QUESTION: What is the difference between living and working in Asia or Africa and Latin America, particularly Mexico City?
ANSWER: So I have fortunately worked in Asia and Africa as well as Latin America, including 7 years in Mexico City, so I feel I am a good person to give you the perspective on this. In addition, I try to be very honest with people and not to bullshit (pardon the expression) because I don't want to sell someone on someplace that they are not going to be happy. Thats not good for anyone.
So having said that, here is what I will start with. The money, in most places in Latin America, is nowhere near the money that you will make in Asia and in some places in Africa. I used to preach this religiously, until recently when I visited my new clients in Peru and realized that they were talking about US 50K + salaries over there, so now I have add that we do have a couple of places that pay like that and will be picking up more of these schools, which are on the southern hemisphere calendar. However, if we are talking Central America or Mexico, it is not really going to have those kind of salaries. Maybe one or two schools that I can think of.
Most people come to Latin America for the lifestyle. Latin America has music, the arts, festivals, beaches, mountains, desserts, lots of amazing cultural experiences and incredible travel opportunities, mostly on a much lower cost of living than other parts of the world. The main intangible that I will add that is a major attraction to me is it still feels a little bit like the wild west, a little bit on the edge, not exactly dangerous but not exactly settled, like you don't know what is over the next sand dune. For me, I love that. My partner likes it a little less because she is from outside of London and has only lived in Mexico City with me and she is British and she likes to know what to expect. Fair enough.
However, in Mexico, the specific question you asked, you will pay a 25-30% tax on your salary. You will make around between US$2,000 - 4,000 (minus taxes) a month for an average teaching position, you will get all the basics; housing, flights, insurance and a modest settling in allowance. You will need to make sure you get tuition for your son. Some schools give 100%, some schools give 50%, some schools give none at all or do not have placement for children. Admittedly they cater more towards single teachers.
Having said that, Mexico City is my favorite all time city in the world. It is a beautiful, spectacular city with a great arts scene, bicycle and pet friendly, constant events and concerts and things going on, not to mention the incredible food and very strong cultural aspects. I cannot say enough about Mexico City. The downside is traffic although it is a city that does not require a car and the pollution, but most of my schools are on the edge of the city, a bit out of the pollution.
So the short story, Mexico is not for making a lit of money. You may be able to live comfortably and travel a bit and even save a bit of money if you are frugal. However, the life style and all the things I mentioned are incredible. If you want the lifestyle of Latin America with the pay that you might make in other regions like Asia and Africa, I would go for South American schools.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Mark Webber
Webber's Ed - Teacher Talent
(Noted that this doesn't really talk about living in Asia and Africa. Maybe another post for another time)
(The other post for the other time)
QUESTION: I'm wondering what advice you'd have for those interested in switching from international schools in Asia over to South or Central America, given the different hiring periods/calendars of many of the schools.
I teach grades 6-12 mathematics and my partner teaches grades PreK-grade 3, and we are planning to begin searching for new positions this coming fall to begin after we complete our current contracts in June 2020.
Also, when would be the best time to register our profiles via your recruitment site? Is it similar to companies like Search Associates where you want to have everything in and set up by September/October?
ANSWER: Thank you for your interest and your questions. So the first thing is that you can actually come to Latin America and still stay on the Northern hemisphere calendar as all of Mexico and most of Central America keep the August to June/July calendar, so that is not a problem. However, there is also the option that I mentioned in my blog post linked above that puts forth the idea that you could lay out for a semester, if you wanted, and join a school on the Southern hemisphere calendar. https://www.webbersed.com/.../8/keep-calm-and-get-hired?
As far as making the transition from Asia to Latin America, I think the cultures are fairly contrasting. I know when I was in Malaysia, people that loved Asia seemed more chill, meditation and yoga types whereas Latin America is much more in your face, party and loud music types. Obviously you can see where I feel at home! I think the other thing is that it is harder to make a lot of money in Latin America. I am coming across a few schools in South America now that are offering big salaries but that is generally few and far in between in Latin America. People come here for the lifestyle. I tell people that if you need to make bank or you have a lot of debt in a developed country, Latin America may not be for you as you will struggle if you don't get into one of the high paying schools. That is the reality and anyone who tells you different is not being honest, albeit the cost of living is lower here as well, but other things like taxes and the lower salaries make the budget a little tighter. Having said that you will make enough to live on and travel and have a good time and if you are frugal and don't have outside bills you can save a little.
In regards to registration, we are probably a bit more chill than Search. Nothing against Search, Bob and Jennifer, the Latin American agents, are friends of mine and nice people but they have their way of doing things that works for them. We are asking for pretty much the same information but we will work with you as you go as long as we have your profile filled out and your CV, we can get started on finding you positions. We will tell you if you don't have something on file that the school is asking for or we need. Also, we do Early Bird in September through December where we can try to get you connected with a job for the next year (2020/21) as many of the top schools are posting jobs at that time (still talking northern hemisphere) and some people just want to know where they are going next earlier on so that they can plan. We try to accommodate them. We are a smaller company and we are not trying to be everything to everyone so we can afford to take the time to spend with you and help you throughout the process. Latin America is our home. We do virtual office and my team, who are amazing, are spread throughout. I just had lunch with my crew here in Mexico today. So yes, September/ October is about the right time to start getting set up but you could do now and just tell us when you are available and we won't bug you until then.
