Job Discussion Forums

[scienceordivine]

Okay i have multiple questions and if anyone can help me with these it would be much appreciated.

I'm 24, Irish, with an honours degree in English and History and an Honours Masters in International Relations and a 100 hour online Tefl Certificate from i-to-i. I have no teaching experience .

How good a prospect would I look to Thai schools when I apply? Would i be likely to get a job easy enough with those qualifications if i turned up mid October and started job hunting?

I was looking at beginning in Bangkok, can anyone recommend any other cities which would have good job prospects and a lower cost of living (from experience,) As I will be travelling alone i would like to be in a city large enough to meet fellow English speakers, have western amenities to ease the culture shock as well as experience thai culture.

Has anyone experienced much difficulty in obtaining a working Visa once in thailand, as i will be going over on the tourist visa initially.It seems relatively easy but just want to make sure.

And finally for those teachers who are experienced and have worked in multiple countries how have you found thailand as a country to work/live in. This will be my first time living in a non-english speaking country.

I understand a lot of these questions may seem basic but from all the reading i have done i often finding conflicting reports so any help from experienced people will help. Thanks!

[scienceordivine]

Another question or two : i've spent hours reading up on tefl in thailand today and it seems that to be comfortable you would need 40,000 baht a month. Can I push for that,, though i don't have experience and my tefl cert is an online one. I'm thinking an English degree and an MA should help a little(in hindsight i wouldn't have wasted my money on an online tefl but thats the beauty of hindsight)

How have people especially Irish and English found the heat and particularly the humidity over there.

And for any teachers who went over with no teaching experience how did ye find settling into the job. I'm not afraid of hard work and love a challenge but still nervous about it.

The more i read the more questions i have.If anyone can help it'd be appreciated

[anubistaima]

I think as a beginner you really can't ask for more than 30,000. I mean, you can ask, but I don't know if you'll get it.

[tttompatz]

Mid October is not very good timing for job hunting. About all you will find are language institutes and places that are desperate because either their "teacher" left mid-term or they couldn't find/afford one in the first place.

You MAY find something in the 40k range but it is more probable that you will find something with a base salary in the 30k range with a housing stipend and/or extra classes to bring you up to the mid 30's.

If you had a recognized TEFL (to go along with your other quals) cert or classroom experience you might find something in the 40k range.

You'd be better off looking for jobs just outside of the city (where your cost of living is much lower) and you can get by comfortably on 30k per month. Spend your time making contacts and networking to get into something better for next May (start of the school year for most schools).

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[Knexus]

I agree on October not being a good month. However, if you are interested in what I will say, I know specifically of a couple of jobs opening up in that time.

Southern Thailand is wonderfully cheap. Odds are Phuket, Krabi, Samui, Phi Phi, Phanang, ect. will be within hours of wherever you will work/live.

Southern Thailand's major cities are also within hours of a major Malaysian city (thinking visa runs). Getting transport to the boarder is easier then getting to Bangkok - and every road leads to Bangkok.

Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat may be the cities (capitals of the provinces by the same name) for you.

I spend 5k to 8k on food, water, electricity, "premium" internet, "miscellaneous", and gas for the motorbike. There is a community of dozens of English speakers between the two towns. We often get together at bars owned by ex-pats, go out to eat, and play Ultimate Frisbee/Basketball/workout together, and of course we vacation, barbecue, and party together.

Rent can be as cheap as 3k or less, or up to around 10k if you want a massive house with a walled yard and maybe carp ponds and paddies.

Local fair includes about a half dozen absolutely stunning, always refreshing waterfalls, Pizza Company, Pizza Hut, a giant Tesco-Lotus (aren't they all), a Tesco-Lotus Express, Carrefour, Robinson-Ocean (mall), coffee houses-coffee houses-coffee houses, cable packages that can include HBO, BMW dealers, a Go-Go bar...

The locals are super proud to be "Southern Thai" so there is still plenty of Thai culture to experience, good and bad. To sum it up, these cities aren't in the sticks, and they certainly aren't Bangkok, but it may be what you're looking for.

