Job Discussion Forums

[CGriswald309B]

Hello all.

I was wondering if the kind folks here could give me some feedback as I've had a few folks recommend Vietnam (people I know in China and South Korea).

I'm a 33 white male who is a certified ESL teacher in the US with 4 years experience. I also have 2.5 years ESL in Spain and 1 year in South Korea.

My girlfriend is a 28 year-old Filipino-American who is also a certified ESL teacher with 3 years experience. However, she has no experience abroad.

I was just wondering what type of salaries we should expect. How much we should expect to spend whilst looking for a job? Cost of a decent apartment?

As always, many thanks in advance!

[ExpatLuke]

Hello C,

With your experience, I think you would be able to get a job at an international school teaching English classes. Most of those require at least 3 years experience with at least 1 year teaching Asian students. You seem right in line with that. That would probably be the best course of action in terms of pay. The school year is ending here at the end of May, so there may be new opportunities opening. If for some reason that doesn't appeal to you, your experience and qualifications will allow you to work at most language centers and universities in Ha Noi or Saigon. You can probably expect a decent amount of pay. ($1400-$1800 would be my guess).

Your girlfriend will have a slightly harder time with it, especially if she has an Asian face. But with 3 year experience she is already a better candidate than many people working in Vietnam. She may face some initial prejudice, but if she proves to be a competent teacher, that will hopefully pass.

Most people would agree you should bring with you enough money to live on for 2 months, plus enough for a plan ticket home just in case something happens. As for housing, it depends on what you classify as "decent". You can get apartments for as cheap as $300 in Saigon (slightly more in Ha Noi), but you may prefer something a bit nicer. If you look around of the forum there's a few threads talking about housing.

[VietCanada]

Ho Chi Minh here.

I think $1400-1800 is incredibly low pay for an international school. Real international schools offer pay closer to $3000-4000 with many benefits and perks. If you check their web sites you will also see many asian faces on staff. Some teaching courses in English. Science for example or grammar.

If you are a qualified teacher with a B.Ed. and teaching experience in your home country then you can probably work anywhere in the world with pay and benefits matching those of your home country.

In that case you need to do a search. Those schools seem to prefer hiring within their target country as opposed to the country the school is located. You may need a couple referees and/or references.

If you don't have the B.Ed. you might still try but then there are pseudo schools that pay in the $2000 and up range.

As an hourly worker with no experience here you should be able to get $15 per contact hour to start. Don't accept less. You may get $18 from a better school. In this case hit the ground running with a resume, dressed for the job (shirt and tie, nice shoes, dress slacks, carry a jacket and put it on before you enter the school). Present as respectful, articulate and knowledgeable. Prepare to do demos. Ask about admin work and the pay for that. Some chains offer $15 and can be a great way to get your feet wet while making income. They'll often hire you and start you working in a couple days. Pay could be 6 weeks to two months later. They'll probably pay monthly, 5 days delay and it'll depend on where you are in the cycle.

Hotels can be had for around 200 to 400 a month but you'll probably need a marriage certificate with an asian wife or they'll try to sell you separate rooms. Food extra. Local cuisine (meat, rice, vegetable, soup) from $1-3 a meal. It works. Or you can dine out for $50 -100 per if you wish.

Vices-Beer, cigs about 75 cents per.

So bring a couple thousand and return tickets home. Save hard for the first couple months, make friends and slide into your new life.

Housing is a bit more complex. But there are furnished western style units maybe around $400 and up. This would be like condo living, pool, BBQ, all appliances, dishes I believe. Contacts help here. Or you can rent and furnish a house but then you'll have to arrange and pay for utilities. Some here have found terrific landlords who'll help out but don't count on it. A maid for around $50 to 150 a month may help out or may be trouble. Contacts help here too.

Hope this helps.

[ExpatLuke]

[VietCanada]

[CGriswald309B]

Thanks a bunch guys!

The girlfriend and I are trying to decide on Thailand or Vietnam.

[I'm With Stupid]

What exactly does a "certified ESL teacher in the USA" mean, just out of interest?

Do the reputable international schools hire purely ESL teachers? I was under the impression that the bulk of their students are the children of native English speakers, and as such, the teachers they're looking to hire are no different to equivalent schools in the USA or UK (although ESL certification on top of being a qualified teacher back home would obviously be an advantage). If they do have ESL teachers on staff, I highly suspect they're not given the same generous package that is offered to their other teachers. I could be wrong, of course.

[CGriswald309B]

@I'm With Stupid - We are both certified to teach in the state of Texas elementary students from PK-4th grade. If we wanted to teach in another state in the USA we would have to send in some paperwork to get certified in said state. We also have ESL endorsements which means we are certified to teach ESL from PK-12th grade.

I am also planning on taking the exam so I will be certified to teach 9-12 Language Arts . Hope that helps.

[I'm With Stupid]

Oh, in that case, Saigon South are looking for an EC4 teacher for the new term. Here. I dunno if that's the equivalent to 4th grade in the states, but they both have 4 in them.

[CGriswald309B]

Thanks man. I'll give it a shot.