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English First Jobs in Indonesia
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D-DuB



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:02 am    Post subject: English First Jobs in Indonesia Reply with quote

Hi all,

I have a B.A. and a CELTA and I'm looking to get my first English teaching job abroad. I've been offered jobs by two EF schools in Indonesia EF East Jakarta and Bekasi and EF Palembang.

EF Palembang has offered 8,000,000 rupiah/month and EF East Jakarta and Bekasi has offered 8,200,000 but with a 90 day probation period reduced to 7,700,000.. I think I read somewhere that this 90 day probation is illegal according to their work laws, but I'm not sure. Can anyone clear this up for me?

EF Palembang didn't say anything about a probation period and after the interview and some research I would feel more comfortable working with them.

Can anyone tell me about Palembang or their experience with EF in Indonesia?
Can anyone that's in or been to Indonesia recently tell me how much 8,000,000 rupiah is in Indonesia and how far it will get me? Is this a decent starting salary or too little?
The current exchange of 8,000,000 rupiah is about $720 last I checked...
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bradleycooper



Joined: 12 Apr 2013
Posts: 310

PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm gonna tell it to you straight. This isn't great money and these aren't particularly desirable positions.

What subject do you have a Degree in? If it was anything English-related or something like Comparative Literature you could probably get a lot more money. If you don't, options may be more limited. You could get a LOT more money with your qualifications in China, so you should also ask yourself how much you want to be in Indonesia in particular.

You'd want to ensure that you were getting free accommodation for that pay, as you will be miserable otherwise. It's little more than subsistence wages anyway and you should expect to live a modest lifestyle on 7 or 8 million a month. Costs have risen a lot in Indonesia over the years and EF wages have stagnated. As long as you are prepared to live with few frills and really want to be in Indonesia in particular, you might consider these jobs, but you could probably do better with a bit of time and thought.

You could consider approaching AIM, KET, Direct English and others.
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why would anybody in their right mind want to work for that kind of money with an outfit like EF (given what I have heard about them). You're working for nothing, and you're not going to enjoy the nice things about Indonesia with the work conditions you are working under. In the end you get nothing. If you must be in SE Asia, go to Thailand for work. In Thailand you will work 8:00-4:00 Monday thru Friday with weekends off to enjoy Thailand and you will most likely have a little bit of saving on top of that. Also Thailand is corrupt but nothing like Indonesia.
I think this EF job is going to be a cesspool job. Unless they provide you with the right kind of visa you will have to leave the country every 2 months, which will include flight costs to Singapore, 60 dollars for your next visa to come back in and you will have to pay off the criminals at immigration every time you come in (I am not kidding about this). Is EF going to pay for any of this? Forget about this job and let the criminal enterprise of Indonesia find another sucker.
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jef dam



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just as a matter of interest Plumpy Nut, do you currently or have you ever worked in Indonesia?
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Puppets



Joined: 02 Feb 2013
Posts: 30
Location: Indonesia

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 4:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been living and working in Indonesia for a few years now and it is definitely a lot more expensive to live now than when I first got here.

If you do have a BA in English and a CELTA then you can give EF and TBI a miss straight away. I used to work for EF and they're decent at best.

You'll work a lot of weekends at EF whether it be Saturday morning classes or sometimes general marketing work where they want to bring more customers in.

You'll generally teach from either 3.00 till 9.00 everyday or maybe 4.30 till 9.00 with the occasional early finishes if you're lucky. You'll generally teach around 23 hours per week which means you'll probably spend 35 - 40 hours at work each week and if they're short staffed you may get over time. I've know people do 37 hours teaching in a week which is no way to produce quality lessons.

You'll have to cover for people as well, sometimes with only a few minutes notice and sometimes they'll tell you that morning.

EF will pay you on time every month without fail and they will get you a working visa eventually but you'll work on a Tourist Visa for a month or upto 6 months in some cases until they sort your trip to Singapore out.

