Job Discussion Forums

[anguyen]

Hi!

I'm wondering what my chances are of supporting my family of 3 on just my salary in Vietnam. My son will be in 1st grade next year and so I'll need to pay foriegn school tuition for him too.

I have an MA in Elementary Ed. and I did my Bilingual/TESOL endorsement at the graduate level as well. My bilingual is in Spanish and Im certified to teach "classical and modern languages." I have two years experience teaching abroad (China and Venezuela) two years teaching in the US and I'm working as Coordinator of Federal Programs now (ESL, Bilingual, and Native American Ed.) for a public school in the US.

My husband is Vietnamese and so could probably work, but I doubt he'll make much. He's a technician for wide format copiers and printers and, since he's been in the US for over 20 years his English is great, but he still speaks flawless Vietnamese too. In the US, his salary isn't great, but it's not bad either. In Vietnam, I doubt it would be the same. He's had on the job training and so doesn't have a Bachelors Degree.

To come to the point, some things in Vietnam cost a lot less, like food, but some also cost more, like private school tuition for my son. I know I'm probably eligable for some great jobs, but will that be enough to support us, or should we plan on putting my husband through school here before coming?

Thanks for any input!

[BIGGESTOFA]

I think your good to go. You can probably get a job at Intl schoool and your kid will get comped in, hubby will work too most likely, why not lots of opportunity in VN.

Housing to a Western standard is expensive though but some better schools/jobs provide.

[anguyen]

Thanks for the tip. That's not the first time someone has mentioned the international schools to me. How do I get hired by them? Can I just send my resume? Does anyone work for an International School? I recall hearing that they hire through certain agencies only.

[BIGGESTOFA]

Get a list of schools and contact them now before you go. Find out how they recruit and who they are loooking for.

Saigon South pays good money plus provides a housing subsidy and kids schooling. They give closer to an Expat package than most especially if you are recruited fom abroad.

It is possible a Uni like RMIT would hire you also they are big and advertise/hire often.

The poster Legal Eagle put a list of schools up here and what they pay. Its somewhere on this forum.

[anguyen]

Thank you so much BIGGESTOFA! You've given me a great place to start!!
Any other advice is still welcome. I'd really prefer to have a job before we come, but I don't mind travelling to interview