I can PM you if you want more info.

[PattyFlipper]

Sadly, your Master's degree will have little currency in Thailand and Thai employers are unlikely to pay you any more for actually having one. This would still hold true even if it were in a TEFL related field.

I would strongly suggest you actually visit some of these provincial Thai towns before you decide to accept a position there. They are certainly not to everyone's taste, particularly if you like to indulge in Western-style comforts and entertainment now and again. Also bear in mind that the locals have far less disposable income and there are fewer jobs available. It will thus be more difficult to supplement your meagre salary, and/or escape the clutches of an unscrupulous or exploitative employer unless you are prepared to relocate.

I also would not expect to be swanning off to the beach or the Islands every weekend. Thai employers are notorious for treating their staff (local and expatriate) like indentured-serfs and have few qualms about making demands intended to eat into your personal time. You may also find that, like many TEFLers in Thailand, you have to run just to stand still. Which means moonlighting or taking on private students to keep your head above water financially.

I am not intending to sound unduly negative here. Merely trying to add a little balance to the information you have already received.

[Knexus]

When I said Southern Thailand, I meant the mainland.

The price of living on just about any of the islands goes up about 500baht per European speedo-wearer/couch surfer/American soldier. It adds up quicker then you might think .

If I were you I wouldn't settle for a 30k baht salary. Unless you're in BKK, you're going to have a hard time pushing for 40k with almost all of these private schools. If you want closer to 40k I'd check into international schools around Bangkok, Chang Mai, Songkla, and the other big cities. From what I've heard, the teaching environment is much more "serious", but international schools are supposed to be the professional schools. They are known for demanding more and paying much better, but the real international schools require education degrees/government issued education licenses/masters degrees.

I came here with very limited experience and settled in very easily, but I think that has a lot to do with the town you find and your fellow teachers. I agree with the other poster on Thai admin's lack of consideration for your personal time. They consider their Thai staff even less. All in all it's one of the most miserable things about the job. However, if you are as aggressive on your between term vacation time as you are with your salary you can set some boundaries in your contract. A contract here carries more weight then some might think. Read up on the concept of "gren-jai" (maybe someone can help me spell that in Thai?). It might help if you tap into that part of their culture when you negotiate. Your fellow foreign teachers will also campaign, every term it seems, to make sure the dates promised to be off are eventually made good on. Otherwise I fear admin is too busy worrying about driving their Mercedes around on the weekend to care about your weekend. You'll be lucky to know about random days off during term within the week they will occur. In my experience I have a ton of free time! However, we all fight pretty hard to keep it that way, and we try to "mai bpen rai" the whims of our Thai authorities for the sake of our sanity.

Finally... There are now over a dozen English, Scottish, and one Irish guy in my town. I don't hear complaints from them... Except the hot season when we were all complaining!

[Dave_1]

what are the hoops to jump through for a bog standard job in a language centre franchise? In Vietnam you need UK police check, a full health check, degree verified by UK consulate etc..I'm finding it hard understand exactly how it works in Thailand, seems like so many changes. Thanks for any advice

[tttompatz]

[Dave_1]

[takgeyon]

I have to disagree with the whole notion that 30,000 is a realistic salary. I just returned from teaching in Korea and I landed a job in the upper 50,000 baht range. I have a bachelors in a non related teaching field no TESOL/TEFL and only one years prior experience in teaching in Thailand. What really matters is the size of the school and also it helps to have some networking connections. In the end it's pretty much what your willing to work for. I've been to a few language schools and seen the run of the mill teachers. Not to sound condescending, but the majority are probably worthy of their pay. If you have solid credentials, are punctual, and look/act professional I'd say that 40,000 a month is not issue and you could probably get a lot more than that if you're willing to put forth the effort.
At no school I applied was there a CBC. CBCs (although intentionally a good idea)are kind of pointless because they are very easy to forge and/or get around if indeed you do have some kind of criminal background. (In the US the FBI check is difficult to obtain, unprofessional looking and doesn't really tell much, and highway patrol checks are generally only good within the state where you applied).