Job Discussion Forums

[jenny74]

What's the best route to take in securing a job in Mexico....I'm registered for my TEFL with Oxford Seminars and they help with job placement...so I can either secure a job before I go or is it wiser to search while I'm there. And if so, is heading down there in mid July a good time to start a search? I'm looking for a quiet beach town....not into big cities or partying.

[geaaronson]

The beach towns are the most popular among the ESL teaching crowd so you will face some stiff competition.

Cancun is a little easier than either Merida or Campeche to get a job, but you might notice that most of the positions available are in the central corridor of the country, ie Guadalajara, Monterey, and especially distrito federale.

There may be a little more movement in Acapulco than the other beach sites, but keep in mind that the sand dunes are a tough nut to crack.

Mid July is a good time, but possibly earlier might be a big help. In the Yucatan, the prepatories advertise considerably a week before school begins, usually around august 15th or so, but those are probably schools that are not the best to work for and are getting desperate.

For university positions, now is the time to start looking.

The better Language schools will start looking for replacements months before a teacher departs. Don�t expect anything from emailing your resume, most schools in Mexico want to see you in person. Your emailed resume will not mean much. And in the event that a school suddenly loses a teacher who has given very short notice, they will call the first person on the pile and if they can�t get that person by phone, off to the next person on the list.

Your best route to employment success is to go straight to Mexico City. Barring that, hopefully you have enough cash reserves to tide you over for a few months elsewhere.

There does seem to be a small spike in job openings in Chiapas if you are interested. Avoid the Canadian Center in Tuxtla though, it�s a snake pit.
There is a place in Comitan de Dominguez that has had two openings in the past 6 months and lists on the web.

Keep in mind that some language schools don�t pay for several weeks of training such as Harmon Hall. It generally has a decent reputation to work for but you will be giving up a month to sit through all the training at no income. I�ve heard that Berlitz is good to work for as well, but consensus has been that HH is the better of the two.

Interlingua is very difficult to work for. They are very regimented in their teaching methodology. It would have been impossible for me to work for them and I left after one day of training. I was faulted for saying, �Now, repeat after me...Say what I say..�instead of �Repeat� and when the trainer would not let up, I walked out. All the teacher�s instructions are copycat after the teaching template to the very last word. If you are not bothered by such micromanaging, then go with them. I have had too much experience teaching to put up with that.