I. Why should you choose Vietnam to work?
Being one of the top attractive destinations in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is gradually becoming the most potential for foreigners coming not only for visiting but also for working. Here are some reasons you shouldn’t miss this opportunity in Vietnam:
Source : Internet
1. Incredibly Job Opportunities
As a developing country with an increasing rate in Southeast Asia, the demand for English to integrate international of Vietnam, leading to a large demand for English teachers in Vietnam. This creates a great teaching job opportunity for foreigners. Almost all of the ages from preschool to high school, colleges, and universities, and even employees all need English. Besides, if you are a specialist with different degrees from English Teaching, there are many other job opportunities in Vietnam such as manager, supervisor or technician with English skills requirement…
2. Vietnam has a lot of wonderful sightseeing places and wonderful weather.
Vietnam has a very low possibility of natural disasters. Nature also gifted incentives for Vietnam located in the East Sea with abundant natural resources and beautiful landscapes, making Vietnam a paradise to live and work in here. Furthermore, Vietnam also has known for a favorable climate, the variety of agricultural products and various fruits. This will give foreigners great experiences during living and working here and enjoy delicious foods at an incredible cost.
3. Safety
Vietnam is one of the best security countries in the world, compared with other neighboring countries in the region. In Vietnam, terrorist violence rarely happens. The crime rate is very low which a huge advantage for living in Vietnam.
4. People and culture
Vietnamese people are very friendly and open-minded with foreigners. There is no discrimination about religion, culture, or sexual here. Vietnamese are very respect visitors’ cultures, and we have encouragement for the LGBT community in society.
II. What you need to work for?
1. Preparing your knowledge and teaching skills
If you already have teaching experience, it’s a very good start for now. However, you should prepare on communication skills, class management, and teaching skills for lower or starter levels. This is a very important step for you to get into this industry.
2. Requirement degrees
Source: Internet
2.1 Bachelor’s degree or Teaching Certificates
The applicants must have an Education Degree in University, if you have different fields of degree, you must have Teaching Certificates (TEFL, TESOL,…) Degrees and certificates will prove that you’re an educated and professional worker. It also helps the employers know that the candidates come here to find jobs seriously, not because you are unemployed in your home country. This is the essential requirement for the applicant to be considered by the hiring of the company or language centers.
2.2 Native accents and communication skills
Native English Speaker or Native accent and communication skills are two the most important things you will need to be required for teaching in the large city and professional classes in language centers. Depending on your pronunciation and expression skills, the employers will decide your pay rate of salary. If you are not native speaker, don’t worry. There are still many chances for Non-native speakers as long as they have good accent and good skill.
2.3 English Teaching Certificate:
TESOL, CELTA, TEFL have approved English Teaching Certificates, they are all qualified for teaching in Vietnam also. If you took and completed those programs, your chance to work will increase 70 to 80 percent. Almost every company and professional language center will request applicants to show the International English Teaching Certification.
Having previous experience of teaching English is an advantage but not necessary.
In all of the industries, the professional should need some work experience. It’s a huge advantage if the teacher would be able to manage the main situations in class and have good express the lesson for students. If the candidate didn’t have work experience, employers will consider if this candidate worth their investment and training time or not. However, if the candidate completed all the training courses and met all the requirements of being a professional English teacher, he/she can convince their employer that they have the ability. Therefore, if the candidate has previous teaching experience, it will be a plus and higher chance in their first interview with the company.
2.4 Legal document for working in Vietnam
a) Visa
To be an English teacher in Vietnam, a candidate needs sponsors from their employer and the visa application process to be a legal worker. The working visa allows the foreigner to work in Vietnam such as a business visa. If you have the first online interview, you need to make sure what type of visa you should have to work for the employer.
b) Work Permit for teaching in Vietnam.
