 Day 223: Working for Dollars |
Must be that time of year because I’ve been getting a few more emails and whatnot asking me if the pay at my teaching gig in Ukraine was worth it or not. Clearly AEC must be recruiting for English teachers to make it through the winter season, and since I blogged about my time with them before, interested parties seek me out or advice.
The hardest thing to answer, however, when it comes to teaching there would be whether or not the pay was worth it.
Hmm… well, let me backtrack.
When I arrived in Ukraine, the hvrivna was starting to suffer because of the global financial crisis. About a month in, the local currency plummeted big time, affecting everyone, especially the amount of money (in USD equivalent) the teachers were paid. This was a big problem for me, and it taught me a lesson to always inquire about what would happen with pay given currency fluctuations and how you are quoted in a contract. Long story short, there was a big meeting at the beginning of the currency dramas that left us all a little frustrated.
See, before I went, I calculated approximately how much money I expected to spend and save given the income quoted from the school. At that rate, I would have about $400 extra each month to use for travel and to make my monthly student loan payments (which are quite small) back in the USA. After the currency dramas, that extra amount of fun money pretty much disappeared.
While I had plenty of money to live my life in Ukraine, the truth is that wasn’t the only reason I took the job. I took it because it was a country where I could practice my Russian, and I also liked the idea of being in Eastern Europe for quick jaunts to neighboring areas, which I planned to do with the savings.
So, there were now to be no hops over to Belarus, no Sharm el Sheikh holidays and definitely no Polish wanders without going into debt…
For me, at the time, it was not working. It didn’t help that I had also met Pat prior to arriving, so I decided to leave and head to Australia where I could work and get decent money in return.
Still, that doesn’t mean that the pay wasn’t good. For those looking to really live in Ukraine and who are not interested in the money in particular, AEC was great. I have no idea what they are paying these days, or how the currency is converting, so I think you should look into the school and inquire as much as possible before signing up. I don’t think it’s a bad setup; maybe just not for everyone. It depends on your personal goals and needs as to whether the offer is good enough. Other than that, I can only offer my personal experiences above. Good luck, future teachers!
American girl left to travel the world in 2007. Studied languages, slept in a yurt, taught English, met Aussie guy and fell in love. Moved to Australia. Calls Sydney home. Wants a puppy. Still loves to travel. Read more 
Wow, Brooke–you’re my hero! I’m a soon-to-be college grad (B.A. in ESL) and I saw a job ad for American English Center on an ESL teacher job listing board that was claiming $2000 USD a month for a year contract back in July. Unfortunately, I have one more year before I graduate, but AEC is at the top of my list and I’d like to do everything I can to get hired by them. As long as AEC honors the pay agreed in the contract BEFORE I sign anything, I won’t have any second thoughts about it because I plan to leave with a sizable nest-egg saved up after graduation to at least float me for a year before student loans eat away at my savings.
What city did you teach in when you were with AEC? I’m hoping to go to Odessa, but if I can’t then either Kyiv or Kharkov as my next two choices.
Hi Ed! Thanks for dropping by. I taught in Kyiv, but I really enjoyed Odessa when I visited.
Ed, please reread the ad. The pay is not $2,000 a month. It is probably $2,000 min for a 7 week semester not including the summer semester. I finished a 1 year contract with AEC in May. You will normally have a week off after each semester but usually twice a year it is two weeks and during the Christmas Holidays it is three.
Thank you John L, I actually glanced over the add; however, the closer I get to graduating and getting my CV/resume ready for applying for future openings the more questions I’ll ask and topics I’ll press on about contract commitments and pay before I agree to sign anything.
Hello Brooke, Alex from Ukraine is here. I really liked reading this post. I live in Poltava, not in Kiev. But I have been to Poltava quite a few times and I remember when hryvnia went down compared to the US dollar. Before the crisis I think the rate of exchange was around 1 dollar to 5 hryvnias and during and after the crisis it is 1 us dollar to 8 hryvnias! I hope you liked our country. Where are you now? This must be really good to travel around the world. What do you think about Ukraine? Send me an note at aleks.kravchenko (at) gmail.c0m, would love to chat!