EF pay is decent if you're a young guy who isn't interested in saving money. I know many young Uni graduates who work for EF with no teaching qualifications and all they do is go out every night and drink with their mates. Most of them don't save any money at all and complain when they go back home to see their families because they're skint.

TBI is pretty similar to EF in many ways and only pays a little better in many cases. I can't talk about all the companies because I admittedly don't know every English School but International Schools are the way to go or school such as BPK Penabur who pay pretty well and employ natives.

I'm only giving my opinion as someone who has been here a few years, I don't know every company and I can only speak from personal experience.

If you do choose English First I will give you one very important piece of advice: Keep positive at all times even if you're having a bad day as they do not like people who complain or make the company look like it isn't the greatest school on earth. I know people who've gotten into trouble for any even slight negativity whether online or in the office.

I don't agree it because we all have opinions and should be allowed to voice them but with EF be very careful who you state opinions that aren't always positive to.
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bradleycooper



Joined: 12 Apr 2013
Posts: 310

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 5:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A few times over the years I have met people who worked for EF franchises in Jakarta and they have usually had a long list of complaints about their shifts and conditions. To the average EF franchise owner you are little more than a "cash cow" and they will give you split shifts from morning to night if there's a few extra rupiah in it for them. Often the shifts are so bad they end up cramping young people's style in terms of social life during their time in Indonesia. You might, for example, be asked to work Saturday morning for months on end. It's worth asking how many Saturdays you can be asked to work if you want to go out Friday nights.

I actually worked there almost a decade ago myself. The salary back in 2005 was Rp 7.5 million, so this company clearly doesn't believe in raising salaries. You could live on it then (if you were careful) but Indonesian inflation has averaged around 8% over the last decade. That EF wage has really lost value over recent years. You shouldn't expect to be having a "working holiday" as flights and hotel costs will be beyond most EF teachers.
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Puppets



Joined: 02 Feb 2013
Posts: 30
Location: Indonesia

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bradley is right, I started on 7.5 million myself and it was alright if you didn't go out drinking everyday as many do after work.

I spent a few years with the EF Swara group. Bogor is definitely for me the better place to live but in Jakarta you get to live in the Teachers house, in Bogor you have to find your own accommodation.

If you go to Bogor it's best to take some money with you as you'll need to find a house to rent for a year either by yourself or with a friend. Houses can be rent for as little as 6million rupiah's a month, but this kind of property is basically 4 walls and will leak when it rains. You can also rent more expensive properties as I did for 15 - 20 million a month where you are guaranteed a decent area and a nice house.

I don't recommend living in a KOST for more than a month, they're like a cheap hotel and drive you insane after a while.

EF say they will help you finding accommodation but in reality they offer little help, so it's best just to try and rent a bike and take someone who speaks Indonesian with you to look for a house.

Bradley is also right with the split shifts. I myself taught private lessons in the morning then taught again at 3.00 until 9.00. They said you could go home and chill but in reality no, you're stuck in the office from say 9 until 9, what's the point in going home to come back again an hour later?

The way I think about it, I did my time with EF and I don't regret it as it made me more aware of what goes on but I'm so glad that I left when I did.

The DOS's at EF wind me up more than anything, they are so afraid of being critical. They're almost blinded by the fact that they work for EF, they can't see anything else. They hang around with their EF colleagues all the time and they cut you off when you say anything remotely negative about the company. They're well and truly under the thumb of the BIG BOSS who shall not be named.
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BabeEdna The Leg End



Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Posts: 8
Location: Japan Civil Aviation Bureau

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 8:31 am    Post subject: Zero to hero is my guess... Reply with quote

Don't let it worry you
Plumpy nut is all doom and gloom
This job is terrible that job will sack you
Depressing....
Hate to be in his class
Makes you really wonder why he is in teaching
And chooses to stay in Asia
Plenty of positive messages out there from others..
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bradleycooper



