In late August, after about a month of exploring Medellin and its surrounding regions, I decided to start looking around for English teaching positions.
I started off by asking my family for some names of good bilingual schools and English institutes in the area and they gave me quite a long list.
Here’s a short list of the schools I looked into:
Here’s a short list of English institutes I looked into:
Well, I’m more than happy to say that I ended up getting a fist grade teaching position at a top bilingual school here in Medellin!
I’m equally as happy to report back to Medellin Living followers that it was a pretty simple process… although at times I found myself disappointed and discouraged.
I started preparing for my job hunt back in Jersey by making dozens of copies of my resume in both English and Spanish.
I was then advised to “apostille” my college diploma and my New Jersey teaching license (for those of you who have never heard this term, like myself, an apostille is a seal that your state places on documents to show authenticity overseas).
Once in Medellin I simply began calling the schools and institutes mentioned above. Typically I introduced myself and told them that I was a certified teacher from the USA hoping to find a position as an English teacher.
A number of places informed me that they were in the middle of the school year and that they would not be looking for anyone until the beginning of the school year in late January… this was not good news for me.
A few places did however show interest in me and invited me in for interviews. The interviews were all held in English and they were pretty straight forward.
Typical questions like:
All of the questions were easy for me to answer being that I had teaching experience from home.
I came to Medellin thinking that it would be easy for me to find a good paying job because I’m a native English speaker and because I have teaching experience and credentials but this wasn’t necessarily the case at most of the schools and institutes that offered me positions.
Here’s what some of the job offers looked like…
A number of language institutes offered me part-time positions, about 10-15 hours a week, paying 8 thousand COP ($4.40) per hour (the hours and pay were not exactly what I was looking for).
One well-known English institute offered me 15 hours a week and a private preschool offered me a Saturday morning position, both paying 18 thousand COP ($10) per hour.
These were two offers I was about to take but then… I received a call from a well-known bilingual school. They called me in for an interview and offered me a full-time teaching position, with benefits, as a first grade teacher… it was my Colombian dream job!
I was offered a salary of two million COP ($1,100) per month which will now allow me to stay in Colombia for as long as I wish.
I’ve now been working for two solid weeks teaching English in Medellin, and every day I enjoy my job more and more.
I’ll be writing about my experience as a teacher in the future but I hope that this blog gives everyone some insight into looking for a position as an English teacher in Medellin.
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How do you live on 1,100 a month ?
1) Never get a girlfriend
2) Don't live in Poblado
It’s tough but doable here in Colombia! I'm very lucky to be living rent free in a family studio apartment and I only pay about $150 US a month on water, electric and my cell phone. Since I'm on my own I food shop every other week and it always comes out to about $300 US a month (the school where I work does give me a huge lunch on a daily basis, relatively free of charge).
My bills aren't much and I'm able to go out every weekend for drinks and dinner. I do however resort back to my savings account back in the US from time to time!
Ana,
Love your blog! You speak of one well known institute and one private pre school that offered you 18,000 CP per hour. Can you please say the names of both. My email is wommy81@hotmail.com if you don't want to say it publicly. I am in Medellin now and am hoping to do some part time teaching work. I am a fully qualified English teacher in Australia but I do not have formal qualifications in TEFL. Also, would these places sponsor me for part time work so I can get the temporary work visa.
Kind Regards,
Glen
¿Donde puedo contactarte para tomar clases de ingles y cuanto sería el costo?
Buenas Cesar,
Me envias un email a mi correo porque no quiero poner mis numeros telefonicos por aca.
wommy81@hotmail.com
Cuando me envias el correo luego te doy mis numeros.
Las clases cuestan 30 mil cada hora, pero puede ser en un grupo de dos o tres tambien por el mismo costo.
Chau pues,
Glen
Puede ponerse en contacto conmigo a josephmancini29@yahoo.com. El costo sera lo que usted puede pagar. Vivo muy cerca a el poblado. Espero oir de usted pronto. Estare en Medellin en Agosto.
Hola I can teach English for 20000 pesos colombianos write me fredyfredy-@outlook.com, and we talk about it.
