I Am Terrified! I Can Not Find A Job! Help!

[nicknbg1981]

Hello!

My name is Nicholas Gayder and I have been in Thailand for 5 months now. I came early for a holiday, took Chichester College's course and I am currently looking for a job. I have been looking at ajarnspace.com and here. But people wont reply to me because I have no college degree, I am willing to work any job, even for 20,000 bhat. I need to find a way to make ends meet because I came here on a one way ticket, and I am past the point of return. I am going to run out of money. The college made me belive it is almost impossible to not find a job. I speak English very well, and use proper grammar. I need anything, any job. Can someone please give me advice, I am very nervious about not finding one. I also realize it was the Thai summer for school in April, but I am not getting calls or emails back. The few places that did dropped me like a hot pancake when I said no college degree!

HELP!

Nick

[somtampet]

Now you are up the creek without a paddle,and to be honest you have not thought this out very well have you.

nuff said

[nicknbg1981]

Now you are up the creek without a paddle,and to be honest you have not thought this out very well have you.

nuff said

I truely am.

[jambla]

Have a look at some small language schools. Do a drop by with your resume, shirt/tie etc... You might land something to get you some cash but probably not a WP. So it might a risky temporary solution. Note though that it is illegal to work in Thailand without a WP.

Good luck.

[CDB]

I sent you a private message

[thaigold]

You better call home and get a one-way ticket back. If you are under forty, get back as soon as possible. Please don't waste your youth in Thailand. It has beautiful people and a wonderful culture - but for a working Farang, disaster.

Go home; work till you can retire, come back. Because if you don't have a British public education - this is a career dead-end.

Good luck

[jackdawson]

I am willing to work any job, even for 20,000 bhat

i am sure currently working teachers making more than that love to hear that .

it's the end of the world here teaching wise

especially for those unqualified (no degree)

(u fell for the chichester pitch ?)

get someone to spring for your airfare

and head back "home" ASAP (if not sooner)

u do NOT wan't to be in thailand with NO resources

that's when they eat u alive

Edited May 4, 2010 by jackdawson

[Ijustwannateach]

Assuming you are for real, you need to be hitting the language-mills (conversation schools) which tend to offer the poorest hourly rates, but seem almost like magic with visa paperwork. Good luck.

[SEETEFL]

A few of our TEFL graduates don't have a college/university degree. With our help they usually find work fairly quickly and most obtain work permits. In fact, an agency in need of 15 teachers recently contacted me; they are flexible about degrees. I'll cut and paste the contents of the email and send to you as a pm.

John Quinn

SEE TEFL

Forum Sponsor

http://seetefl.com

Edited May 4, 2010 by SEETEFL

[Scott]

Seetefl, thanks for your help to the OP.

I hope the OP has some luck. It's unlikely that getting waivers is going to get easier, so if the OP finds work, that's good, but long term he needs to either get a degree or make other plans.

I believe a few neighboring countries are more flexible with regard to degrees.

[toptuan]

He might consider lowering his salary expectations as well, just to get his foot in the door and start working again. I started out at 14,000B/month with a master's degree. But it was the one year I needed to look around and do better later.

[Ave]

I symphatise with you, totally. Four years ago my money was running out together with work permit and visa.

I didn't panick but focused instead. I got organised and went to several interviews.

I looked for jobs that included real estate and teaching work and found that private tuitions kept me going until I got a reply to an ad I put on the local newspaper at least a month earlier!

It was a blessing but most of all a fortunate situation that I created myself by strongly believing that I could make it, one way or another. If you stay in Bangkok there are so many government schools that might be able to offer group tutoring and the money there is good. At the moment for one-to-one tuitions I'm making about 1000 Baht per hour. I am also doing a degree online. It's hard to juggle it all but that's not bad! Looking back I can see that if I gave up so easily I wouldn't be where I am now.. I wish you all the best!

[stiggy]

Assuming you are in Bkk may I suggest that you try out of the big smoke, I have friends that found work fairly easily down south, Ie Chumporn and Surathanni.

Its pretty cheap to get there to 600 bht or less, you wont have the city lifestyle but a more traditional Thai experience my two friends love it. Others in the past that worked there certainly did not have any degrees.

salarys where around 20 - 30 k depending on experience plus some private work on the side. cost of living outside city/ tourist spots real low.

good luck

[Ave]

Assuming you are in Bkk may I suggest that you try out of the big smoke, I have friends that found work fairly easily down south, Ie Chumporn and Surathanni.

