Job Discussion Forums

[dawnbuckley]

Hi,

I have just recently started to consider teaching in Moscow and was wondering what a decent salary would be. $1000 ok or bad?

Thanks!

Dawn

[rusmeister]

Bad. The dollar is very weak, and inflation has forced its value down further.

Take the cost of living in California, double the food cost, and then ask if $1,000 a month is OK. $1,000 a week is still good - and don't forget that there is almost no work at all in the summertime. Is a $9,000 annual salary good where you are?

Also, if you have to leave and re-enter the country on your own in order to get a new visa, That'll suck up the better part of one of your 'monthly paychecks' right there.

[maruss]

A much asked question which is not so easy to answer!It's not just what you earn but what other benefits are included in your package,especially accomodation which has become hard to find and very expensive,both for ex-pats and Russians alike!
The $ has also decreased in value against the ruble quite considerably in recent years and the price of basic neccessities has increased as well.
I was earning around $2.600 per month back in 2005/6 out of which I paid around $600 for an appartment which I found via a friend.Nowadays you need around $900 minimum so I would say around $3000 is the amount you should aim to be earning.Jobs which include accomodation tend to offer very low wages and often expect you to share with someone else!This might be o.k. if you are going there with your boyfriend etc. but should not be expected as a condition of employment by any decent firm!
I'm presuming you already know Moscow and what living conditions there are like etc?If not,I really suggest you go there for a visit first before you make such a decision to go and work there.For some useful info,have a look at the ex-pat.ru site employment section and visit Globus under the vacancies.This firm is run by a very decent ex-pat called Chrichton Brauer who tells the truth about what teachers can expect who go there to live and work,unlike some other sites from the larger'Macdonalds' schools who are always recruiting and use very deceptive descriptions to lure peopkle into their web!Different it certainly is,exciting too but also very stressful,crowded,polluted,unhealthy,dirty and often provocativly third-world like in its vast differentials in earnings and living standards.....$1000 is often spent in a day if not on an evening out by quite a few offensively rich people in Moscow and certainly not a months salary for them!
Please feel free to p.m. me for more info. about life in Moscow and firms you might find it worthwhile to approach.

[kazachka]

I always ask folks considering contracts with the McDs type schools to ask themselves whether they would consider working for LESS than minimum wage in their home country considering that many EFL teachers have good qualifications and are worth far more than minimum wage!
Ok,that said, current cost of living here is going through the roof. Groceries have now just about caught up to and in some cases SURPASSED Alaska! I'm not happy about this as I remember when I ate quite well here on 100$ a month a few yrs back.

Flat- 1 roomers in sleeper areas now go for close to 1000$/mo. If you have to find that flat through an agency, you will pay triple as they get you for a 1 month deposit and commission often equals 1 month's rent.

Clothing ( I mean quality, not the stuff you buy at the markets that falls apart after washing) is about 2-10 times the US price for the same goods depending on where and when you shop. Hint-wait for the sales and it's not too bad. It's better to pay a little more for quality that will last than buy cheap crud that will fall apart.

Doc Martens -cost the same as they do in the US or UK and they don't fall apart as just about any other footwear quickly does.
www.shoes.ru



Electronics- don't bother. Buy your iPod and other gadgets in the US/Canada (not sure what they cost in the UK). Prices are 2-4 times what they are in the US in many cases. An 80 GB iPod is 230$ in the US but 11-15000rub here! Yeah, you will want that iPod for commuting between classes


Computers- get one custom built at Savelovsky Rynok or go to Formoza
www.notebooksale.ru otherwise buy a notebook and bring it in and save the $. Yes, it's much easier to have Internet at home than to be limited to access at work or in a cafe. DSL is cheap-less than 20$mo.

Going out?

Low-Mid priced restaurants like Patio Pizza,Yolki Palki,etc. will still run you about 1000rub for 2. Coffee houses are also quite pricey. 250rub for a latte is normal.

Cheap groceries?
The BF hits the Vykhino Rynok while I'm at work since we live not too far away. It's not dirt cheap, but some things are better priced and of better quality than in the shops.

Travel-yeah that's nice to do but you have to have money to do it. Take a weekend in the Baltics, Ukraine, other neighboring countries, cities and it adds up. Hell, PLATZKART to Riga is almost 5000rub. Coupe is 7500RT from Moscow and flying was 10,000 as of early May. Luckily, I won a free plane tic back to Riga on Air Baltic in the Riga Marathon 2 weeks ago!! I sense another weekend race-trip to Latvia in the summer...

Other basics? It depends on what you do. No, I don't eat at Scandinavia or Pushkin Cafe every day, but I do pay rent and other living expenses. So, I have to go with maruss on this one. You need AT LEAST 3000 mo to not count kopecks but better to be closer to 4 and up.

Living arrangements- My boss said he prefers to pay his teachers well enough that they can afford their digs, which he does. I'm too old and set in my ways to deal with the aggravations of living with a roomie I've never met. I'm 33 and am a professional runner in addition to keeping my crazy teaching hours. I haven't the time nor energy to deal with roomie quarrels. Yes, my better half moved in a yr ago, but we are 2 peas in a pod in terms of lifestyle and he wasn't a complete stranger:) It's up to you if you prefer to share. I think it would kind of put a damper on a private life to have to share housing with someone....

Costs of anything else? Just ask;)

[BELS]

[canucktechie]

There is no way you are going to get that kind of money unless you are some kind of international superstar.

Schools simply do not pay more than $30/hour. They have no problem hiring good people for that amount of money. If that's not enough for you, you're going to have to teach privates as well as working at a school full time.

[BELS]

[kazachka]

BELS again is right. Cost of living has just skyrocketed recently. I have found a better way to supplement my income but it's not for everyone- I run races that have good prize money. I find out where to go and I go and run. This would be why I don't take students at the weekends. I currently charge 1500/acad hr but if I run the right race(s) it's far more profitable to race at weekends. It's also a fun way to socialise at the end

[BELS]

[kazachka]

BTW- I posted minimum liveable wage for a single person. BELS, I know, has a family, yes, 8000$ is NOT an unrealistic figure for survival if you have mouths to feed.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Things aren't too different in Vladivostok. Here, a single person needs to make rougly $2000/month just to live a semi-comfortable life. I know Vlad wasn't asked about, but I thought I'd share

[kazachka]

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Rent here in Vladivostok is not cheap. For a one-room flat, within shouting distance of the center (meaning less than 30 minutes on bus), you're looking at at least 14,000 rubles/mo., probably more like 16-18,000 rubles.
Salaries for full-time native teachers are 35,000 and up (as far as I know universities pay much less, however). Individual private lessons should get a native teacher about 700-800/ac. hr. (sometimes more).

[rusmeister]

For a single person, I'd say $2,000/month equals hand-to-mouth existence for a western native speaker that doesn't want to live on the streets or in one cramped room for more than a few months. If you have a family, better make a lot more. Food is a real killer expense and utilities have also skyrocketed. My bill is close to 6,000r monthly, not including phone service. (they charge for each person registered in the apartment)

If you have to pay for (required) travel expenses, including visa trips, phone calls home, etc, better budget for that, too.

Kazachka's list is also pretty good.

Don't pay too much attention to BELS, though. He works on the Rublyovka.

[canucktechie]