Ana, I am moving to Medellin this summer. I am looking for English-speaking schools for my 14 and 17 year old children. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks, Linda
lfirwin.rnbo@yahoo.com
Hi Ana,
You mentioned that you had taught in Guatemala for 1 1/2 years. Can you tell me the name of the school and where it is located?
Hey Ana, I´ll take the IELTS in a month, How much do you charge per hour and where are you from? I dont even know anything from you, just checked your blog quickly!!
Hello Anna,
I am looking to teach in Medellin. I have wanted to teach overseas for years and a former student of mine suggested Medellin (her family is Piasa). After 11 years teaching middle school science in California, I am looking for a change. In the past I visited Bogota but didn't care for the city (weather, people and culture). I also didn't care for the trend of people dressing up in "Black-Face" during festivals. From doing research on Medellin and talking to people from Colombia, it seems that the weather is much nicer and the people much more open than Bogota. Also from what I have gathered it would be an ideal place to learn Spanish.
For some reason I am having difficulty finding contact information about The New School in Medellín, Antioquia. Do you know of anyone who works at the school? I have a phone number but would like to send my CV by email.
Any advise you could pass along to me about other bilingual schools in Medellin would be highly appreciated.
Thank you for your time in advance.
Frederick
Ana,
I wonder if you still check this blog... I am currently living and teaching in Ecuador but I've always had my heart set on going to Medellin. Can you give me the names of the schools which had the best salaries? I will be traveling there in about a month and I would like to narrow down my choices.
Thanks,
Emily
Hi Emily,
I don't know that Ana checks these comments anymore, but I'm guessing EAFIT (a wealthy private university) offers one of the higher salaries. They're also harder to get a job with as I think they, and most universities, recruit for new teachers once a year (I forgot when, exactly).
I've also talked to teachers who said they can make more money doing private tutoring then working for one or more schools. The key there is to network, and find the wealthier clients and families who can afford to send their kids to private lessons.
Hola Ana,
I am not suere that you still have access to this blog, but just in case. I am trying to set up a language school in Medellin and woild like to know from your experience about salaries and the time for you to get the working visa.
I would be very grateful for any information or even contact of people that might want to work at the institute.
Many thanks;
Alejandro
Hi Alejandro,
I was directed to this blog because I am searching for a job in Medellin. Family concerns should have me busy there for at least a year and I will certainly need a job while I am there. I have over ten years teaching high school in Pennsylvania Schools. A dream job for me would be to teach high school History or Math, but I am told that English as a second language teachers are in greater demand.
I would be very interested if you need teachers. I hope to be in Medellin by February 20, 2014. I will forward my resume and references if you like. Best of luck in your endeavors. Tom
Hello! My wife and I are TESOL certified English teachers living and working in Jeonju, South Korea at the moment. We have been here for 2.5 years and are ready for a change in January 2016. Really considering Medellin due to lots of research and friends who have great experiences there currently. Just wondering if you did end up setting up a language school in Medellin and if so, if we could speak about it? Thanks!
hello, ana!
i am a frisky, 63 yr old, my social security is a nice buffer.
i come from a wall st/commodities background but have been teaching yoga/had a yoga studio for the past 15 years.
i have looked around the world for places to live in the winter.
and i think colombia is the place! i am coming down in january for at least our winter and with the possibility of staying on.
ii got an ESL certificate although i have not completed the grammar yet. <:)
my only teaching experience would be from 18 years of teaching yoga?
i am also an accomplished thai massage therapist.
i guess my question is, "would you say there are oppurtunities for one of my background in medillin?
thank you.
Congrats on the teaching position. As you mentioned, these kinds of jobs are not as easy to come by as one would think.
A friend of mine also took the same route as you did several years ago and did some $5 per hour English teaching in a mediorce school but evetually found a position in a bi-lingual college and is now in his 4th year with them. As well as the yearly increases in salary he is also intiled to some bonuses for sticking around and some travel benefits so it's now a very good gig for him.
This is really the only viable teaching job that is available here in Medelin that will enable you to get by without burning into your own savings.
