Teaching English In Russia

The economic growth experienced by Russia over the last decade has been remarkable not only from the oil exportation perspective but also thanks to Russia’s foreign investment programme and their participation in the foreign markets. With all these outside interactions there has been a dramatic rise in the use and need for teaching English jobs within Russia.

Thanks to the economic boost that Russia is enjoying teaching English jobs can become a really good source of income. Contracts in both schools and companies can be acquired for durations ranging from six months, a year or even longer in some cases.

Despite the high availability of jobs competition in this field is high. There are a few companies that receive countless amounts of resumes on even the lowest paying positions. So if you really want to grab a job then resumes with the CELTA or TEFL certificate are much better received.

It is important that you study your agencies carefully as they all have different minimum requirements you need to be aware of. A simple example of this is the English language team, or Mr. English. This club has branches located throughout Russia. They have been partners with many international agencies for several years and have begun to only allow the best of the best to get through the application stage.

For people that are already in Russia, there are other possibilities. The services of an English Native speaker are valued, more times than not, their services are more valued than certified English lecturers from Russia. A variety of institutions and companies hire native speakers to educate English classes. The average wage is fairly reasonable as well, being anywhere between $10 and $17 an hour you can live comfortably in Russia providing you can find the work because although these jobs are often easy to find, the hours can be irregular and minimal, which makes it financially difficult at times.

There are a few more things to consider when teaching in Russia. Certain schools in the country are well known for their unprincipled business practices: non-payments or late payments for staff teachers. A few acquaintances and past students that have been employed by these companies advise those who are interested not to work for American Language Centre, Harvard English, ELC Time and NY Language Centre. In 2006, the majority of these have lost their business simply down to mistreatment of their teachers. With this in mind you should always perform sufficient research in order to avoid any problems later on.

If you are looking for a ‘safe’ company, you should consider those that have an international reach, these are companies that are located around the globe and not only in Russia. English First and the BKC International are the two recommended companies that offer the applicant contracted work, a salary that is middle class and perks such as travel reimbursement and visa support. Before you make any decisions you should revise them all otherwise your teaching time in Russia could turn into hell.