Job Discussion Forums

chek · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

Hello,

I know that this must have been asked a million times and I hate to be that dude. I have a CELTA, and Bachelors of Conservation from the College of Santa Fe in NM, and have 1 and a half years of experience teaching ESL. I have taught in Korea for a year and have been here in Vietnam, where I am currently, for awhile. I am interested in heading back towards North America and my home of Santa Fe, NM. I have had a love for Mexico for a long time and am wondering what I can expect with my experience. I tried to search on this datatbase for a long time and can not find the info. Sorry to ask again but,

What is a base salary in most rural places like Jalisco for someone with a CETLA, BA, and one year experience? Can one save money or is the cost of living somewhere fabulous what you get?

Will places offer paid vacation or holidays, room, or flight? I would guess no on the last two but thought it worth a try. Any info would be much appreciates. Best wishes, Matt

mapache · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 202 Location: Villahermosa

Matt,
In obscure places like Chiapas you should be able to at least earn about MX$ 8,000 per month. About $800 US.
Some schools include and apartment - others have greedy owners who rent you a substandard place for a huge amount. Rent could be as little as $100 US per month up to $300 not leaving you much to live on. Groceries are less. To use the Chiapas example, they are about half the price as in a big city like San Francisco.
Meals are about $3 US each. Hope this helps. PS: ignore some regulars here who have no patience with questions they regard as repetitive in "their" exclusive forum.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

chek · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

that works, thank you all so much. I'm off to teach these crazy little 10 year old Vietnamese Students

mapache · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 202 Location: Villahermosa

gee, Guy, tranquilo - when I said "some" of the regulars, I wasn't referring to you. You're one of the nicer "regulars" :-]

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

It really does depend on the area. In the part of the country where I am, what you could earn in rural, small-town locations would most likely be zero, simply because chances of finding a job teaching EFL in those areas would be close to zero. The few schools that you might find outside of the cities are usually owned and run by one or two people who do all the teaching themselves.

If you were interested in coming to this part of the country, with your qualifications and experience, you'd most likely be able to find jobs at private language schools in the city rather easily, but I think your best bet would be to try to connect with a regular private school, either a prepa or university. I doubt that you'd find any schools here that would provide housing or air fare . . . or even help with the cost of your work visa. Most private language schools don't offer paid holidays or vacations. Teacher's pay is generally very low here compared to the cost of living. However, if you lived conservatively and worked lots of hours, you could get by on your earnings and save enough for short trips now and then. With a bit of luck, you could break even at the end of your first year here.

asi va · Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 19

I don`t have first hand information to offer, but this thread got me to thinking about another I had read. Although the posts wander off subject quite a bit, there are enough solid examples of Mexican cost of living to keep anyone reading until sheer boredome takes over. I can`t imagine running out of examples before that happens.

http://forums.mexonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=881

MELEE · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:10 pm Post subject:

Chek

What time of year are you looking to start? Are you interested in places further south than Jalisco? How about a university where students study Environmental Engineering? I could send you the contact details. PM me if you would consider the state of Oaxaca.