Living on $1,100 per month in Colombia is tough? Then how do the low-income colombians get by? Im able to get by on 1,100 in Sweden
I lived on $1,500,000 COP for some time in the early '00s when the peso was worth less than it is now. And I paid rent. It is very doable. Life in Colombia is cheap, even in the second-biggest city (Medellin). Shop for your food (or at least produce) at the plaza and you get a heck of a lot for just a little money. As newlyweds, my wife and I ate like royalty for $45/week around 2002. The costs have not changed drastically. Imported items and luxury items are considerably more expensive, so one has to keep oneself in line. But it's highly doable.
I worked at the Centro Colombo-Americano in 2001/2. It was a terrible experience. I came to them with 4 years experience in TEFL in Asia and part of a master's degree program in linguistics. At first they asked me to evaluate their other teachers. When I gave them my frank analysis (almost all were doing some variation on fill-in-the-blank grammar or watching movies without significant analysis), they turned on me and treated me like crap till I quit. It gutted my self-confidence as a teacher. It's a nice setup over there but I aroused the dislike of the dominant clique and it made the whole experience suck. Beware the Colombo.
Hola George, thanks for sharing your experiences in Medellin!
I think that in Medellin the best place to learn English is the University EAFIT because they have professors from USA and London and i believe that the people can learn more about of language like the pronunciation, the write , the read. I wrote about it because i studied here and i learned so much.
Hola Juan, thanks for your feedback about learning English at EAFIT.
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could give me a few pointers. I was in Medellin in June after backpacking around Colombia and once I got to Medellin I tried to get a job teaching English. I was not very persistent or successfully mostly due to the fact that i had only a small amount of money left and wanted to enjoy the rest of my trip. I want to go back in the new year with some money and get myself set up. I have a list of all the possible schools but no teaching experience. I have a degree in Economics and a TEFL certification. I was told it was a bad time of the year last May, does anyone have any experience of searching for a job without experience and achieving a satisfactory result? Thanks Richard.
Hi, I just recently moved to Medellin and am looking for a job, I am not certified in teaching english although I do have two years of experience. Does anyone know if it would be possible for me to get a job and if so in what sort of places? Any advice would be helpful, thanks
Hi Diana, certification may be required if you want higher paying jobs with universities. Otherwise, I've gathered that being a native English speaker, especially from the USA, is important.
Hey! My wife and I have 2.5 years experience teaching English in South Korea at private schools for kindergarten - middle school with 120 hour TESOL certificates ... in the most general sense, would you say we are qualified enough to make a decent wage in Medellin? Thanks!
Ana
I have been looking on behalf of my Fiance' for an English Teacher who has capabilty for private lessons or active classes. I read Ana's post and I am highly intereseted in a teacher of what seems to be of your caliber who has a good program and skills and has good command of the English language . Please contact me if you are still teaching or have some good recommendations.
Ana, thanks for this article. I am currently in California but want to move back home to Medellín and teach English. I am fluent and actually arriving in June to register in the TKT at the Columbus School.
I would love to have you as a contact or reference since I believe networking is vital in manners such as this. I am 28 years old.
Hi Miguel, I´m trying to find a job out there too - could you give me some advice about how you get in with the Colombus School? Send me an e-mail please if you [or actually anyone who sees this] can help: margaret00009@gmail.com. Thanks so much!
i love medellin,, am a certified sped teacher in usa,,, can speak spanish a lil and getting better all the time for no more immersion than i have where i am,,, i have visited and know a few people in bello /antiquia district,, i was just wondering what kind of edge having states license give you when applying looking for jobs in medellin,, sounds like you did good,, i hope to have same results,, like benefits and such,,,
claudejackdaniels@yahoo.com,,,,, if you have any reAL useful info i shoiuld have,, thanks
I wouldn't expect it to help, unless it is a master's or PhD. If you want to teach English as a Foreign Language, it's a different type of qualification, a CELTA cert, an MA TESOL, a DELTA, MA Applied Linguistics, etc.
Hi George - on an unrelated note, you've got a great looking website on your hands! Thanks for reading Medellin Living. :)
Thanks, just made it. About to get back into teaching English. :)
Great blog you have, I enjoy reading it and keep up the great work!
Greetings George, I have ben seriously thinking of getting tesol/tefl certified to teach English in Medellin. From your comment it looks like these are favorable certifications, is that correct?