Job Discussion Forums

[Arris85]

Hi!

I've been offered a contract in HCMC which I think sounds reasonable. Good schedule, not amazing for vacation (3 weeks plus any national holidays) and teaching a mixture of kids and adults which I've enjoyed in other jobs. I also haven't found anything negative ont he company after scouring the net!

The salary they offered me is $2200, paid in VND, which I think seems OK? It's not that much less than I made in Korea (though I pay for my own housing and flights) and quite a bit more than I made in Spain. Just checking really, wondering if that's enough to live on and save a chunkand is a fair wage!

Thanks for any heads up!

[1st Sgt Welsh]

Hi Arri85,

I'd like to help with your question, but I'd need a bit more information. How many hours a week will you be teaching? Do you have to be at the school when you are not teaching? If so, for how many hours? Are you required to do administration? Will you be working weekends? Are the vacations paid? Are there any bonuses? Do you have to pay for your own health insurance?

If it's a full-time gig and, assuming you have a CELTA and some experience, RMIT might be a better option. They seem OK at the moment for staff in HCMC, but the talk on the street is that they need more teachers up in Hanoi. I'm not sure if you are interested in Hanoi though. RMIT's conditions are good and this has been discussed on this board many, many times before. If you are interested in learning more about RMIT it might be an idea to just do a quick search. Good luck!

[Arris85]

Thanks for your reply. It's maximum 100 teaching hours per month between 9 and 5, monday to friday and working at different schools, but I would only have to show up to the office, and they would take me to and from any other workplace. The rest of the time not teaching/travelling I think I would be in the office doing lesson planning/admin/whatever. To me it sounds fair. I think health insurance is paid, don't think any other bonuses.

I am getting my celta at the moment, and I have 3/4 years experience. What is RMIT? I'm not really that bothered about Hanoi, well, maybe I'd love it but I've never been! Heard not great things from a few people. I've visited HCMC last summer and I liked it, and I sort of know a few people working there who say good things, too.

[ExpatLuke]

[mark_in_saigon]

"People say believe half of what you see,
Son, and none of what you hear."

from Heard it Through the Grapevine.

I would not be quite THAT cynical, but it is a good idea to remember that a lot of what we hear from these people we deal with is bull. My VN friends tell me that when THEY interview for a job, if the employer tries to set up a schedule, that means they will get hired. If the employer tells them that it was a positive interview and to wait for another call for setting up employment soon, that means forget it. In other words, these people are very reluctant to speak truthfully and directly. Now, if you have been offered a real contract, then it will probably be real at first, but these are the same people who will lie and change things up and do whatever they want, the standards here are pretty appalling. We all have to do the best we can with what the reality is, but just saying, be prepared for it to all turn into a nightmare. Not just this deal, any deal. It can be a great place to live, sometimes the work can be okay, or even pretty good, but mostly it is a mess, and we all have to be prepared for whatever we have been told to have been written in sand.

The big warning on your PARTICULAR situation is that the package seems better than most, especially for someone who does not have the qualification under his belt. If the school is legit, they would have no problem getting lots of folks who are already in the country and have already gotten their certificates. Not that it is impossible, but it just sounds like a bit of a warning to me. I know some schools will hire from abroad, and one can find people who are not the normal backpackers/boozers that way, but the down side doing that is they have to wait for that person to show up, and a lot of them never do. They could get around that by hiring 4 people for 2 jobs and then letting the law of averages work, or ditching the ones who they did not like. Don't be surprised by that kind of thing over here. Other than that, the package sounds fine, especially the schedule.

[vabeckele]

A fellow teacher, whom I worked with on arrival to Vietnam told me to, 'have back up plans of A, B, and C.' I didn't know what he was on about at the time, but after 2 years here I have learnt to do just that.

Your salary and package are quite good.

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), is probably one of the top universities in Vietnam for those wanting to study in English. For academic and teaching staff it is also probably one of the better universities to work for.

[VietCanada]

[mark_in_saigon]