Finding Work in Vietnam

HCMC, the central part of which is still referred to as Saigon, is a frenetic city by anyone’s estimation. 

Capitalism and communism come together to form an intriguing blend of perspectives. Across the city, temples jostle for space with shopping malls. Street food vendors hawk their wares outside fantastically expensive office blocks. The city is a good choice for a stint abroad for a number of reasons:

• There are plenty of jobs.
• Wages are relatively high.
• The cost of living is comparatively cheap.
• There is a large expat community to help with the transition.

Those looking for work should note that the key is to put in a lot of legwork (or motorbike work as the case may be) in order to find a job. Many language schools prefer to see prospective teachers in person. Most don’t hire from abroad, and many are hopeless at replying via email anyway. Arriving without prearranged work may seem like a daunting prospect, but if you hand out enough CV’s and have reasonable credentials you are almost certain to find work. The best thing to do is to check the addresses of ten or so schools and pay a Xe Om (motorbike taxi) to take you to each one in order to speak to them in person. 

A couple of hours being driven shouldn’t cost more than about 5 dollars, which is definitely a good investment. The other advantage in approaching schools directly is that you can develop first-hand impressions of how the building and classrooms appear, how professional and friendly the staff seem, and catch sight of some of your prospective students. 

Wages are normally around US$12-$20 an hour, depending upon qualifications and experience, with a lucky few securing up to $30 for private business classes. Although it is generally required that teachers have a degree and a CELTA/TESOL certificate, it is still perfectly feasible to find work without such credentials, albeit usually at some of the less scrupulous schools at slightly lower wages.

The same can be said about work permits. Only those schools in the upper echelons of the education industry will require teachers to acquire a work permit. Most will allow teachers to work on an easily renewable tourist visa, simply because the cost and bureaucracy involved in applying for a permit would otherwise put potential teachers off.

Of course, apart from language schools, there is also the option to organize your own private classes. These often pay more and are usually one-on-one. The most common way to set up such lessons is through word of mouth. If you stay in the city long enough, someone is bound to ask you for such lessons, and if you are good, news spreads fast. Once you make inroads in the private class sector, things can become very convenient, as many of the affluent in cities live together in suburban tower blocks. Therefore, you may get very lucky and work a few hours a day in the same place, cutting down on travel time and money.