Its pretty cheap to get there to 600 bht or less, you wont have the city lifestyle but a more traditional Thai experience my two friends love it. Others in the past that worked there certainly did not have any degrees.

salarys where around 20 - 30 k depending on experience plus some private work on the side. cost of living outside city/ tourist spots real low.

good luck

I would consider that too! The islands are not far..

[mjnaus]

I would definitely advice you to try outside of Bangkok. I live in the deep south myself and know plenty of foreigners who teach around here without a degree (some with and some without a work permit, all earn around 30.000 per month, ain't great and life is cheaper down here then it is in Bangkok). I know several people working at ALI (www.alithailand.com) and I am pretty sure they're hiring at the moment; so might want to have a look at their site. They're located in Hatyai by the way, so not a rural area...

Don't panic, focus...

[Ijustwannateach]

Thanks to everyone for the useful regional suggestions!

[aussiebebe]

You better call home and get a one-way ticket back. If you are under forty, get back as soon as possible. Please don't waste your youth in Thailand. It has beautiful people and a wonderful culture - but for a working Farang, disaster.

Go home; work till you can retire, come back. Because if you don't have a British public education - this is a career dead-end.

Good luck

Good post, 'thaigold'. However, you are sugar-coating the truth a little; 'work till you can retire' implies that you can, or will, which most people can't or won't, unfortunately. Fact. There are also many career dead-ends in the West, too, especially for someone without a Bachelor degree.

What I take from this post is;

1) the importance of having 'get-out money' for anyone working here. Enough for a ticket back home, no matter what. Could even be something to wear, like a watch, to buy yourself a ticket on a plane out, in times of trouble.

2) the importance of saving for a working foreigner. If your place of work helps you file tax returns, you should minimize your tax obligation. You can get a tax rebate on any long-term funds, like mutual funds, you buy, up to 15% of your income. The road to retirement need not only be in the West as 'thaigold' suggests, you can invest your local income in Thailand, often with attractive rates of return. Many foreigners living over here on pensions are hit hard by fluctuating exchange rates and significant transfer fees.

[ozzieovaseas]

well mate, im really sorry to hear about your dramas

I nearly fell the same way when i first came here, nearly forked out US$1200 to do a tesol course but just found out at the last minute that its a pretty tough ask to get a work permit without a degree, hence even harder to find a job.

what about looking for some tutoring jobs that pay per hour? OR summer camps?? dont know if there is much going myself..personally im always to worried about getting busted without a work permit

If you look on the bright side the cost of living here is IMO still very good.

If you are not staying at expensive accomodation then maybe you can ride out the storm somewhat.

Maybe moove out in the suburbs where it is even cheaper living..i can say from experience appartments are definately very cheap if you go out a bit..

[ozzieovaseas]

I symphatise with you, totally. Four years ago my money was running out together with work permit and visa.

I didn't panick but focused instead. I got organised and went to several interviews.

I looked for jobs that included real estate and teaching work and found that private tuitions kept me going until I got a reply to an ad I put on the local newspaper at least a month earlier!

It was a blessing but most of all a fortunate situation that I created myself by strongly believing that I could make it, one way or another. If you stay in Bangkok there are so many government schools that might be able to offer group tutoring and the money there is good. At the moment for one-to-one tuitions I'm making about 1000 Baht per hour. I am also doing a degree online. It's hard to juggle it all but that's not bad! Looking back I can see that if I gave up so easily I wouldn't be where I am now.. I wish you all the best!

hi there Ave..

can i ask you if the online degree is very expensive?

is it from from Chaing mai university by chance?

[Loaded]

I symphatise with you, totally. Four years ago my money was running out together with work permit and visa.

I didn't panick but focused instead. I got organised and went to several interviews.

I looked for jobs that included real estate and teaching work and found that private tuitions kept me going until I got a reply to an ad I put on the local newspaper at least a month earlier!

It was a blessing but most of all a fortunate situation that I created myself by strongly believing that I could make it, one way or another. If you stay in Bangkok there are so many government schools that might be able to offer group tutoring and the money there is good. At the moment for one-to-one tuitions I'm making about 1000 Baht per hour. I am also doing a degree online. It's hard to juggle it all but that's not bad! Looking back I can see that if I gave up so easily I wouldn't be where I am now.. I wish you all the best!

hi there Ave..

can i ask you if the online degree is very expensive?

is it from from Chaing mai university by chance?

CMU don't offer online degrees as far as I know.

[elshaheen]

To be honest, I have not recieved a call from any of the agencies. Well, i did get one from an agency near DinDang near Pentip plaza. The man made the appointment and I went and no one was there.

Now, i don't want to go out of Bkk, because my wife lives here also.

