Job Discussion Forums

Lorca · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Calgary

Hi! I'm planning on teaching English in Chile and I'm heading out in January 2007.

Has/Is there anyone that has or is teaching English in Chile??? I'm wondering what my chances are in finding a job. Should I look for work before I arrive or is it better (or easier) to locate a job once I arrive. I do have experience - I've taught in Taipei for a year (will this increase my chances).

I would love to get in contact with someone that has experience teaching in Chile.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

Lorca

kiwisarah · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 6

Hi Lorca,
I have been teaching here in Santiago for four months now, so I'm not an expert, but there are quite a few English teachers as far as I can tell. Most institutes want to have an interview, then observe a demo class, and possibly give you some training, so it's probably best to wait until you get here, but with your experience you should have no problem getting work.
What happens here usually, (again, only speaking from my experience), is you work for an institute but they farm you out to companies where you teach them in their offices. The students are learning in their own time, so the most common times to teach are early in the morning, lunchtime, and in the evening. Which means you can be starting work at eight in the morning, and getting home at eight at night, but really only work five hours during the day. Know what I mean?
And pay goes only on the classes you teach. So if a student calls and says, "I have to go to Brazil for two weeks" that's two weeks without lessons and no pay.
Sorry I don't mean to sound so dismal, it is a good time for the most part, but these are just some things to be aware of. Hopefully you will get some responses to this saying "That kiwisarah doesn't know what she is talking about... it's great, blah blah"
Anyway, good luck, hope to see you sometime in the future, I am actually interested in Taiwan, so would be good to have a beer and hear your take on working over there.

Lorca · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Calgary

Thank you so much for responding to my post! I guess I'm trying to figure out what to do so that I have the best experience possible. I know how it works in Asia and I'm pretty sure it'll be different in Chile...

English teachers are in such high demand in Asia right now...

Did you have a job set up before you went? I'm a little skeptical about signing a contract before meeting any future employer.

Did you have a visa before you went?

Where are you from?

Inquisitive Lorca

PeroPero · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 35 Location: Santiago, Chile

i totally agree with sara.
i'm here for almost 2 months....and i like it, anyway.
(and on MONDAYS, wednesdays and fridays i have classes at 7:30am ��)

guycross · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 6

Hiya, I have been in Santiago just about a month now, I have work from two institutes and my schedule is about full. I arrived with no TEFL/TESL experience - but with a decent English grammer book and enough brains to realise that preparation is everything when you are new i am doing ok... i did train to teach 3-7 year olds in the UK though... but i never taught for a living

i have three 8.30 am starts... which isnt that bad!!!

greinke · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 3 Location: USA

Hey,

I actually lived in Vina del Mar and taught English there for a few months. It was really easy to find a job there. I found my job before I even left. I taught at a school called International Center. It was a pretty cool job in the sense that they pay you well and the students you teach are really nice. On the flip side, the school in general was very disorganized, meaning the director. if you speak Spanish though, you will be fine. If you have any other questions let me know.

Gretchen

chuckenchile · Joined: 10 Sep 2006 Posts: 12

There was recently a large government revaluation of English schools in Chile. Many of the larger volume schools with poor management and methods lost their SENSE accreditation and thus no longer have access to one of the largest parts of the market in Chile. For those that don't know, SENSE is the Chilean government program that pays companies for the cost of their employee education. So watch the stability over the next year of the schools that could not meet the government requirements to be cutting back on teachers and other things.