Job Discussion Forums

James Hetfield · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Los Angeles

Reading forum it seems American EFL teachers are locked out of Western Europe. How about East Europe, new EU nations? Do the British enjoy an EFL teacher monopoly there too, because it is so easy for them to legally work in EU? What is market like for Americans who want to teach in EU nations, especially new EU / East Europe? Razz

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

North Americans are still eligible for legal working papers for the 'new' EU member countries. Laws vary by country, obviously, and the legalities pose more-or-less formidable hassles, but it's doable in general.

Check specific country forums for info by country. There's a very useful current thread on the Poland forum just now, for example.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

British AND Irish, please ! Ireland is also a EU member state ! As will Scotland be when we get our independence !

ecocks · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland

it's doable in most places. Just the bureacracy in different countries creates greater or lesser hassles and angst. Company support for the process is becoming more and more a critical concern.

Negotiate that as an absolute requirement before coming to the country for employment. If already here, make them do it and don't hesitate to refuse to work if they won't.

SF21 · Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 72 Location: California

I can attest that as an American who's tried, it's next to impossible to secure a sponsor in Hungary...in Budapest at least. Plenty of Brits there already doing the job. Needing a work visa wouldn't be so much of an issue, but the Schengen Agreement inclusion of the newer EU nation states now makes it so.

There's the Central European Teaching Program, which will get you a work visa, free accommodation and job placement in a rural Hungarian public school, but you have to pay them around $2K and provide a lot of documentation.

Otherwise lots of red tape in Hungary.

James Hetfield · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Los Angeles

Great responses! Let's keep it up. Sorry to hear about Budapest. How about Prague CZ for Americans? How about Russia, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania? Razz

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I suggest you read the Czech Rep forum, current threads. There is lots of info on all the country-specific forums. If you spend a bit of time doing research, you can then ask more specific questions, if you need more info.

john_n_carolina · Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 700 Location: n. carolina

James Hetfield · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Los Angeles

You pay them to work instead of them paying you? Isn't that the kind of slavery Chinese girls get chained to in Saipan or Los Angeles sweatshops? Why would any migrant pay for the right to work for free? Shocked

NEVER pay a fee to a job placement agency. NEVER pay a broker or immigrant coyote or slave trader. Evil or Very Mad

I teach EFL as a career and need to make money. I know you won't get rich teaching EFL in East Europe, but you should at least be able to make a living and enough to pay for an airline ticket back out. What am I missing here? Rolling Eyes

ecocks · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland

I just don't get the "pay me a fee and I'll get you a job" mentality, at least not for TEFL. There are just too many jobs available. Possibly I could understand if someone had a lock on supplying teachers to some elite school operation in the Alps or the ME if the salaries were $50+K and it came with a semi-detached living arrangement or something. But come on - $2,500? You wouldn't break even for half a year or more.

James Hetfield · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Los Angeles

Exactly. Open any American newspaper help wanted ads and you will find jobs with tiny print at bottom: "broker fee $200" Almost no one would be dumb enough to pay. American job counselors warn: NEVER PAY A FEE FOR THE RIGHT TO WORK
Yet Chinese girls pay brokers fortunes so the girls can be sent to American Saipan to slave for American fabric sweatshops. They make almost no money and wind up giving most of what they make to these coyote slavers. Why? Why do Mexicans pay coyotes fortunes to be smuggled into USA to earn minimum wage? Makes no sense no matter what your career. Doesn't matter if you dress it up as some kind of nonprofit government program. NEVER PAY A FEE Cool

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

From my memory of job ads, I think you'll find that there are some schools - mainly in Poland, if I remember rightly - that actually prefer US/Canadian native speakers. A few Russian places do, or at least aren't fussy about what type of native speaker they take.

canucktechie · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 343 Location: Moscow

Russian schools aren't fussy about a whole lot, because it's hard to get people to work there. They hire a lot of non-native speakers.

Also note that Russia is not an EU member so it doesn't matter where you're from as far as visa issues are concerned.

jonniboy · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:14 pm Post subject:

Latvian language centres I've worked at have had a few Latvian Canadians working there but Americans seem to be really thin on the ground here, I rarely meet any American tourists. That's not to say you would have problems, there's a serious lack of native speakers here and so I don't think you'd have any problems.

Extraordinary Rendition · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:28 pm Post subject:

When I worked in the EU some years ago, the requirement was that the employer had to 'show' that they had 'sufficiently' advertised the position and that no EU national was available for the job. However, German schools run a lot of adverts for 'freelancers' to teach at clients' premises and don't specify that an EU nationality is required (see TEFL.com). They sometimes say they want someone already in Germany, but not always, and often say they prefer applicants with a knowledge of the German language. They seem to pay well, but then I'd guess that the cost-of-living in Germany would offset that...