Viewing topic: Startup Costs: Private vs Contract?

Hello. I can't think of a better introduction, so I'll just get into it.

1) This site is the sinlge best source of info I've managed to find on teaching in Russia. Not only is it informative and entertaining, but confusing as heck! That's a good thing, though, because I'm already getting a real feel for Russia!

2) I'm a TEFL-qualified Canadian with 2 years experience teaching in South Korea. I signed a contract my first year and they got me my visa, flew me over, and set me up in a small but decent apartment. Then they proceeded to "English-whore" me out 12 hours a day and finally messed me over in the final month of the contract.

My second year I went strictly private (highly illegal in S. Korea but only if they catch you) and although spent more time travelling than teaching, I made more money, more Korean friends, and enjoyed myself immensely. Oh ya, I definitely had more hangovers, too.

If it hadn't been for that contract, however, I never would have been able to afford getting started there, never mind figuring out visas, learning the ins-and-outs and trying to find an apartment, avoid getting ripped off, etc. Of course visa runs as a freelancer were very simple; that is, a 30-minute flight to Osaka, Japan every 6 months didn't hurt me too much.

3) After a couple of years back in boring and lifeless Canada, I'm hitting the ESL road again, and this time I'm coming to Russia (most likely St Petersburg...even eslcafe has nice things to say about the city!). I'll be arriving in Feb. '09 with about $2500 CAD in my pocket.

I'm wondering if it's worth going through the grind of a contract for getting into Russia, getting set up, and getting to know what I'm doing there at first. From reading these threads and from personal experience I know that freelancing is the way to go once you know your way around. Would you say that a contract at first has advantages?

What are your thoughts? And why?

Thanks for your time.

Greetings! Thanks for the generous appraisal of humble ol' VisaRus. As far as confusion goes, I like to think it's confusing by design and not by accident It keeps the total noobs at bay You passed the test

Sounds like you are going to have a great time in St. Petersburg. You already have the right kind of experience (being trashed by employers, working illegaly, hangovers, etc.) to be able to master the Russian way of life in a matter of days.

Now, I know you just bought a copy of the TEFL guide. Good on you, the support is appreciated. Especially since the catalog page has big red letters saying 'Russia is so confusing that this book was out of date the moment it was published'.

Well, not really true but almost. As you will have gathered from VisaRus and the site you downloaded 'dat book' from, the only part of the it that's really out of date is the bit about visas.

However, that's probably not strictly true because your visa has knock-on implications for other things, especially employment and also accommodation.

I know that what I suggest depends largely on the time of day and the amount of blood in my sugar/nicotine stream, but I'd say at the moment there are two good options:

1. Take advantage of the desperate schools and get one to provide you with a teaching visa (invitation takes about a month to process) in return for as little work as possible. Use that to get established AND get started on private teaching right from the start.

2. Wait and see if the rumour about the 90/180 day thing being lifted is actually true.

Even as a veteran teacher, the hardest things in moving to St. Pete's at the moment are the ridiculous price of accommodation and the silly nonsense with visas. Picking up enough work to keep you stupidly busy should then be child's play.

Welcome to the wonderful world of leeveng een Rassha!

Haha, thanks for the quick reply! I'm still (trying) to sort out the details and honestly Kiev is looking much more attractive the more I learn about freelancing in Russia....

Anyways, your ebook is great. I recommend it to everyone looking to teach in many parts of the world! No, I wasn't paid to say that but when I do make it to St Pete's I hope the esteemed author will show me a good place to get a good beer

Thanks! Much appreciated! I hope you don't mind me adding your comment to the catalogue page

Get over to SPb and we'll be sure to show you where to go for beer

I don't know zip about the teaching scene in Kiev, or anywhere in Ukraine, for that matter, but all I can say is that Kiev strikes me as a mini-Moscow. Keep Petersburg higher up on the list, even if it's a bugger to get visas.

In any case, Kiev is just a stone's throw away (a day on the train or a short flight) from St. Petersburg.

