Job Discussion Forums

[Pennypacker1]

Hey guys, I�m coming up to the end of my first year in Venezuela (Caracas specifically), the jury�s still out as to whether I�ll being sticking around for another year but I thought I would at least share my experiences as there is not a lot of information out there about the TEFL situation here.

The Situation

In my particular situation I was contracted (very casually) outside of Venezuela and offered the position before I arrived. This has been the situation with almost every foreign language I have met during my time here. The downside to this (as was the case with me) is that there are an absolute ton of variables.
I have to say honestly that if I had known what Venezuela was like before I came, I would not have taken the job. Previously I had travelled through almost every country in South America and lived for an extended period in Brazil. Venezuela is a completely different kettle of fish.

For starters it�s very expensive. Over a century of reliance on the petroleum means that little is actually produced within Venezuela, as such the majority of things must be imported, along with the costs that are involved. Supermarket prices in the major cities are easily the equal of the U.S. and Western Europe. Currently (Jan 2007) the government values the �cesta basica� which is supposedly the cost of living in Venezuela at around $500 per month. Considering the minimum wage here is a little under $300 per month you can see how tough it can be for the average person.

The Salary

However thanks to the fact that you are a highly skilled, well experienced, stylishly dressed ESL professional with impeccable references,, you don�t have to worry so much about feeding yourself. There are several international franchise schools operating in Venezuela (such as Inlingua, Wall Street etc.) and most of them have at least a couple of poor foreign souls contracted. The current salary for these schools is in the range of US$600-650 per month. However there are differences between these schools as to whether they pay vacations etc. The problem is, as I mentioned before, Venezuela is quite expensive. Really to not be worrying about finances you would want to be earning around US$1000 a month. This figure is possible to achieve as a base salary but not very often from outside the country, really you would have to show your level of ability, presentation etc. before trying to negotiate a figure like that or upwards. Another option is a private college or an organisation like the Centro Venezolano Americano that basically recruits Americans and Canadians for an intern-like situation.

Note: In Merida, the capital of the Venezuelan Andean region this situation is quite different due to the large number of travellers as it is firmly on the backpacking route. The pay and stability would be a lot less (I believe) but there are more opportunities and the environment is in general nicer and a lot cheaper.

Note: On no account enter into an agreement where you will be paid per class especially in larger cities like Caracas or Maracaibo, as mentioned in other posts, Latin American students are not the most motivated, organised or punctual and even if they are serious about studying. The way that the cities are here, if there�s a car crash in some part of the city (no matter how remote) the whole place will be in worse than usual gridlock. Or if it rains, they don�t like to go out in the rain, but maybe that�s a hair thing. So what might look like a pretty full schedule and nice wad of cash on paper can easily be reduced by more than 50% (this is not an exaggeration). Always go with the fixed salary for a fixed maximum amount of hours. Trust me.

The Benefits

With the exception of the British Council in Caracas not one of them (to my knowledge) employ you legally under Venezuela�s quite advanced (for Latin America, thanks Hugo) workplace relations laws. Technically you should receive, on top of your salary, a �utilidades� payment of around two months salary at the end of each calendar year, however to get this you need to have at least 12 months with the company (This basically amounts to a paying out of dividends on the company�s profits). The company also should organize a compulsory savings account �caja de ahorro� for you from which you can withdraw at any time (I�m still a little hazy on that one but I know the money comes out of your salary). There are also health insurance and issues about benefits that need to be discussed with any prospective employer. They will all tell you that they are not required to pay these payments to foreigners but that�s a lie.

The Place You Call Home.

There is crime, traffic, pollution, noise in Venezuela but one of the most difficult things to with is the accommodation situation. As in most Latin American countries there is no culture of �share�housing�, people just live with their parents until they get married (or even afterwards). I personally lived in a hotel for almost a month (expensive) before taking a room with a less than ideal family in an even less than ideal part of the city. By that time I was sick from eating junk food and a lot poorer. Again, almost every foreign teacher I have met, basically rents a room from a family. Some situations are better than others (you can use to laundry, kitchen etc.) but these are definitely the exceptions. This option would cost you in the region of US$120 per month, but no visitors!, no smoking!, no drinking!, no coming home late!

Some people are lucky to find apartments owned by Venezuelans who live abroad and are not keen to rent to other Venezuelans due to the country�s very pro-tenant rental laws (once again, thanks Hugo). This feeds into the cycle as a lot of apartments in Caracas are just lying empty because the owners don�t want to risk renting them out. Thus, the ones that are on the rental market are horrendously expensive. To highlight the situation, in Caracas, a city of around 5 million people (but who really knows) on an average day there might be a dozen apartments advertised for rent, some asking for up to six months deposit. If you want a room the situation is even more dire, maybe about 5 or 6 advertised daily. If you take up a position in Venezuela outside of the country, you really should have the employer organise a couple of options before you arrive, that, is after letting them know what you would prefer.

