Viewing topic: Arriving in September

I though now would be a good time to gauge some opinions, I will be arriving in St Petersburg in the beginning of September this year and have decided to take my own month-long tourist visa so i can have freedom job hunting and take the best offer.
I am a newly qualified teacher (with a CELTA) and a master degree in History. By september i will have gained two months teaching experience in volunteer camps in Ukraine.

It seems to me that BKC/Language link/EF/benedict are all ready to offer positions with standard 600 dollar a month (including accomodation) contract. I might have to bite the bullet and take it but id rather scout around for better options

i wonder as september progresses it may be easier to negotiate better terms with one of them... as they become desperate and after i have all of september.... anyway if worse comes to worse I can always fall back on BKC moscow!

However it is hard to investigate the smaller schools and what wages and conditions they have. Any recommendations would be great. I have a list of course from this site but not much detail in the descriptions.

Anyway im going to start sending of my cv around St petersburg schools and see what they say.... only it could be tough if they ask me to send in a detailed lesson plan of phrasal verbs...

I have a distinct feeling you'd have a much better time with the smaller schools... there's a thread in the Saint Petersburg schools & work section with some figures from one or two places that'll give you an idea of the overall picture. It's hard to give definite numbers with small schools as most teachers usually negotiate their own wages (harder/impossible with chain schools).

The BKC option would be good for getting settled in here, but at the same time you should be able to earn more. I don't know what their contract is like, but you should be able to earn more than that freelancing & be able to afford a reasonable flat.

While you're here in September, enquire into off-contract wages at different schools. Some of the smaller schools pay pretty well for freelance work, and the advantage is that you're not obliged to them by contract. You have every right to refuse extra classes at nasty times, split shifts... you get more control over your schedule & income, etc.

I'm a free-lance EFL teacher in Spb...i've been doing it quite a while. I used to work in private schools and at the State Uni
...but i got pissed off with the private schools. They didn't understand much about what i was doing in the classroom, about the realities of teaching etc...and they paid badly. The uni were good - nice people, amazing students...lots of enthusiasm...but obviously terribly money! I recently thought of getting back into the private teaching thing and sent my CV to just about every well-known school in Spb...
got a lot of interest...even went in to talk to a couple of people. But, having shopped around i realise that i'm financially better off free-lancing...schools pay something like 600 roubles/1.5 hrs...private classes pay 700 min...1000 max! I also have no boss which makes work less stressful - i am in control and enjoy a face-to-face relationship with my students which makes teaching a lot easier. But, i've been free-lancing for several years...have contacts, friends, networks, a reputation in the city etc...if you lack these things and don't speak Russian it may be worth you working in a private school part-time. Don't sign a contract...agree something short-term and say you're committed but want a verbal contract...nothing on paper. You will free-lance and do and agreed number of hrs a week for them. Don't let them take all your evenings (6pm onwards)...this is the most profitable time for giving private classes.
You could make $1000/month...maybe a bit more free-lancing
...if you work weekends you could make more...I prefer not to! Rent a room...not a whole flat...that will cost you less
...about $100/month. Also, when negotiating term with a private school...if they offer russian classes and you're interested in learning the language...say you want free russian lessons as part of the deal (one more person sitting in on a class is all the same to them!).
Need any more help - give us a shout!
Schastlivo
Alex

How do you find a room for $100 in St. Petersburg? I'm planning on heading over in late August/early September and looking for a teaching job. However, the problem is that I need to find accomadation. Any ideas? I'd like to have some roommates, preferably Westerners.

Incidently, I speak enough Russian to read the addvertisements for accomadation and negociate a price. However, I don't know which neighborhoods are safe, and I don't want to pay 4x as much for an apartment.

Might be a good idea to put up a notice at school dorms. Check out http:www.flatmates.ru to see if you can find a room to begin with.

Also ask schools if they can help (you've got the directory here) - you caould ask them to put out the word around teachers (and maybe even students) that you're arriving and looking for a room.

Good luck!

Im also looking... it seems to me that russianflatmates.ru has lots of people looking for a flat only dated for last year. Mabye they are still looking, Christ I hope its not that hard to find a flat. Mabye somebody on visarus has heard of a room for rent in petersburg, worth a try
Im arriving on friday (1st sept) and have three interviews lined up, wish me luck.
If any of the local teachers are meeting up for a few beers anytime in the next few weeks i'd be up for coming along, be nice to meet those people who ive only been reading up to now. especially the creator of our great visarus utopia, the site that has reduced my anxiety levels by some large random percentage. anyway till later

Matthew

Should be in spb around the 20th...me and Rob could show you some decent bars if you're up for that!

Definitely! Should be able to rustle up a few teachers and hit the town!

Quite a few people looking for apartments right now, will try to get you all together. I know of at least three others, maybe four, and no apartments! Koshmar!

Oi! I forgot to ask about the flat thing...

Robert, please remind me sometime this weekend. I'll see what I can arrange on Monday with the SPbRE guy.
He's too busy with constructions, but he'll at least refer me to one of his guys in the agency department. We'll see what we can work out from there.

yes lets arrange some concrete date for pivo davai davai!

any people also searching for flats, me and an another guy are looking for 3 or 4 bedroom, pm me

Of course, I'm always up for the beer!