Job Discussion Forums

needadvice · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

Hi,

My husband has been offerred a job which pays 800USD. I am a software engineer and i have done my MSc. I also have a BEC-Vantage certificate from Cambridge University.

I wanted to know if 800USD is good enough to have a decent living in Vietnam. Also can I get a teaching job with the qualifications that I have. I would like to teach English. How soon would I be able to find a teaching job in Vietnam. What would the be pay like for a person not having CELTA or TEFL certificate?

It would be nice if people could respond ASAP as we need this information to decide if my husband should take up the job offer.

Thanks

Riding One · Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 63

800USD in what time period?

Daily, weekly, or monthly?

If it's monthly you'll probably be able to break even.

This mean no savings, but also having your rent, transportation, visa, food expenses covered.

For monthly pay as that, your husband should not be working more than 12 hours per week.

For a total of 48 hours per month.

needadvice · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

Hi,

My husband has been offered a job in the pharma industry... I am not sure if that is the salary that is paid to people there...However, I wanted to know about job oppurtunities for me too.

Hongkonghippo · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 64

[color=cyan]800 a month is extremal low for any company. I know a few Vietnamese that that make more than this in the pharmaceutical area and that is average with the proper credentials.

I mean backpacking hippies can make 1000 a month and this is the bottom for teaching. A qualified teacher should be getting at least 1500-2000 a month. Most companies I know that hire foreigners from abroad start at 2000$ and include a housing allowance, travel allowance and schooling for the children.....800 is a joke and you will struggle to live off of this. Just a decent apartment for 2 is 300-400 and keep in mind that you are going to pay 5 to 10 times the real price for everything until you learn your way around.

In short unless 800$ includes everything else being paid...accommodation, food, and transport it is an insult.[/color]

mononoaware · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 21 Location: saigon, vietnam

Hmm...I don't 100% agree with hkhippo. I know VNese people who make over a thousand a month, but typically, they don't. EFL is one of the most lucrative industries to be in as a foreigner here, so salaries in other fields can often look obscenely low.

That said, two people on eight hundred a month will have to be prepared to find Vietnamese-style housing. (You don't have to pay 400/mo. on housing, but you do if you want someplace new and clean and Westernized.) You'll have to learn to cook with local ingredients or eat cheap street food.

But, you shouldn't necessarily turn it down. Can he negotiate a bit. Negotiation is everything here! Also, if you get a decent teaching job, you guys can be quite comfortable, and teaching jobs are easy to come by. If you decide to go for it, I recommend getting a CELTA or a decent TEFL cert. You'll get a much better job with it. You can even do one here.

needadvice · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

Hi Mononoaware

I have a few questions. It would be nice if I could get answers for them.

Are online TEFL certificates valid? I do not have CELTA or TEFL Certificates. However, I do have a BEC-Vantage Certificate from Cambridge University. Also I am from India.

Given all these conditions, do you think getting a job in HCMC is a viable option?

Incase I do come to Vietnam on visiting visa and convert it to business visa, how long will it take me to find a job there? Will I get a work permit, if I do get into a job?

If the online TEFL certifications are valid, then may be I will enroll for the course now. Also I think there is a lot of paper work done for getting a work permit, what are the documents I need to carry?

I know I am asking a lot of questions, but I want to do things the right way, as I do not want to come back to India, just because I have missed out on a doucument.

Please advice.

Thanks.

nkminh · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 27 Location: HCM City

Good luck with $800.00/m. I was single, living in my own appartment and half-way through the month I had to watch my spending and tighten my belt. If you are Indian, be warned, Vietnamese English schools have one of the most disgusting racial discrimination policies in the World and they make no attempt to hide it. If you are not Westerner (blond hair blue eyed) you'll get paid the local rates-not that they want to, but the parents of the students do. I'm talking about $6-7/h with TEFL papers.
But if you can cook and don't mind it, you can happily survive in VN, but don't expect to save much.
Cheers
M