The Visa

Most of the foreign teachers I have come into contact are just working on a student visa issued in their country of origin at a usually exorbitant price. So remember if you are employed on conditions any less than mentioned here then it is illegal and the employer is opened to being sued (as happened recently to a major English school). But as always in Latin America, the law is a flexible concept and in the end it�s up to you whether Venezuela is worth the hassle.

The Hassle.

Note: This section is comprised entirely of personal opinion and sweeping generalizations

More than likely if you take a job to teach English in Venezuela you will be in Caracas. After almost a year here I can say that I am definitely not a fan. Planned (if you can even say that) around the motor car, the city is becoming quite spread out at the wealthy move into the hills away from the encroaching urban slums. It�s quite likely that you could be working up there for a posh school but the bad part is you won�t be able to afford living there. So your daily routine may involve up to an hour of travel. Metro, bus, another bus, jeep. But if you are lucky enough to live AND work on the metro line you will have no problems. The metro is clean, cheap, safe and convenient.

One bummer is, that for a city the size of Caracas, there is really not that much going on culturally, compared to a city like Bogota for example. There are really no accessible plazas or parks with outdoor cafes and restaurants to take advantage of the fantastic weather. No pedestrian culture at all.

Venezuelan culture is aggressively lowbrow, but that can be great sometimes, especially if you�re into beer and salsa. The women are beautiful in a surgically enhanced kind of way and the men are fat. But if you don�t look like you�ve spent a couple of grand on your outfit, the women tend to ignore the foreign male in the better clubs. However if you�ve made it to South America with your sense of humor (and dress sense) intact you�ll probably have a lot of fun.

One myth floating around is that Caracas is a beach city. While technically it�s true that it does lie on the coast, the main bridge linking the city to the coast on the other side of the mountain literally fell down earlier this year. The circuitous alternative route makes sure that any trip to the �city� beaches will be an hours long commute (That is if the police don�t close the road completely for some very good reason known only to them!) Also, if you�re into a bit of socialist tourism, like a lot of people visiting Caracas seem to be. You�ve got the chance to see a real live revolution in progress. Bet you can take back some great pictures to show to your friends at the downtown Marxist book club over a couple of chardonnays!!

If you�ve managed to negotiate a nice salary you�ll probably get to see a bit of the country, personally I would recommend the southern areas Canaima, Roraima, Angel Falls etc. These areas are really unique but compared to the rest of South America, super expensive to visit. But really they are worth the money. Venezuela�s beaches are often raved about but I don�t see the fuss. They�re often crowded, full of trash and a hundred cars all pumping reggaeton from their sound systems. Some of the more isolated beaches are quite nice but really nothing special compared to Brazil or the rest of the Caribbean.

The Dirt

So, in conclusion I would say that if you are into having a unique teaching experience, free from smelly backpackers and a quite good salary by Latin American standards then you should come. There really is a lot of potential here as there are probably less than 20 native English teachers in Caracas. Could translate into some nice cash (One school has Romanian, Polish and Finnish teachers here because they can�t attract native speakers) if you�re willing to research the situation and negotiate a good enough deal.
But beware, if you want friendly natives, delicious food, cheap beer and palm fringed white sands, you should probably avoid this crazy country!

Any more questions, just ask. Always happy to help!

penny packer!

[Jyulee]

A fun post to read - but is Caracas really that bad?

It was also interesting to read about such high prices because of reliance on imports. Here too (Colombia) there is an almost two-tier pricing policy between domestically produced stuff and the things imported from the states. So, locally produced basics (like beer, rice, etc...) are several times cheaper than their western counterparts - while luxuries (cars, computers) come at western prices.

A "good salary" here is still not much by western standards, so a westerner on a foreign contract here will be able to buy all the beer and rice that he or she needs, but will only be able to get a car through a "pay for it over 25 years credit" type of deal.

Anyway, I was thinking of maybe going to Venezuela one day, but now perhaps not!

[Dragonlady]

deleted

out of date

[Pennypacker1]

Hey woah!! the last thing I want to do is put anyone of coming to the glorious boliviarian republic!! hehe but I would like anyone coming here to be as informed as possible, something that I missed out on unfortunately...
oh well live and learnn..

anyway I can't comment on the difference between Venezuela and Colombia... yet to make it across the border, but hopefully ill be getting across in February to see what all the fuss is about... fuss about Bogota at least...

I wouldn't say Caracas is that bad... it's just compared to alot of other Latin American cities.. all the influences... Spanish, American etc. are all quite undigested..

[DirtGuy]

Pennypacker,

Great post. Learned a lot.

I was in the Merida and San Cristobal area many years ago and always wanted to return. Now I'm planning on having something of mid-life crisis and wish to teach overseas for a while. It's either now or never. Do you know anything about the job situation in either of those cities or the region in general? Have a steady income from investments in the US so money is not a problem.

Also, what about language schools that teach Spanish to gringos? My idea is to attend one for maybe 6 months to improve my Spanish while I see what the work situation is like. Are there schools like this in that region.

Any info you can give me is great.

DirtGuy