English Teaching Job Prospects

quynh27 wrote:

I'm here and everything's good! I substitute at an international school, tutor 5 days/week, and teach English 2x/week. Finding a job is really not a big issue at all; you just have to be persistent in applying to a lot of places. ...

If you have degrees, or even a few years of experience teaching, you should try your luck at the universities. VN is very poor at teaching chemistry and physics. And the pay is better, too.

I tutor students who have never done physics (magnetising iron, making a compass), never dissected a frog or even made stink bombs in chemistry class!

theodatta wrote:

I'm in Ho Chi Minh city from the 1st Jan staying for a couple weeks to learn the Vietnamese language but had a rethink on working in the city (I seem to have moral issues about earning 10 times the wage of local average person) , a contact is kindly (hopefully) sorting me out with a school in Dalat though the wage will be a fraction of what the cities offer but balances out with the great opportunities to help within rural community and farmers.

1. You must be an optimist, and a memory like a parrot, if you think you can stay "couple weeks to learn the Vietnamese language";

2. You won't have any moral struggles, you will get underpaid, too - just like VNese - except they get pay increases stipulated by the government. Likely the 'poor farmers' will be making much more than you. (There's money in mislabelling food as 'organic')

Using your terms of reference:
1. Define "with it a fat wage".
2. Define areas you describe as "western gentrified".

Jaitch wrote:

theodatta wrote:

I'm in Ho Chi Minh city from the 1st Jan staying for a couple weeks to learn the Vietnamese language but had a rethink on working in the city (I seem to have moral issues about earning 10 times the wage of local average person) , a contact is kindly (hopefully) sorting me out with a school in Dalat though the wage will be a fraction of what the cities offer but balances out with the great opportunities to help within rural community and farmers.

1. You must be an optimist, and a memory like a parrot, if you think you can stay "couple weeks to learn the Vietnamese language";

2. You won't have any moral struggles, you will get underpaid, too - just like VNese - except they get pay increases stipulated by the government. Likely the 'poor farmers' will be making much more than you. (There's money in mislabelling food as 'organic')

Using your terms of reference:
1. Define "with it a fat wage".
2. Define areas you describe as "western gentrified".

Firstly, in response to your abrupt questions, I do not recall saying that I would be fluent in  stipulate that I would learn fluent Tieng Viet in 2 weeks (so slow down with your assumptions), I am in touch with Vietnamese Non profit organisations and learning exactly what the farmers income is so I don't recall asking for advice on that issue either. Are you asking to know what gentrification means or pre empting further advice on HCM? please do comment from your personal experiences in tis matter I would be happy to learn.
Please remember all comments I make are from others who have lived here in HCMC studied and worked over a period of years, obviously not my own experiences. Merely suggesting interest in other areas of HCMC other than D1 for work and living in the future.
On this blog there seems to be a rather large amount of self supporting opinions generalising facts only from personal experience/views great but also a fine line between that and factual information.

colinoscapee wrote:

You mention about earning more than the locals, this will come into play when you have to pay more for rent,living costs and the dreaded visas.Until you get to know prices here you will be charged anything they feel they can get away with, so the extra income comes in handy. If you have some cash to get you buy for the first year then the lower wage will not affect you.

Thanks for the advice Colin - I guess being charged what they get away with is nothing new  living in an Asian country...on the mention of visa's (again  ) do you as expats have to continuously renew your residency requirements? Is there no eventual long term permanent residency stamp once you have worked a few years?

colinoscapee wrote:

I have given advice to people who have just moved here, they have rolled their eyes when I stated some things to them about life here. About 12 months later they have actually acknowledge what I told them and apologised for thinking that I was talking through my arse.It comes down to listening and taking things on board, a lot of expats who live in gated communities and apartments have very little contact with locals outside of their work environment and have no understanding of what goes on around them,I'm generalising here. I have met guys who have been here for 20 years and they are clueless as to what is going on around them, mostly because their whole time was spent surrounded by other expats in expat areas.

So again,just come here get a feel for the place,get a motorbike,go around and keep away from the tourist areas. I think you have got the answers you need,so now its time to actually get things started and find out how things work without debating on a forum.

I'm not there yet Colin, you saying  not to debate, isn't what these sites are here for? Im on this thread responding to the newcomer who got work teaching that is all - seeking out newcomers experiences is just as valid as folk who have lived there for whatever years

colinoscapee wrote:

The best advice I can give you is this, there is a section devoted to the visa issues in Viet Nam on this forum. Have a look at that, the only problem is that the government changes the laws like you change your clothes. The only long term situation you can gain is by getting married or a VEC(visa  exemption) they also still have to be stamped every three months.Hopefully one day when you get married here, that will be the end of it,no having to get a stamp every three months.

Thanks, worth knowing, reason for so many questions is spending months in paperwork fighting with immigration work/business  visas in a different country only last year; from the sounds of it, the legal clarity/consistency doesn't exist here.

theodatta wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

The best advice I can give you is this, there is a section devoted to the visa issues in Viet Nam on this forum. Have a look at that, the only problem is that the government changes the laws like you change your clothes. The only long term situation you can gain is by getting married or a VEC(visa  exemption) they also still have to be stamped every three months.Hopefully one day when you get married here, that will be the end of it,no having to get a stamp every three months.

Thanks, worth knowing, reason for so many questions is spending months in paperwork fighting with immigration work/business  visas in a different country only last year; from the sounds of it, the legal clarity/consistency doesn't exist here.

If you had to spend months fighting for visas, it would mean that you didn't meet the criteria as requested.

thaolovely74 wrote:

Hi, I am looking for a native speaker/teacher to teach at my English Centre. Please contact me via email thao.tran@gurucentre.vn or via phone 0903 33 85 74 if you are looking for a job of a teacher.

Thanks.

Which centre would that be.

colinoscapee wrote:

Which centre would that be.

Colin, maybe this centre: https://www.facebook.com/gurucentre.vn

theodatta wrote:

Thats great news you are settled and everything  went smooth . Thats great you are tutoring too! SOunds like a perfect start for you

I'm in Ho Chi Minh city from the 1st Jan staying for a couple weeks to learn the Vietnamese language but had a rethink on working in the city (I seem to have moral issues about earning 10 times the wage of local average person) , Well, you could use the dosh to support some worthy causes. I've handed out 2 notebooks to half-orphans with mothers struggling to make ends meet. ** What is wrong for getting paid the market rate, whatever that is? Money's important and havfing more enables you to do things you couldn't do without it.a contact is kindly (hopefully) sorting me out with a school in Dalat though the wage will be a fraction of what the cities offer but balances out with the great opportunities to help within rural community and farmers.
Everyone on this expat site as soon as you mention you are an ESL teacher looking for work assumes:
a) You want to work in District 1 and with it a fat wage.
b) Live in western gentrified areas (thats why Im moving from the UK!!)

Each to their own I guess!! good luck and well done

pogo007 wrote:

The criteria is not the problem when applying for a permit, it's getting all the stamps from various government bodies is a pain. If anybody needs help in the visa department please pm me I have a few contacts that can get you a Temporary Resident Card.

I see you removed the price,at that price that would be a black market TRC.