Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

I've had more than a couple of job offers and I've heard this a lot. For example, when they ask me how much I expect to make, I say, what I deserve based on my qualifications and experience and wait for them to give me a number. The last one told me that ALL teachers start with X. o it doesn't matter if you are fresh out of HS, like a couple of the teachers on their website or have an MA and lots of experience.

Their reasoning is that you'll get paid much more than a local. But then again, what local has the expenses that a foreign teacher has? The typical young local teacher probably still lives with their family, so pays no utilities. Doesn't have oversea phone calls to parents to make. Knows where to shop. Can speak the langauge so they can bargain. They don't take taxis. And they're probably not paying for food either. Nor do they have to settle and and purchase things, lots pots and pans.

[BobbyBan]

[naturegirl321]

Nope, not Peru. I'm looking at Asia. I'm not saying that I would say that to a local teacher, I'm saying that employers should realise that they're deceiving FTs by telling them that they will make more than local teachers. When FTs and local teachers live VERY different lives.

I live in Peru, now I'm a local. I see it all the time, people from overseas getting paid more because they're from overseas. Employers don't take experience and qualifications into account, they simply get paid more because they move to Peru (but that's a different thread all together). I just feel that
1. Employers shouldn't decieve employees.
2. Exp and Quals should be taken into account.

And I'm not seeing either of those.

[Mike_2007]

Not always the case. A lot of the expats in the UK get paid less than the locals for doing the same job, but still manage to send money home because they'll go out less, are less likely to have families and mortgages to take care of, share accommodation and utilities, rarely bother with a car, and so on.

It's all swings and roundabouts...

[Smeagol]

Hi, Nature Girl

I think their point is that it depends on what country you're talking about, whether simply being paid more than a local is enough for a foreigner to live comfortably or not. "Being paid more than a local" is a line often used in advertisements for jobs in Thailand, where I lived and worked for more than six years, and still maintain my actual "permanent" residence. It galls me, too, to see an employer imply that a salary of 30,000 baht is enough for a foreigner to do more than merely exist in rural Thailand, let alone in Bangkok. It galls me, too, that those same employers get enough naifs through their revolving doors at 30,000 that they don't have to cough up a living wage for someone with experience and proper credentials. But such is the appeal of "the Land of Smiles", and why I now work in the Gulf, where I sincerely doubt that I'm paid more than a local .

[Glenski]

[Justin Trullinger]

More than a local what? Or a local doing what?

One of the problems with countries with "diverse" economic situations is that it's hard to tell, from the outside when job hunting, what constitutes a good salary.

In Ecuador, a foreign teacher is likely to take home more cash, but receive less benefits, than a local teacher.

When I was in Korea, it would have been silly to compare. I was on a very short term salary, but doing highly specialized work. Week per week, I earned a lot more than locally normal, but year per year would be a different story.

Get in touch with foreign teachers in your target country. How you compare to locals may not matter much. But how you compare to other foreign teachers can tell you a lot.


Best,
Justin

[naturegirl321]

[Dragonlady]

deleted

[Glenski]

[quote="naturegirl321"]

[Marcoregano]

The private TEFL/TESOL sector is a notoriously poor employer, and usually manages to steer clear of the controls and professional structure attached to other education sectors, so it's hardly surprising that teachers are rarely rewarded for experience. Things may change in the course of time - let's hope so. Until then, if you want to be rewarded and recognised for your experience, the best thing to do is become a fully certified teacher and work in state primary/secondary schools or big international schools. Then, when you move around, you should find that each year of experience results in an incremental increase in your salary - up to a point.

On the plus side, TEFL/TESOL probably remains one of the most, if not the most, mobile, flexible working sectors on the planet - which goes a long way to explaining why pay and conditions are so crap in the first place.

[Nabby Adams]

OP, I don't mean to sound cruel, but you have no idea how the world works. Foreigners don't get paid more than a local per se, and employers don't take into account such things as utility bills when deciding wage levels. Economics 101; it's ALL supply and demand.

You aren't offered any more with 5 years experience because you are NOT worth any more (to that employer). If you were worth more they would be forced to pay it or another employer would.

Polish mechanics earn less then Britsh mechanics in the UK. But what this has to do with fairness or people living at home is neither here or there. Apply the rules of supply and demand and your gripes will be resolved.

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

[Smeagol]

Hi, again, Nature Girl

Have you thought about the Gulf? People with lesser qualifications than you seem to have (I presume you have a first degree, since you're working on an MA, and a CELTA or equivalent) are making good salaries and socking away goodly sums of hard cash. You may have to settle for a less desirable area (rural Oman?), but not Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. I've worked in Asia, I've worked in the Gulf. I'll take the latter, every time, now that I'm married. It's not party time like Asia, but then you say you're not a party animal, anyway... the Gulf is fine for we book curler-uppers (or internet game addicts, like me).