The work permit is a legal permission paper to work in Vietnam. The Work Permit will be valid for a maximum of 24 months (2 years). After the expiration of Work Permit 45 days, the employee needs to renew it. In Vietnam, usually, the employers as the agency or language centers will support the work permit for the candidate. Again, you should ask your employer about all legal documents to work including the Work Permit. And to be sure, you can search for more information about your rights to work legally in Vietnam.
c) Vietnam Police check
The Police check record is a background check issued by a Department of Justice in Vietnam or your own country. This background check shows your personal criminal information to make sure you aren’t criminal and can work legally in Vietnam.
Foreigners who have lived in Vietnam at least 6 months can apply for the Police check from the Justice Department Vietnam
You can apply your application online or come to the local Department of Justice at where you are staying in Vietnam.
d) Temporary Residency Card (TRC)
Temporary Residence Card in Vietnam for foreigners are issued by the Immigration Department, the Ministry of Public Security; this document proves that you are staying in Vietnam for legal purposes for a long time.
If you want to apply for TRC, you will need to contact the immigration agency to complete your application. Therefore, the employers will provide all the documents you will need to process it.
The documents need to be prepared:
– Request TRC application
– Temporary Residence Letter by the landlord
– Legally working document: Work Permit, Company Established Certificate or Letter
III. Available positions:
Having all the requirements to work? What you need to do is to consider all the positions that suit your ability and your hobby the most. We would suggest:
1. Language centers:
You can choose to work at English centers where people have a high demand for IELTS teaching teachers and English communication teachers. The numbers of centers can rise to thousands which are a huge source of jobs for English native teachers in Viet Nam
2. Public schools teaching:
Another choice for pursuing an English teaching career:
Much different from English centers where the number of participants for each class concludes only 10-15 per class, the number here could rise to 30-40 per class and the curriculum must be followed strictly under the requirements from the Ministry. Furthermore, it is obligated for applicants to pass criteria on performance and legal records since public school teachers are supervised frequently.
Source : Internet
3. Tutor
Becoming a tutor? Why not? Though the need for native English tutor isn’t distinctly high, becoming one isn’t a bad idea. Wealthy families wouldn’t hesitate to hire natives to educate their children for the best efficiency.
4. Teaching at Enterprise
In Viet Nam, many enterprises support good benefits to develop their employee language ability. The need isn’t high but the choice would reward a high salary. The program for teaching mainly focuses on Commerce and Communication level.
5. Online teaching
In the era of 4.0, teaching online has become popular. With the existence of the Covid-19 virus, the need arises unsurprisingly high. It is predicted that it would continue to explode, providing more opportunities for natives to grab a chance to teach in Vietnam. One of the most-used platforms for you to register is Cambly.
IV. How to find a teaching job in Viet Nam. We suggest using some good ways such as:
1. Searching engines:
Typing “English teaching job in Viet Nam” or “Teaching English in Viet Nam” onto Google and there would be many results relating to teaching jobs in Viet Nam.
2. Recruiting website:
In Viet Nam, the “30sjob” website and “Vietnamteachingjobs” website are the 2 currents most visited websites for English teaching jobs. Especially at 30sjob, the procedure is very simple including 3 steps:
Step 1: Searching for jobs – using keywords to look for available jobs and choose the ones that attract you the most.
Step 2: Apply – After finding the jobs you interest, you can apply online without having to sign up by clicking “apply” and fill in your information along with your CV.
Step 3: Waiting for the response from the recruiter.
3. Join the community of expats in Vietnam(Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter…)
The applicant can search for “English teaching jobs in Vietnam” on Facebook, the result will show the particular groups for expats teaching English in Viet Nam. In these groups, recruiting posts are renewed daily and you will have a high chance to get the job in the shortest time.
Applicants can self-introduce to the group, and the recruiters will contact them once they find that you’re qualified for the positions they need.
Orther social media for teaching English
V. Income of teaching job and Expenses
1. How much can you earn as a english teacher ?
Viet Nam is on the process of developing, particularly in education and foreign language is being highly regarded amongst the subjects. Due to the high need for learning languages, you can find a job at a center of public schools with a salary per month that can hit up to 1500$ – 2000$. And there are even positions with an extra-high salary for 4000$ per month. That’s why Viet Nam attracts expats from all around the continents intending to find a teaching job. There surely is a huge community of expats from many countries so the language barrier wouldn’t pose a difficulty.
