Job Discussion Forums

wmcmanus · Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 5

I've lived and taught in Ulaanbaatar for about a year. I started looking for a new job recently and have taken my time to talk to a few different schools to find the best deal. I wanted to share what I found out about who is hiring and what they're paying as of now--December 2008.

Most schools in UB don't require TOEFL certificates but some do. Some say they do but will take anyone who applies, so it doesn't hurt to approach schools that say they're only looking for teachers with certificates, even if you don't have one.

Its easiest to find a job if you're a Caucasian native speaker. It is slightly harder to find a job if you are a non-Caucasian native speaker and slightly harder still if you are a Caucasian non-native speaker. I've seen a fair number (maybe 3) teachers here who are black--but good luck if you're a native speaker with Asian features. The top schools probably won't hire you--they generally know you are qualified, but your face in an ad is not a good advertisement for the school.

Raduga (102nd Middle school) is a private Russian school. Most of the teachers are Russian with maybe 2 Americans and a few Mongolians as well. They pay 1000 dollars plus accommodation for about 24 teaching hours a week. The problem is that the hours are not predictable--maybe mondays are 3 hours tuesdays 5 hours etc. The director is named Khulree and is honest. Other former teachers have reported this to be a good school. They are currently looking for one new teacher for the Spring term. They're willing to do only a 4 month contract. They are also willing to do part time teachers and will pay roughly 13 dollars an hour for that work. The first classes start at 8am and the last classes end at 6pm...of course you won't be working all the hours in between.

Hartford is a very expensive school, but they pay well. At Hartford if you teach English you will generally teach 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening, but you must spend the between hours at the school doing office hours. I think they pay 2,500 a month. They are currently hiring. When you go through the hiring process they will want TOEFL, university certificates, letters of recommendation, detailed application, etc...but will settle for less---specifically they're willing to work with people without TOEFL. They have a bit of a bad reputation for their mangement, but they have a new director (maybe 8 or 9 months ago he started) who seems to be a pretty organized and put together guy. They are currently looking for a teacher.

Santis is a private school with at least two locations in the city. They are hiring (aren't they always hiring?) probably because their turnover is so high. There are enough warnings on these boards to scare you away from them--so I can't recommend them, but I can say they are hiring. They pay 700 dollars a month plus accommodation for 25-30 hours of teaching a week. The hours are variable and don't remain consistent.

TalkTalk is a medium (maybe high) priced private english training center. They were hiring at the beginning of the month, but I think they are all filled up now. But I'm not sure. They pay 15 dollars an hour (before tax) and require teachers to attend a Saturday night function twice a month and teach a trial lesson occasionally on Saturday afternoons (these last two functions are unpaid...but teachers usually get a stipend to spend at the night function for drinks etc.) Hours are pretty consistent--but occasionally classes will close (for lack of students) or be merged which may leave you with one less hour a day until a new class can be filled. If you teach a full course load (about 5 hours a day) you will invariably have to teach 2 or 3 hours in the morning (starting at 7:50) and 2 or 3 hours at night ending at 7:50.

Cambridge is a hole in the wall training center by the state department store. They offered 5,000 tugrik an hour at first and gradually increased the offer to 10,000 tugrik. I haven't worked there nor do i know anyone who has worked there (though they claim to have an Australian working there now) but they're willing to do part time hours with no contract. The no contract is tempting for some short term cash, but it has yet to be seen if they'll pay on time/ fulfill their promises/ etc.

There are many other schools in the city, but I haven't heard whether they're hiring at the moment or not. If anyone else knows please add to the list!