A lot of advice needed

[Seni]

You’re welcome. By Dec/Jan the election will have happened so who knows - things might have completely gone to pieces or nothing much might have changed. You’ll be able to wait and see.

One thing to keep in mind though is that at that point you’re likely to have missed the boat on teaching jobs.

Thanks Kaminoge, I wasn't expecting on finding a job in December/January for next year. It would probably be at least another year away.

 

[sergio]

Hi Seni,

You’re a lot more familiar with Australia than me by the sounds of it!

Happy to try and answer your questions.

1.How has your experience in your school, living area and BA in general been so far?

First of all it’s important to understand that while Quilmes is theoretically part of BA the lifestyle I lead is very different to that of someone living in BA. It’s only about a 35min bus from here to Plaza de Mayo so it’s very easy for us to head into BA on a weekend and when we do we notice just how different it feels to Quilmes. So my lifestyle (which is fine for me) is not indicative of what someone else would expect. I live within the school campus and usually only leave once a week (in the working week) for Spanish class. Weekends I often head into BA for the day but rarely am up there in the evenings. So a lot of things people love about BA I’m not seeing at all. (This is all my choice- just explaining why I’m a lousy person to ask about lifestyle in BA).

The school is ok. There have been quite a lot of challenges and a lot of that is on me. I have spent my life being spoiled by working in good international schools. I knew this wasn’t an international school when I took the job. I didn’t really understand how different that would feel. The attitude in Argentina is also a LOT less academic than I’m used to and so that has been “interesting”. There are a lot of laws that have to be followed (many of which seem counterintuitive if you actually want to end up with a well educated population- maybe that’s not the point) and I have a long way to go before I really understand that side of things. But I feel they were honest with me about the job it’s just I didn’t understand things until I arrived. Can’t really blame the school for that.

2.Has not knowing much Spanish been an issue?

At work it is quite an issue for me when dealing with colleagues. (Students are all bilingual-colleagues aren’t). Outside of work it isn’t too terrible. I find most people are patient with my horrible attempts at Spanish. I’ve spent most of my adult life in places where I don’t speak the language and I find this easier in many ways (because Spanish is much closer to English than Bulgarian, Japanese or Chinese which are the other countries I’ve lived in). BUT if I hadn’t had my school taking care of all the paperwork side of things (and getting me a bank account) I would have been screwed. So short answer is no Spanish is fine because someone else did all the hard stuff for me!


3.Are you working at an international school and do the international schools generally have a good reputation? Are there massive differences in the pay?

No and no. I’m in a local bilingual school. But I don’t think any of the international schools here have a particularly great reputation. At least not by international standards. I’ve known people at the international schools and a lot of the issues I have they had too. Basically most students stay in Argentina for university. Argentine universities don’t care at all about results in international exams so no surprise it’s hard to get great results. I can’t really speak to the pay - my research on South America suggests no schools in this part of the world pay particularly well.

4.Did you apply for an advertised position or did you just send a blind application?

Advertised position. Blind application can’t hurt but chances of success are generally pretty low. We’re always getting sent resumes here but if a job appears there’s no way I’d bother to go back through months of resumes. If a job appeared and I’d recently seen someone who looked perfect of course I’d contact them and ask them to apply but their timing would have to be pretty lucky.

And of course if you’re familiar with international schools you’ll know you definitely don’t want to get hired when you’re already in country because in the vast majority of cases if you do then you’ll end up with a much much lower package than if you’re hired from overseas.

Good luck with finding a job if you do decide you want to move here. While there have been challenges I’m glad I came and (as yet) all the horrific warnings I was given about civil unrest and hyperinflation have not yet come to pass.

Just curious....You talk about international schools here. There are only two: Lincoln and BAICA. Am I missing something?

 

[Seni]

Just curious....You talk about international schools here. There are only two: Lincoln and BAICA. Am I missing something?

Hello Sergio,
I am mainly referring to the German international schools in BA. I know there are four of them and they are bilingual or trilingual (Spanish, English, German).

 

[sergio]

Hello Sergio,
I am mainly referring to the German international schools in BA. I know there are four of them and they are bilingual or trilingual (Spanish, English, German).

