The International Schools Review Forum

Psy are the majority of your sources found in dingy ex-pat bars, alleys, and hotel lobbies during international teacher fairs that you're not registered for?

No most of them are past co workers. Most expats i meet when socializing arent even teachers. I tend to avoid the dingy places, though was at an AMAZING event back over new years that was in a building that was under construction, and Ive had some of the best food in my life at little whole in the wall places and stalls that its hard to say if they even exist. I just remember this incident because as they were talking about this plan of their they suddenly got really quite, and looked at each other. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck rising, and then i said "Oh sorry man excuse me" as I passed gas, they all broke out laughing, we had another round, then left.

I am not even going to reply to what psyguy has said on this thread. >:{

To answer your question with the sincerity and respect with which it was posed:

I interviewed with this group. Among the things I learned:
Work day long and seemed intense: I think it was 8am to 5pm.
You will need to train teachers in addition to your teaching duties because that is the purpose of the initiative.
You must learn both Russian and Kazakh. If you know Russian, or something similar, this would be less difficult, but still, in addition to the high demands of the job already, you would be learning TWO languages that would be difficult for most native English speakers. The good news is that this would be structured into your prep periods in the day, so there is school support for it. But you are staying there until 5 pm.

If you are not at the one IB school, then you will be in a different city, they did not seem to have their needs worked out yet, who where, so they can't tell you anything about where you would/could be living. It was unclear if you would need to get a car to get to and from work, so that could be a big expense in an otherwise fantastic pay package.

My understanding of this position was that you would be placed in among local teachers with very few to no other expat teachers and would need to integrate with them. That can be amazing, but it is not without its price in terms of energy expenditure and I have a hard time seeing a healthy work-life balance for someone who was not coming alone, honestly. The pay and housing allowance looked great but it would be a hardship posting. You would work for every penny. I'd be really curious to hear if you do take the job and if you did, if you felt that you had the energy to sign again after 2 years. They sounded exhausting to me, but I may not have an accurate take. I had another offer in hand, for much less money, but I easily saw myself as happy there, so I took it and did not proceed to the third interview, which was rumored to be via skype and teaching a lesson for the education department people back in Kazakhstan. (They did not explain that to me directly and it may not be accurate, the teaching a lesson for a third interview.)

In a provincial city you can save a lot of that money. One can live comfortable in 1.5k plus housing.

redrider, my second interview on skype required me to teach a portion of a lesson. I only had two but my first one was in person because a committee was in town from Astana interviewing local teachers and I met with a board at that time.

I have been offered a post at the NIS starting in August 2012. Like higgsboson, I am also seriously considering accepting it largely because of the potential to save money.

With a USD 54'000 net income and utilities and housing paid for, I expect to save $40000. It would take me 4 to 5 years to save that kind of money in the UK, and I am on the highest point on the salary scale.

My only reservation is leaving the UK for a few years and then coming back to find that it is even more difficult to get a post that it is at the moment.

You could save $40K a year there, really. After 5 years youd have $200K thats a nice chunk of change, you will earn every penny of it though.

My experience has been you would have a hard time repatriating, but that doesnt have to be your ONLY exit plan, you dont have to return to the UK.

Chalkface - I was offered a job as well but it is in Astana so I wouldn't get the extra $12,000. Where are you being posted?

Kokshetau

Thanks for all the info on Kazakhstan. I am looking forward to going. I know as with any move there will be cultural differences to adjust to. I have been overseas working for the past two years so I am used to some of it already. As for the non relevant comments...

[quote="higgsboson"]Money though - how much can I save on a US$54,000 net + free housing? And how easy is it to repatriate that money?[/quote]

Higgsboson, USD54000 net salary means that you will earn USD5000 a month. If you are working in Astana, the salary is USD4000 a month, which amounts to USD43000 after tax.

[quote = Chalkface]If you are working in Astana, the salary is USD4000 a month, which amounts to USD43000 after tax.[/quote]

Chalkface, they originally offered me a post in Astana but I declined. I said I wanted that US$5,000 a month and they offered me a position in Semey, which I accepted.

The only thing I don't like is paying airfare upfront and waiting on reimbursement - seems cheesy. Other than that, Semey looks like a potentially great area for travels to Russia and China. I'm looking forward to it.

What will you be teaching Higgsboson? Have you already had your work visa sorted out?

Chalkface, I teach physics and math.
I haven't even started on the visa; I just got the offer.

Have you got the visa? It seems it should go quickly.

As someone who currently works for one of the NIS schools, I can tell you that the offer looks GREAT, but you'll quickly find out that it's not what it seems. Everything is open for interpretation, and yours is not the one that matters. Whatever is "good" for the managing company will win the day, regardless of your contract, offer letter, or even the country's labor code. If you are able, I would suggest you get a Russian speaker to look over your contract before signing, since the Russian version prevails and there are numerous discrepancies between the Russian and English texts. After a year of working, we still don't have answers for questions we've brought up repeatedly throughout the year, and we've heard that teachers around the country are changing schools or moving on completely.

Still, even with all the broken promises it IS a very high-paying job and a work in progress. Be ready to fly by the seat of your pants.

Bluesealkz, I have a few questions.

I was offered a job in Semey. Any information on that psoting?
They want me to get a federal CBK. Wouldn't a police clearence work?

Most important, did you pay for your ticket in advance? How long before you were reimbursed? That might be the deal breaker for me. Tickets to Semey are at least $2,000 and probably more.

Thanks