Joined: 12 Apr 2013
Posts: 310

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ad hominem attacks on people who criticise EF and TBI are a dime a dozen on this forum. If you don't want to work for $650 a month there must be something wtong with you. But I can tell you EF have certainly kept raising their fees to students at or above inflation levels while teachers' wages have been stuck in a rut for years. Many former EF teachers have a low opinion of their former bosses- no need to try and invalidate their views.
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:54 am    Post subject: Re: Zero to hero is my guess... Reply with quote

BabeEdna The Leg End wrote:
Don't let it worry you
Plumpy nut is all doom and gloom
This job is terrible that job will sack you
Depressing....
Hate to be in his class
Makes you really wonder why he is in teaching
And chooses to stay in Asia
Plenty of positive messages out there from others..


Interesting username you have there. I suspect that you are Indonesian, just from your username and your grammar usage.

If someone wants to experience Indonesia, why not make more money somewhere else and then come to Indonesia and experience it without having to work with all the graft? There could be good reasons to come to Indonesia, such as getting an idea of how education in SE Asia works for professional reasons if you're an educator not just a teacher.

However those who teach in Indonesia should be made aware of the graft and the nonsense that they are going to have to put up with for a few nickels and dimes in the end. There are other places where you will make savings like Taiwan, Japan, and Korea and even China. Those places have cultures too and are interesting. Why not make more money?


Last edited by plumpy nut on Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:00 am; edited 1 time in total
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

bradleycooper wrote:
Ad hominem attacks on people who criticise EF and TBI are a dime a dozen on this forum. If you don't want to work for $650 a month there must be something wtong with you. But I can tell you EF have certainly kept raising their fees to students at or above inflation levels while teachers' wages have been stuck in a rut for years. Many former EF teachers have a low opinion of their former bosses- no need to try and invalidate their views.


Even though I have not worked in Indonesia, I have worked all over Asia. I have enough knowledge of Asian countries to know if someone should work in a specific company or not. It's the same as: if it quacks, it's a duck, if it barks, its a dog, if it oinks its a pig.
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BabeEdna The Leg End



Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Posts: 8
Location: Japan Civil Aviation Bureau

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 1:37 pm    Post subject: All over.....49 different asian countries...?? Reply with quote

Interesting analogy
Just goes to show how wrong you are
As the same animals
In different (49 asian) countries
Do in fact as some students like to demonstrate
Make very different noises indeed

Off to work on my grammar
And animal noises

If it goes 'hon hon' / 'wan wan'
It's a dog
If it goes 'gep gep' / 'gaa gaa'
It's a duck
If it goes 'uod uod' / 'buu buu'
It's a pig
If it goes 'plumpy nut'
It's a ...............

But then you'd know best
😉😉😉


Last edited by BabeEdna The Leg End on Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My analogy was blunt, so what was the point of your analogy HeadyGoodin For Hair Slobber? Earning $750 US and sometimes even less is not so good when you most likely will have to come up with your own visa. Also in addition deal with corrupt officials extorting money because they know you're working illegally, or think you have a girlfriend on the island. Who in their right mind would want to work at a place where most likely you'll have to pay for your own treatment of serious tropical diseases and food poisoning possibly even dying, and a place where you are at the mercy of the school owner for some decent kind of housing. In addition to that imagine having to worry about how you are going to get your passport back when you decide enough is enough. Another thing does the school pay your way to the island for that fantastic salary and experience in Indonesia? Yeah who in their right mind knowing this stuff would want to choose Indonesia as a teaching destination unless you land a job with a better paying school. So if it quacks it's a duck.

Last edited by plumpy nut on Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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BabeEdna The Leg End



Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Posts: 8
Location: Japan Civil Aviation Bureau

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:32 pm    Post subject: Sex tourist....who ..me..?? Reply with quote

Stay at home in bed
where you'll be nice and safe....
No worries.
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rather than reasoning, perhaps Runes and Karma are your expertise?
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