Teaching English pay and conditions · Pay and conditions in Teaching English
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Pay and conditions in Teaching English
Pay and conditions in Teaching English
Nearly all ESL jobs that hire from overseas include worthwhile benefits. A free apartment is typical, though some employers offer only a room in a shared place. Most contracts are for a year, though some provide salary for only a 10-month school year. Most include annual two-way airfare home, or at least some money toward the cost. University or public school jobs often have quite long holidays.
Language teachers typically do not get the high salaries and juicy benefits package that an expatriate sent by a company to work in an overseas branch would. In particular, education for any children you have may be a problem. International schools are generally quite expensive and few employers (except in the Middle East) cover this. The local schools may not suit your kids.
In lower income countries a language teacher's pay is generally enough to live well there, but not much by the standards of higher income places. For example, $800 US a month plus a free apartment lets you live well in China; local teachers are making half that and paying rent on their apartments. You can afford to travel some in the holidays, even visit nearby low-cost countries like Vietnam. However it would be almost impossible to pay off debts back home, or to plan a trip to Japan, on that income. Korea or Taiwan have higher salaries, enough to save some despite higher living costs.
It is also common for schools to hire locally for summer programs, for part-time work, and sometimes for full time employment. These jobs often have fewer benefits than the overseas-hired posts.
The best pay for language teachers is generally in the Middle East. They can afford to be choosy, though; most jobs there require a degree and TEFL certificate, and some require an MA. Some jobs in Japan and Western Europe also pay well, but living costs are high.
There are also some highly paid jobs training oil workers; usually these involve an on/off cycle ? 42 days working long hours then 21 days away or some such ? with the employer paying a flight out every cycle. Most of these want good qualifications ? typically degree, CELTA and five years experience.
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Teaching English Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.