Job Discussion Forums

[hedge12]

I've been searching for jobs all over Russia, but of course there are none. I'd really like to be in Samara, but having had first-hand experience with both schools there, I can't imagine dealing with their craziness (or low wages).

The best I could find was this (in Moscow of course):

$1300 (fixed rate, so more than 40k rub)
Shared (ech!) accommodation, inside the circle line
airfare fully reimbursed the day I arrive (from Vietnam)
small school (not a lot of teachers)
free russian lessons (I'm always skeptical of this, but was able to confirm the quality; knew someone who studied there)
Apparently I have absolute freedom to choose my own text books, which I like

Am I crazy to accept this (I know you all have quite rigid standards)? It's not ideal, but I need to go back to Russia and this was the best I could find. There were others in the provinces for $1000 or thereabouts, but there were other issues with them anyway. I know Moscow is more expensive, but I've been to other cities. Samara's cost of living (if you subtract the cost of accommodation) is essentially the same. And Siberia's is higher if anything.

It's been a long and discouraging job hunt...

[spiral78]

The accomodation is paid by the school?
The 1,300 is net in your hand monthly?

[hedge12]

Accomodation is owned and provided by the school. I pay nothing for it. I get 1300 cash in my pocket each month.

[Sashadroogie]

How many academic hours? Will you have time for your own private students?

[maruss]

Do not agree to share an appartment with an unknown person-it can,and probably will,lead to all kinds of problems unless you are very lucky to meet someone with whom you can get on and whose habits are mutually tolerable!The firm will most likely not agree to pay you enough to rent one on your own if things go wrong and even finding one will be a nightmare-and cost you a great deal.Unless the firm will give you one on your own to start with,think twice about accepting the job....try contacting them and politely put your reasons forward but in any case,$1300 is not a decent salary for Moscow,no way.....

[anubistaima]

Shared accommodations are a very very bad idea unless you know the other person well. They're a bad idea in your own country, but at least there you have the option of moving out and finding something else. Doing that in Russia would be a nightmare. I did it in Siberia so the nightmare part is from personal experience. Rent is very expensive (if you even find anything) and you'll have to pay the realtor as well. Fight for your own place, even if it means it's a dump. At least it would be YOUR dump.

[maruss]

I couldn't have put it better myself!

[canucktechie]

hedge12 is not going to get a better offer than $1300 plus shared accommodation so your advice to fight for a better deal is, while well-intentioned, pointless. BKC now offers $1000 plus shared accommodation and is having no trouble hiring.

Teachers have no bargaining power at all in the current economic environment.

Take it or leave it.

[hedge12]

Canucktechie, that was exactly my thought. I know the trials of living with another person (being an adult, I am familiar with it), but I just don't envision a better offer being made by any school. As far as the transport, I've been through commuting experiences much worse than Moscow anyway. Obviously the best advice would be to stay where I am, at least from a financial standpoint, but I'm not going to do that. My goal is just to get the best offer I can from a Russian school. Is this the best that is possible in Russia now? Are there better offers available in Russia?

[Red and white]

Hedge12

At worst it gets you into town and in a position to sniff out something more suitable.

As for shared accomm, I've done it with three different flatmates and while I don't count myself as an easy person to live with I've never had a big problem. I wouldn't say I was bosom buddies with any of those guys, but we got along OK. I prefer living on my own, but I can hack sharing. Maybe those who assume it's going to be a disaster might wonder what caused the problems in their shared apartments?

[maruss]

.but I never really enjoyed living in Moscow and found it was a good place to visit and explore but not to spend too long in.For a start it's expensive although we all know other places are too,but I'd rather be somewhere like Vienna,Geneva etc. and pay a lot where the quality of the place and services is much higher.Apart from the chronic and often downright dangerous overcrowding on the Moscow metro,some of which still has carriages built in the Soviet era running on it, the environment is unhealthy and badly polluted.My Russian friends there all confirm this and say they frequently have problems with various ailments which are related to poor air quality etc,their kids even more so.It is not a 'user friendly ' city for anyone with any disablements either and most of the Soviet era built suburbs are monotonous,soulless and often ugly.I also don't like the third world level of arrogance and indifference most of the tiny elite show towards their less fortunate citizens or the corruption and injustice prevalent at all levels of society.This is why I maintain that if you are going to endure living in such a place you should at least be decently paid for it.By all means see it and revel in it's history as it's a unique city and quite fascinating. but not for very long!

[Red and white]

[hedge12]

Here's the thing,

It's not like I'm choosing between New York and Moscow or Barcelona and Moscow. I currently live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The damaging physical effects of the environment are palpable and tenfold that of Moscow, transport is a nightmare(though some love the motorbikes), I live away from the city center, and I have actual tarantulas in my house. And it's not like I hate HCMC or find it a particularly difficult place to live. I don't like the weather and I want to go back to Russia for other reasons, but I've managed to live here pretty easily anyway.

I also lived in Samara for a couple years. The transport is much more uncomfortable than Moscow's. The Moscow metro is a dream compared to the standing in the careening Marshrutkas and being packed into the painfully slow Trams in Samara. Moscow's metro is not that bad, in fact I think it's a lot better than the irritating, irregular, smelly NYC subway. I've never had to wait 15 minutes for a train during rush hour in Moscow. In NYC weird stuff like that happens all the time. The Moscow system is pretty convenient in my mind. The environment in Samara is pretty messed up too (though there's some nice nature around it). Don't get me wrong, I like Samara; it has it's own special charms. But all of the complaints you listed above (the elite, the people, the money) are all exaggerated in Samara.

My problem with Moscow will not be dealing with the ins and outs of the city. I just can't gauge how dramatic the inflation has really been there. Like Red and White said, Moscow isn't really that expensive. In Samara if you want to eat out and not despise the experience, you're gonna have to pay upwards of 20 dollars. And even then your choices are exclusively limited to pizza, sushi, german food, or russian food. In Moscow there's more variety. That's why I say, excluding accommodation, Samara is not only not cheaper than Moscow, I feel it's much more expensive in the long run.

[coledavis]

There's a job coming up in the new year in Siberia. The current deal - although I can't guarantee that it won't change (I'm not a manager) - is about $1100 dollars for 30 teaching hours (each TH being 40 minutes, so that's 20 clock hours), with less money if you're working less hours, with free flat (not shared), free bills, free internet. Lovely students, adults and kids. Nice friendly town, within an hour's bus or train journey from Novosibirsk. As I sometimes have connectivity problems on the forum, if people are interested, please don't pm or answer on the forum. Please send your cv to [email protected]