?

Thanks for reading this. Any help would be much appreciated.

~Jake

[eileen]

A friend of mine who went to Uni in Valparaiso told me that private English teachers there make closer to 5,000 an hour. Here in Santiago, 10-15 is not uncommon.

But Valpo (while charming, historic, etc) is actually quite depressed and dilapidated in parts, so I'm not sure if that's the case in other cities. Perhaps you could do better in La Serena, Concepcion or Valdivia. Certainly, the cost of living will have an impact on how much you can make.

Outside of Santiago, there might be alot you couldn't find. In Santiago, between the tostadurias (dry goods shops), and Jumbo (fancy grocery store), most things are available. The women's clothes don't quite fit right, and decent underwear costs a mint. I have never found vanilla, maple syrup is scandalously expensive. Tampons are tricky to find, and OB are not available (if you're bringing a ladyfriend with you). Bring any cold medicines or remedies you like to take, as an equivalent may not be found. Like Chloraseptic, sudafed, etc. Ibuprofen is expensive.

That's all I can think of at the moment. In Santiago, you can find most everything. In a smaller city, this is much less likely. Bring books in English. There are just a handful of places to find English books used, and they're pretty pricey. Finding them new is even harder.