Questions Regarding Moving to HCMC and Teaching

Hi,

You can teach at the language central in Vietnam if you have:

- Bachelor Degree
- Tesol certificate

Bring your Curriculum vitae

You can get the Tesol at VUS and ILa central.

Good luck to you!

If you have a degree and any of TEFL/CELTA/TESOL with or without experience then you will have no probelm in finding a job. Even without TEFL/CELTA/TESOL you should be able to find work.

FYI - Saigon typically sees most of its rainfall between May and October, peaking in June (avg rainfall is 10+ inches). I have seen pictures and video of the streets flooded.

I got my TESOL/TEFL/TESL certification from Oxford Seminars and the class basically follows the itinerary posted on their website for the course. I had a positive experience, learned a lot, made some friends, and left with a good idea of what to expect when I step in front of an ESL class. I even completed the Grammar & TOEFL preparation specialization modules.

I am in US and been applying to various schools because I wanted to get an offer before going to Vietnam. The larger schools (ILA, VUS, Apollo, intl schools) that I have applied to seems to prefer CELTA holders and maybe some teaching experience. Since they have applicants taking their CELTA course, they have a ready supply of potential teacher candidates. I believe the primary thing they are looking for is the number of hours you have in front of real ESL students.  These schools are easier to find on the web since they have a larger budget for marketing and advertising. I imagine the smaller schools would require a more local presence to find them and would accept the TESOL/TESL/TEFL certification with your native English speaking ability.

With that said, schools would like to meet face to face before they hire you and once hired, you probably would be put on a probation period. Remotely speaking, teacher market seems competitive so it would seem to make sense to dedicate at least a month in Vietnam to apply for jobs.  Just do your prep work so when you arrive, you are ready to go with your CV, cover letter, and docs to apply for the job.

I have seen pay rates range from $1000 to $1500 per month, or $10 to $18 per hour.  Average work week being advertised is about 25-30 hours a week, but not sure what is involved during those times and if classroom prep work is included.

Per my understanding, there is an expat community in District 2 of Saigon.  You also have this blog and meetup.com/Under-39s-Saigon/ which are bunch of expats just getting together to share some activities.

BTW - Lunar New Years is coming in early Feb so it will be festive, crowded, and typically a bit more expensive for "tourists".  Plus the Vietnamese takes a week off after the new year before resuming normalcy.

Hope this helped and good luck!

Thank you so much, Kenneth! That was extremely helpful.

You can find work, it just depends on whether or not the pay is suitable.  What's your degree in?

@Kenneth

You're facing this:

http://www.expat-advisory.com/articles/ … ly-vietnam

Please don't shoot the messenger.  I don't condone the policy.

@WideAwake
I have heard the same kind of sentiment from other colleagues and read the same sort of articles on these types of policies and practices. Unfortunately, perception from a mass group of people becomes a reality and the schools are running a business so they have to respond accordingly. I can understand it, but don't have to like it and trying to find ways to deal with it. Thanks for the article link.

Any suggestions from the more experienced expats on how to deal with this type of environment?