They are INTERNATIONAL? I think they just teach some classes of German. I suspect almost ALL students are Argentine. There is no longer a German community here. I don't think they can be called international.

 

[Seni]

They are INTERNATIONAL? I think they just teach some classes of German. I suspect almost ALL students are Argentine. There is no longer a German community here. I don't think they can be called international.

Well, even if the majority of students in these schools are Argentinians these days, the schools are still classified as German Schools, including staff from Germany.

 

[sergio]

Well, even if the majority of students in these schools are Argentinians these days, the schools are still classified as German Schools, including staff from Germany.

How many from Germany? Two? Three? Who classifies these schools as "German Schools" and what does that mean? Bilingual schools have contract staff from the UK but they are not international.

 

[Seni]

How many from Germany? Two? Three? Who classifies these schools as "German Schools" and what does that mean? Bilingual schools have contract staff from the UK but they are not international.

Dear Sergio,

You seem to be getting quite worked up about this topic and I don't really understand the reasons behind it but, anyway, here is what I know:
1.As a qualified teacher from Germany you can apply for jobs at German schools abroad. There is actually an entire official website through which teachers can go through and the offers are worldwide. The address is https://www.lehrer-weltweit.de .
2.In Buenos Aires are exactly four of these schools:
Goethe Schule Buenos Aires
Pestalozzi Schule Buenos Aires
Instituto Ballester
Deutsche Schule Temperley
3.Some of these schools are offering degrees such as the International Baccalaureate, German Language Diplomas or the German High School Certificate.
4.If you go on on https://www.international-schools-database.com schools such as the Goethe Schule are listed as "a German international school in Boulogne, Buenos Aires Argentina".
5.I don't think that German school means automatically that mainly German students need to attend or ONLY German staff need to be teaching.

 

[Sonia]

Hi, as an Argentine here is my advice.

1. The Salary: 55.000 really isnt that great of a salary for a couple considering the hyperinflation we are facing and the devaluation of the dollar. Unless your partner will be freelancing or having some other sort of income. You should secure a salary equivalente in dollars, lets say you arrange 1000 us dollars a month. So currently thats around 60.000 pesos, but if the dollar goes up (and it will) you will make 70.000 pesos. etc.

2. Quilmes: I would not recommend that a foreigner live in Quilmes, especially without knowing the area first. There are some nice areas but some very shady areas, especially until you really have a better feel for the society here and when someplace is safe or not.

3. You will need a car if you live in Quilmes (if you want to be comfortable).

If you are interested in working here there are plenty of other international schools you could apply to that are either in the city or "zona norte" (lucila, olivos, martinez) which is a really nice area outside the city, much safer and connected with a great train system.

Let me know if you have other questions!

 

[franzon]

So I found this thread and wanted to see if anyone could give me an update regarding St George's College, Quilmes and BA. I have an upcoming interview with them and was curious how it is to work there and how it is to live in Quilmes and BA. One poster stated a salary of 55000, isn't that quite low? Could also just be that the pesos was worth a lot more at that time obviously.

So how is it to work at St George's and can you survive on such a low salary as a single guy? And do they give you the option of living somewhere else with an allowance? Can you ask for half of your salary being paid in USD? Is there anything to do in Quilmes in terms of nightlife, gyms etc?

 

[sergio]

So I found this thread and wanted to see if anyone could give me an update regarding St George's College, Quilmes and BA. I have an upcoming interview with them and was curious how it is to work there and how it is to live in Quilmes and BA. One poster stated a salary of 55000, isn't that quite low? Could also just be that the pesos was worth a lot more at that time obviously.

So how is it to work at St George's and can you survive on such a low salary as a single guy? And do they give you the option of living somewhere else with an allowance? Can you ask for half of your salary being paid in USD? Is there anything to do in Quilmes in terms of nightlife, gyms etc?

Are you Argentine? British? l think you need to attend the interview and find out what the salary is. A lot of your questions about Quilmes are answered in previous posts in response to the Australian who took a job there. Whatever happened to her? A number of readers advised her not to accept the job but she took it. Then, as some predicted, everything fell apart -- even worse than anyone could have imagined.