Job Discussion Forums

Littlebird · Joined: 29 Jun 2003 Posts: 82 Location: UK

Where do they pay the highest wages in Europe for a newly qualified person ? I really want to go to France but it seems that only experienced people go there and there is little work outside the public sector which is crap. So I have resigned myself to go somewhere else. Poland looks fantastic ! Where am I likely to make the most money ? It would be nice to be able to save a bit. It is very difficult when you have no idea what is average, what is acceptable and what is good in terms of wages.

Cheers SAM

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

Hello, Sam.

The general answer to your general question is the European countries pay subsistence wages for newbies. You can expect to live ok, but not to save up or buy anything big, or be able to travel much outside the country you are teaching in.

Also, be aware that the current economic crisis does affect the region. Jobs are scarcer, and wages getting tighter.

If you really need to save, consider Asia - it's about the only region that pays enough at the newbie level for this.

hollysuel · Joined: 07 Oct 2007 Posts: 225 Location: Connecticut, USA

I can only speak for Finland and the pay is quite poor even for people who are not newbies...

I agree wholeheartedly with Spiral that it will be quite difficult to get paid well.

If you want to teach in Europe to experience a new culture, learn a language, make life-long friends you will get it, but do not come for high wages.

Littlebird · Joined: 29 Jun 2003 Posts: 82 Location: UK

Maybe I should have asked how much I am likely to get paid on each country forum. What is very worrying is not so much the wages but the lack of work. How can anyone live on only a few hours a week here and there in several different places ? No-one seems to answer that question. I find it very hard to understand how you all live. I am subscribed to TESOL FRANCE and the ads go like this : teacher needed 2.30-4.30 Mondays for 9 weeks or Fridays mornings for 2 terms, both in different towns. How is this feasible ? I don't mind travelling but if I only get 10 hours of work a week and the cost of travelling eats heavily into the wage.

Thanks

jonniboy · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:07 pm Post subject:

On paper, I've 32 clock hours made up of 18 hours at one language centre , 3 hours at a secondary language centre, 2.5 hours in a company who pays me direct and 8.5 hours privates of which 2-3 hours are cancelled on average. The language centres pay 15 euro net, the company 25 euro net and privates 15-20 euro per clock hour net.

Privates have been fluctuating quite a bit. I used to have many more but this year has been a bad one for cancellations and in recent months people have started vanishing at an unheard of rate. Consequently I've been cutting back on privates in favour of less lucrative but more reliable group classes. The language centre takes 20 minutes to walk to so the only transport cost is the �1.50 a week I spend to travel to the company.

I must stress though that I'm in my fourth year here and have many local contacts because of that so for a newbie here, maybe 300 euro a week, Europe isn't the place for newbies to get rich.

Littlebird · Joined: 29 Jun 2003 Posts: 82 Location: UK

I would be pleased with 300 euros a week. I anticipated earning 80 euros or something ridiculous from only a few contracts. You are in Lativa not a place I had considered. I will have a CELTA by June. What qualifications do you have ?

Thanks SAM

Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

I'm in Romania. At the moment I'm doing about 26 clock hours, a mixture of in-company training and a couple of cash privates. I use local transport which costs me about 12 Euro per month for a travelcard. At the moment the euro is weak against the Romanian Lei so my income works out at about 400 Euro per week, but as my prices are fixed in Lei it makes no difference to me. I have a CELTA and I've been here for over four years (so like jonniboy I have local contacts, L1 skills and so on).

Very few language schools here and they don't pay too well. International schools pay well (around 1500-2000 Euro per month) but you'd need more qualifications and experience probably, although it might be worth a try.

Littlebird · Joined: 29 Jun 2003 Posts: 82 Location: UK

Pardon the ignorance what does L1 mean ? What did you earn as a Newbie ? I also have no idea what tax, NI, rent and utilities you pay either. Sorry if it is a personal question.

I have often thought it would be a good idea for the owner of this site to post a sticky on each country forum giving info on costs of rent, utilities, taxes, going wages and a gallery of pictures of the country and then maybe people would know what to expect !!! Everyone could help, it could be like wikipedia, instead of people arguing constantly or perhaps they call it debating and asking the same questions. I have found a good website for pictures

hollysuel · Joined: 07 Oct 2007 Posts: 225 Location: Connecticut, USA

L1-->native language
L2-->2nd language

Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

As hollysuel points out, L1 means the first language of the students. Speaking the students' L1 is useful for negotiating contracts, teaching beginners, placing ads, networking and so on.

When I first came to Romania I worked for a language training outfit and was paid 6.75 GBP (then about 10 Euro) per teaching hour + travel expenses if the lessons were at the students' offices. We were all employed as freelancers so we had to pay our own taxes out of that (or not... Wink

)

Everyone here pays 16% income tax, VAT is 19%, NI is about 6%.

Rent can be anything from about 200 Euro for a studio flat to 1500 Euro for a two-bedroomed modern place in the 'good part' of town. Electricity, cable TV, phone, internet, gaz, etc. probably come to about 150 Euro per month in total.

I think if you look closely enough you'll find some such list of costs for each country. Putting them as a sticky would be a good idea though as they are several pages back by now. I'm pretty sure I did one for Romania last year.

Littlebird · Joined: 29 Jun 2003 Posts: 82 Location: UK

Thanks a lot !

I'm gobsmacked you speak Romanian. Is there much work in Romanian for newbies ? I bet Romanian is hard to learn. I have been totally put off Poland and Polish is very difficult.

SAM

Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Romanian isn't too difficult to learn. It's a latin language, very similar to Italian. It's a piece of cake compared to Polish, Hungarian, Czech, etc.

There's probably not much work for newbies. You could probably get some private lessons, but that could be harder without contacts, language skills and local knowledge. If you've got the qualifications (degree + CELTA) you could try the British Council but apart from them and International House there are only a few locally-run outfits who won't pay well. If you do have a degree and CELTA or some kind of mainstream teaching qualification you could try the international schools. They sometimes employ teachers for conversational classes or whatever.

jonniboy · Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject: Re: Wages

Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Sorry jonniboy, misread your post. I get about 400 Euro a WEEK, not a month in Buch. I think you could probably earn more than 400 Euro a month in the larger towns in Transylvania (Sibiu, Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, etc.) if you were self-employed. Not sure how many language schools there are in those towns though.