I was actually contemplating about teaching in Odessa, but last minute changed my mind and decided to go to SPB.

Kiev strikes me as a mini Moscow, so I opted for Odessa - although warmer than SPB, with great beaches, it struck me as a little too small. I didn't want to risk staying in a small city for a whole year, when I could be enjoying the great attractions of an incredibly interesting city like SPB, even though it meant packing a lot of winter clothes.

Thanks bobs.

Allow me to sing your praises for a few sentences. Obviously I'm checking out every single forum about living and teaching in Russia (particularly St Petersburg), and I find that most of the ESL teachers who post are the same types I found in Korea: disgruntled, unhappy, whiny, and elitist teachers who complain because their TEFL certificate doesn't get them the exact same standards of living they had back in their comfy western countries.

While these threads are good for researching schools, they are kind of useless when it comes to the more practical information about living and teaching in the particular regions.

Then along comes bobs, and not only do you provide concrete advice and answers to the OP (usually two pages after all the whiners have hijacked the thread), but you have an upbeat albeit sarcastic outlook on most of the issues. AND you sometimes provide links to back up your answers. Plus you run a website dedicated to teaching in Russia. Plus you have a great ebook on the subject.

Okay, I'm done.

Now here's the two options I'm considering and I'm hoping someone can illuminate my thought process a bit more for me.

1) Sign into indentured servitude with a school in order to get there and get set up and then see what happens throughout the year.

OR

2) Come on a 90-day business visa and hope to hell that I can find someone to help me get a cheap flat right away. Then check out some of the non-chain schools in the area in person and hope to hell I can negotiate with one of them for visa help with a flexible contract and per-hour rates, and then start into private teaching. I have no problem sharing a flat with someone but I'm not going to pay ridiculous rents.

If neither works out then it's a hop-skip-and-a-jump to the nearist CIS country with a relaxed visa regime. I'm just lucky to have family in Germany and the UK who can help me out if I REALLY get in a pinch! lol

This reply would have been a lot shorter if I didn't go out of my way to praise bobs, but some things need to be said!

Hi ate-the-paint,

I think that you've more-or-less sussed out the two probable options - although I, personally, would probably favour the 2nd for the following reasons.

Option 1 looks to be the favourite if you are wish to minimise your arrival costs in Russia but if you come over with a contract arrangement already agreed with a school, it just means that they have got you by the boll*cks sooner, rather than later... They can also have you running all over the place, sweating blood (check and you will probably see that it's written in the contract which will leave you with little time for doing what you prefer - ie: getting yourself set up to slip the yoke asap... Of course there is an upside.... regular pay and a hovel just north of Moscow to live in, which is a long bus ride

Option 2 would be my preferred choice but I have been here a while. However, knowing the current local teacher situation, I know, for example, that one major school in SPB is taking on anyone, qualified or not, so great is their need for teachers to teach the lovely students they have waiting in line. Merely grunting in some language that approximates to English is now more than enough to be taken on, it seems....

The downside here, (as you have already realised) is that you will be responsible for sorting out when and where you work on arrival and maybe for finding your own accommodation initally. I would point out here that the two words 'flat' and 'cheap' are unlikely to be synonymous....

A further aspect is that even if you walk into a school and get agreement for some work and visa support of any kind, a work visa invitation is unlikely to be in your hot little hand in less than 3 months. So there is the highly-likely prospect that you will be having a little holiday, possibly of unknown duration or location, out of Russia after that time...It might be a trip back to your homeland or perhaps somewhere more convenient - but it's going to cost you regardless, as the school is unlikely to pay for travel and accommodation costs in obtaining a visa. This might also apply in Option 1 because the school is unlikely to get you more than a 3-month visa at first....

Aha! I've just checked!! You are Canadian!! Ooo-er....the Russians don't like Canadians very much at the moment and officially, you won't get a visa processed in less than 15 working days anywhere in the whole world...I think they may even be insisting that you go all the way back to Canada and nowhere else. But wherever you go, unless you can find a way round it, don't forget to take your knitting with you... You could be away for a whole month....