Job Discussion Forums

[Raffael2]

First off, thank you for any honest thoughts/responses you may provide!

I am considering a teaching position at an international school in Moscow. I don't know anyone that has taught there or is teaching there so any insight would be extremely helpful. I have a masters degree at the elementary level and have been teaching in an urban school district for the past 4 years. The salary is very attractive and includes accomodation. I do not know the name of the school because I am going through a recruiter and am at the very beginning stages of the process.

What is Moscow like? I am 27 and would be traveling alone. What are accomodations like?

Again, any thoughts/opinions/responses would be greatly appreciated!!

[maruss]

If you read through the many postings on this site you can glean a lot of info. for yourself.Without knowing who the recruiting agency is or where they are,and even more so because you have not said which school is involved it is very hard to give you any proper advice.If it is a foreign owned/operated school then this could be a good sign and you do have the qualifications and experience they inevitably demand in return for offering top pay and conditions you could be off to a good start?But have you been to Russia before and how well do you know Moscow and what it is actually like to live there etc?All these aspects are equally important....

[ecocks]

Talk to another teacher that already works there at that school about the conditions and livability,

[smithrn1983]

ecocks is right. You need to talk to someone who actually works at the school. Continue with the recruitment process, and try to find out the name of the school, and see if you can contact someone who currently works there. That's going to be the best way to get accurate information.

[maruss]

Try to get inside information BEFORE you make any decision about taking this job and also remember that the time to ask any questions is NOW and not once you arrive in Moscow!As a general rule never presume anything about Russia and work on the assumption that anything which seems unclear or even sounds suspect probably is!
Russian employers are often notorious for being vague and even saying what they think YOU want to hear in order to recruit people!
Other points-where is the accomodation as regards the location of the school and will you have your own appartment?Clarify this because it matters just as much as the job itself,believe you me.

[Kofola]