Getting Work In Ba

Kmadair

Kmadair

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Hello,

I am planning to move to Argentina in October 2013 and teach English. I am getting my TEFL certification to help with the job search. However, I have been reading posts from other blog sites that it is actually very difficult to get a teaching job. I will have money saved to live for about 3 months without a job, but I am worried now that despite working hard to find a job I won't be able to.

If anyone reads this and has some true insight, please share! I welcome tips and advice! I am beyond excited about this opportunity, but I want to be realistic.

Thank you!

Katie A.

P.S. Also, if anyone reads this and knows of a good place that will be hiring - I am hard working, fluent in English and beginner in Spanish, a good teacher, professional, and TEFL certified!
 
Hi Katie,
As a former ESL teacher I would say that the problem is not so much getting a job, but making enough to make ends meet in Buenos Aires. The cost of living is rising rapidly and your pesos will be worth less each month.
Also, take into account that Oct is pretty much the end of the year for hiring unless you happen upon a situation where a teacher is leaving and drops all of his or her students onto your lap. This does happen at times.
You are more likely to find something in Feb or March that will last throughout the year.
Sometimes there are jobs working in English summer camps so that might be an option in the off season for teaching.
You can always pick up some private students which can more or less supplement your income, but can also be hit and miss with lots of last-minute cancellations.

Best of luck!
 
Get better at Spanish. A lot of owners of language schools prefer to speak in Spanish, and some students speak very little English.
I have worked at many jobs where the actual work was done in English, but most Argentines prefer people who are at least high intermediate, if for nothing more than you can joke around with them and they don´t have to translate all the time.
 
i agree with Richard P. Hiring starts in Feb to get ready for March which is after the summer vacations here and when students take classes. If you are working through an institute you will be getting paid around 40-60 pesos an hour. Please remember that Buenos Aires is huge and with the amount of travelling involved you probably wont be able to work more than 20-25 hours per week. (Thats if you can actually find that many hours!) The subway is going up to 3.50 in 2 weeks and the bus is around 2 pesos so keep in mind that travel costs come out of the 40-60 pesos i mentioned. Renting a room in an apt is going to be around 2000 pesos a month (if not more - i might be a little out of touch with prices - check craigslist for a better idea). At an ABSOLUTE maximum (and i would say that its almost impossible) you would be earning 6000 pesos (60 pesos an hour for 100 hours a month) which would be fine to get by but you probably wouldnt be saving anything.
 
I recommend that if you already booked your ticket, go traveling to a cheap place like Ecuador/Bolivia/Peru for the first few months, enjoy some travels with your savings and then land in BA in late Feb/March to get as much teaching work as you can when the school year starts. Otherwise wait. Your timing is a bit off :(
 
lucha54 said:
I recommend that if you already booked your ticket, go traveling to a cheap place like Ecuador/Bolivia/Peru for the first few months, enjoy some travels with your savings and then land in BA in late Feb/March to get as much teaching work as you can when the school year starts. Otherwise wait. Your timing is a bit off :(
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Yep I would rather spend than money travelling around other countries here. You'll see a lot more than just hanging around in BA.
When I first arrived I wasted a month just mucking about in the city, I wish I had spent that money on an extra month of travelling.
 
I taught English in BA for 2 years (and I have not only the TEFL, but a master's degree in TESOL.) It's a pretty thankless gig, to be honest... if you work with an institute, you'll be underpaid (as they take a 50% cut or higher) but have more stability in your schedule. If you take on private students, you can charge more, but will deal with a lot of cancellations (which they won't want to pay for) and schedule changes. Either way, you'll be traveling a LOT, up to an hour each way per class. The students themselves can be lovely, just be aware that a lot of Argentines will basically want you to work for free (I still remember a 40-year-old computer professional telling me that he couldn't afford to pay more than 50 pesos per hour, yet then proceeded to tell me about his twice-a-year European vacations and all of the electronics/designer clothes he orders online from abroad.) Making ends meet solely on teaching wages is extremely difficult, as Buenos Aires is now more expensive than most large cities in the US or Europe. To get an idea of current prices, check out http://www.disco.com.ar/ and http://www.buenosairesdelivery.com/. Like I always say, your teaching salary will probably cover daily living expenses and (depending on how frugal you are) perhaps even your rent, but the minute you have to buy something like a new phone, a winter coat, a round-trip bus ticket, etc, you'd better have some savings to fall back on.
 
Hi Katie,

I was in the same position you are coming into. I arrived here in September 2012, took the TEFL for a month, and then went job hunting in October. My TEFL teachers told me it would be so easy to get a job, but it was miserable and no one was hiring! Luckily I had some savings and with Xoom, you can almost get the blue dollar rate! For me, the jobs started picking up in January. I just applied to everything everywhere and things started to come around. Now its March and I am already set for jobs and am turning things away. I make more than enough to live teaching private classes and working for an institute and I also have time to volunteer and take spanish classes (which are in payment for the volunteering). I'd say not to plan on saving much, but its possible and I know some people who are able to save a little on a teachers salary. And we all still go out, eat out, and live in nice places in Palermo. We definitely are not scraping by! Its just a matter of finding the right jobs, which can take a while.

I'd say if you come in October you should expect to find issues finding jobs. To live each month, you would need about 3500-4000 pesos, so if you can swing that in savings then, go for it! But if not, then maybe it would be safer to come in January. Its also just a love for the city though. I really like living here and have found that everything seems to work out in Buenos Aires, one way or another. Just maybe not the way you thought.
 
Thank you for the response. Is there is earlier date that would also be ideal? I heard I June/July is another good hiring season, do you know if this is true? If not, I think I will wait until January because I won't have THAT much saved.

Also, I have no intentions of saving money while I'm there, but I'm glad to hear that you can live off a teaching salary. I want to be able to enjoy the city and go out!
 
melpd28 said:
Hi Katie,

I was in the same position you are coming into. I arrived here in September 2012, took the TEFL for a month, and then went job hunting in October. My TEFL teachers told me it would be so easy to get a job, but it was miserable and no one was hiring! Luckily I had some savings and with Xoom, you can almost get the blue dollar rate! For me, the jobs started picking up in January. I just applied to everything everywhere and things started to come around. Now its March and I am already set for jobs and am turning things away. I make more than enough to live teaching private classes and working for an institute and I also have time to volunteer and take spanish classes (which are in payment for the volunteering). I'd say not to plan on saving much, but its possible and I know some people who are able to save a little on a teachers salary. And we all still go out, eat out, and live in nice places in Palermo. We definitely are not scraping by! Its just a matter of finding the right jobs, which can take a while.

I'd say if you come in October you should expect to find issues finding jobs. To live each month, you would need about 3500-4000 pesos, so if you can swing that in savings then, go for it! But if not, then maybe it would be safer to come in January. Its also just a love for the city though. I really like living here and have found that everything seems to work out in Buenos Aires, one way or another. Just maybe not the way you thought.
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Thanks for this data. It forces one to review ones finances to understand how to get by on less than US$600...!! Its a challenge.
 
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