[imaneggspurt]

You better call home and get a one-way ticket back. If you are under forty, get back as soon as possible. Please don't waste your youth in Thailand. It has beautiful people and a wonderful culture - but for a working Farang, disaster.

Go home; work till you can retire, come back. Because if you don't have a British public education - this is a career dead-end.

Good luck

Great advice, but i must ask , why are people so desperate to stay in a 3rd world country and work for peanuts, quite bizzare, .

[NADTATIDA1]

You better call home and get a one-way ticket back. If you are under forty, get back as soon as possible. Please don't waste your youth in Thailand. It has beautiful people and a wonderful culture - but for a working Farang, disaster.

Go home; work till you can retire, come back. Because if you don't have a British public education - this is a career dead-end.

Good luck

Great advice, but i must ask , why are people so desperate to stay in a 3rd world country and work for peanuts, quite bizzare, .

I think he has a British public education!!

Not bizzare at all...there are many reasons i can think of,if the Op has perseverence he will succeed just has many of us and others have allready stated.

Ave Stiggy and Mjnas have offered great advice,have you also looked in the classified section here on TV,there are jobs out there,i think you will be ok with the schools opening up soon just gotta pull your finger out and get active for it.GOOD LUCK!

[Ave]

I symphatise with you, totally. Four years ago my money was running out together with work permit and visa.

I didn't panick but focused instead. I got organised and went to several interviews.

I looked for jobs that included real estate and teaching work and found that private tuitions kept me going until I got a reply to an ad I put on the local newspaper at least a month earlier!

It was a blessing but most of all a fortunate situation that I created myself by strongly believing that I could make it, one way or another. If you stay in Bangkok there are so many government schools that might be able to offer group tutoring and the money there is good. At the moment for one-to-one tuitions I'm making about 1000 Baht per hour. I am also doing a degree online. It's hard to juggle it all but that's not bad! Looking back I can see that if I gave up so easily I wouldn't be where I am now.. I wish you all the best!

hi there Ave..

can i ask you if the online degree is very expensive?

is it from from Chaing mai university by chance?

CMU don't offer online degrees as far as I know.

Hi, loaded is right, no online degrees from CM uni.

The online degree course I'm following is not from a famous nor prestigious institution, most people have never heard of it, I don't think, also because they are quite new. It's called Must and it's based in California. For people with very little money it's probably the best option as I have no intention of going back to the west back to a boring office job in a cold country. My bachelor degree course cost me around 4000 US dollars. For jobs in Asia that's good enough for me to start with.

[BlackArtemis]

Not a career dead end in Thailand.... You just need the right qualifications.

After I am done my BSED Biology and teach in the US for awhile I am more than qualified to teach at an international school. Furthermore, many of these schools offer free to discounted tuition for children of teachers. My wife starts her MS ED Early Childhood soon and will be able to make decent money as a Thai when she returns with me.

Furthermore I plan on going further in my studies and will most likely focus on Ecology, industrial ecology, or environmental sciences which will open more doors to even higher salaries.

I can agree that it is suicide to come with no higher degree and plan on living in Thailand for the long haul, but if you plan right things can work out very nicely.

[troehr]

I would suggest you leave Bangkok. You will find there are plenty of jobs further afield. Also, go visit the schools in person. You will find jobs that are not advertised. You might just walk in when they just had someone not show up. Emailing for jobs does not work well. The person standing on the office asking about the job has a much better chance. Make finding the job your job. Spend eight hours a day looking.

T

[Ave]

I would suggest you leave Bangkok. You will find there are plenty of jobs further afield. Also, go visit the schools in person. You will find jobs that are not advertised. You might just walk in when they just had someone not show up. Emailing for jobs does not work well. The person standing on the office asking about the job has a much better chance. Make finding the job your job. Spend eight hours a day looking.

T

Definitely, the best advice. I got my first two jobs by visiting the schools in person, it works well outside the big cities where there are less farangs available.

[dmax]

get back home asap and earn a decent living then come to los for holidays. good luck

[jaiyenyen]

Do some legwork. Just call in on a few schools and ask if they are hiring. That's how I got my first job.

I walked into a government school in Bangkok, asked where the English department was, spoke to the head of English, and was hired (Degreeless) the same day, 35,000 baht a month.

Make sure you look presentable.

[marty147]

Now you are up the creek without a paddle,and to be honest you have not thought this out very well have you.

nuff said

I truely am.

see my PM - let's see if we can get you sorted.

Despite some of the more negative comments regarding your situation, a positive attitude can open a lot of doors...