My Prospects

[up-country_sinclair]

I hope this type of thread isn't frowned upon, as I'd really like hear some opinions from the posters here.

I'm considering moving to Bangkok in August or September, and am wondering what type of salary I could reasonably expect to make teaching adults or university students. I really don't have the patience to teach children or high school students.

My qualifications: I've been teaching English for a little over ten years, and have an MA TESL and BA English from US universities. I've mostly worked at universities in N. America and Asia, but have also done corporate English language training.

I assume that high incomes can be achieved by doing lots of part time work, but I'm really only looking one job. If I were to work at a university, I'd certainly be open to doing extra classes for an overtime wage, but hustling from job site to job site in the traffic is simply too stressful.

I would also be interested in learning about the possibility of a DOS position at a language school, but don't know if I'm qualified as I've never held this type of position before.

So based on the above, what are my prospects and what type of salary could I expect in BKK?

Also, with my MA would I still have to take the culture course I've been reading about?

Again I understand that if everyone started one of these threads it would be tedious, but I'm hoping the mods will let it stand.

Thanks.

[PeaceBlondie]

No problem, up-country. I'll leave it stand and leave it to our more knowledgeable posters.

[KhaoNiaw]

You're best bet would be to go for one of the private universities and make sure that you're getting a position teaching English majors, not general English courses for other majors. Or teach in an international program. That way you will get the best money for your qualifications and experience.

In a university you won't have to worry about culture courses or anything like that.

Most universities will offer extra teaching hours over and above the normal load. You should find a starting salary of around 40-45,000 without the extra load. But probably a fair bit less in a government university and perhaps more if you're lucky elsewhere. Try different places to find out what's on offer and make comparisons.

[Ijustwannateach]

We'll let it stand a bit, but really you should read the infinitely long "Questions About Qualifications" thread, or at least the last 10 pages or so of it. That's where this thread will eventually be merged.

As I've said many times, your qualifications do not usually affect the salaries on offer for TEFL-related positions. Better CVs simply give you a better chance at the better jobs.

With your background, I would imagine you could qualify for some of the in-house TEFL teaching done at some true International Schools (which could put you close to 100K). However, those positions would most likely go first to local contacts. Second in terms of salary would be private high schools and the richer EP programs, but once again these are hard to jump into (if you manage it, you're looking at between 50-70K). However, at the moment most of the good jobs are already taken (because the school year has already started for most places, or will start very soon).

If you really intend to start now, you're looking at the desperate or dysfunctional schools- schools that either can't get employees because they ask for qualifications too high and don't pay for them, or don't give qualifications, or are chronically mismanaged and are avoided by most of the more experienced here on reputation alone. If you're lucky, you might get a 40-50K offer, but it's much more likely you're looking at 25-30K depending on how long you're willing to hold out.

It appears that some of the true International Schools are being asked to do the silly "culture" test, but the fees and paperwork are being handled through the schools. No one yet knows what the official line is on hiring a new teacher from abroad (who by definition will not have taken the "culture" test). Check out our pinned thread on what is known, unknown, and in reliable dispute about the silly "culture" test and the plagiarised, non-native-speaker-written "license" test. Basically, it seems that their attempt to make the test credible is failing with both administrators and teachers (and no surprise), and it is mainly a device to cream money off the foreign teacher population by some unethical types offering "courses." I would avoid it if I were you.

Uni jobs are poorly paid on the face of it (25-30K) but are typically completely legit on the paperwork and offer lucrative part-time work (which as you have guessed can sometimes involve inconvenient travel). Furthermore, be very clear when you interview whether or not the university has multiple inconveniently located CAMPUSES and which ones they would ask you to be working at- if you know in advance and they're really desperate, you may get them to guarantee you the convenient location in exchange for agreeing to start work.

You seem to have some understanding of Thailand already, which means you will know that we can't offer any firm answers (even regarding the law). Good luck and let us know how it works out.

"S"

[up-country_sinclair]

Most universities will offer extra teaching hours over and above the normal load. You should find a starting salary of around 40-45,000 without the extra load. But probably a fair bit less in a government university and perhaps more if you're lucky elsewhere. Try different places to find out what's on offer and make comparisons.

Thanks for your reply KhaoNiaw.

Since the academic year begins in May..... do you think it will be difficult to find a position in Sept. seeing that it is the second semester?

Also, do you know if someone has already compiled of list of private universities and contact information for their English Departments? If so, could you point me in the right direction? I hope this doesn't come across the request of a lazy man but I don't want to unnecessarily 'reinvent the wheel' as it were.

We'll let it stand a bit, but really you should read the infinitely long "Questions About Qualifications" thread, or at least the last 10 pages or so of it. That's where this thread will eventually be merged.

Thanks for your substantive reply to my post. To be honest, I didn't notice the Q & Q thread until you mentioned it here. Per your recommendation I read the last ten pages and picked up quite a bit of useful info.

With your background, I would imagine you could qualify for some of the in-house TEFL teaching done at some true International Schools (which could put you close to 100K). However, those positions would most likely go first to local contacts. Second in terms of salary would be private high schools and the richer EP programs, but once again these are hard to jump into (if you manage it, you're looking at between 50-70K). However, at the moment most of the good jobs are already taken (because the school year has already started for most places, or will start very soon).

Although I do have an MA TESL, I'm not a certified teacher in my home country. Do you really think a "true blue" international school would hire me at that type of salary?

Also, the question that I posed to KhaoNiaw is also worth asking here....will it be significantly more difficult to get hired in September because it is the second semester?

Thanks again to you, PeaceBlondie, and KhaoNiaw

[KhaoNiaw]

Since the academic year begins in May..... do you think it will be difficult to find a position in Sept. seeing that it is the second semester?

You should be able to find something for the second semester, but start putting the feelers out in good time. I'm not aware of a list of universites and English departments - but it's something that should have been done.