2. Expenses:
Besides having a high salary, low cost of living here is also a plus. Due to the low price of nearly everything, many expats working in Viet Nam claimed that they only use from 7-10USD for food and necessities for a day. They can save up to 500$-600$ per month after all the fees for housing, food, entertainment. The cost to rent accommodation in Viet Nam is lower than the ones in other countries, which varies from 200$-300$ per month. Last but not least, tourism is also affordable for the majority of expats here.
Source : Internet
VI. The best places to teach English in Viet Nam
In Viet Nam, native teachers are free to choose the location of working based on their hobby and the areas are well-secured. To search for a good job, you can look for some big and urban cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi or Da Nang.
1. Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City is the biggest city in Viet Nam and also the most crowded one. The city is located in the South of Viet Nam, and most of the headquarters of the English center is established here. It’s not surprising to see the city is the one with the biggest job market and the one with the most opportunities one can get.
see more : English teaching job in Ho Chi Minh
2. Hanoi
The Capital of Vietnam, which is located in the North. Like Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi is also a big city where expats gather and look for jobs. It’s also well-known for its gastronomy, where the former president of The United States had a good time enjoying Bun Cha and iced coffee.
See more : English teaching job in Hanoi
3. Da Nang
Stating itself amongst the big cities of Vietnam, Da Nang is a big city in the center of Viet Nam. A well-developed city, with clean shorelines, beaches and a wide variety of chances to find a job, it seduced many expats with its beauty. Many expats had chosen Da Nang as a place to live and work due to its seafood and tourism activity. The lifestyle here is always energetic and Da Nang has been named “Best living place in Vietnam”.
See more : English teaching job in Da nang
4. Smaller cities
If you prefer to stay away from the crowd, expats can choose other provinces to live and work. Life in the countryside is peaceful, less crowded and better air quality compared to the cities. Due to the lack of expat community and English speaking ability, you might find it hard to communicate with the locals. But making up for it, the people are generous, kind and always ready to help the foreigners. Gastronomy is also a plus for expats who want to try specialties. The most noted areas are Lam Dong, Dong Thap, Quang Ninh, Son La, Binh Thuan.
VII. Difficulties
1. Language Barrier
Due to the fact that the main used language here in Viet Nam is Vietnamese so many expats find it difficult to contact or communicate with the locals, in both daily life and work life. It is suggested using non-verbal languages during lessons for better understanding for students through some failures are inevitable. Another advice is to learn a few phrases in Vietnamese before moving to the country.
2. Culture-shocked
It is evident when culture-shocked occurs whenever moving to a new country. In Vietnam, there might be some things that are considered to be irritated as eating dog-meat, using chopsticks or mass uses of beer… but don’t worry, after getting used to it would let you know more about the culture of Vietnam.
3. Transportation and traffic
In Viet Nam, though the transport situation is on the way of self-developing, traffic jams still happen daily. One good thing is that, once you live long enough, you will know when to depart to avoid circulation.
4. Weather
Weather in Viet Nam would surely not be the same as where you live, not to mention that there are places with a distinctly harsh environment which might cause you trouble getting used to in the beginning. One small advice is to try checking the weather of the chosen area before moving to Viet Nam.
VIII. Some common questions:
1. Can I teach without any degree?
Most of the centers or schools will demand certificates like TESOL, TEFL, CELTA… to pursue the position. There are exceptions where you have exceptional experience in teaching before.
2. Are agencies support doing visas and Work Permit?
Most of the agencies will process the profile of the teachers, though with constraints. (For example a distinct period of working time). The best solution here is to discover the policies with the recruiters.
3. Skin color is the problem at Vietnam
Absolutely not, in Vietnam, there is no discrimination based on skin color. All qualified teacher has the same opportunity to work at Vietnam.
