Jobs/Making a Living in the Philippines
Posted: January 31st, 2010, 11:25 pm
Since I came to RP ( Rep. of the Philippines) in 1991, I have been racking my brains over how one could make a living here. In the 1990ies, the economy was not good. Not that it is good now, but it is much better. Still, the closest I could accomplish job-wise had been to go work in Saudi and other Arab countries, sweat in 125 degree heat with no women for months on end then go to RP and have fun for a couple of months. I tried to apply for jobs at universities and international schools but to no avail.
Things seem to be changing. The country has always been friendly socially, but as far as employing non citizens, it had very strict laws that made finding work, even for ESL teachers a hard undertaking. Plus the country spoke perfect English, so why would they need us? Well, apparently things are different now.
1) As more and more Filipinos leave for greener pastures, there are now fewer and fewer people that can teach. Because there are fewer teachers, the English standards are slipping. There is a new non-English speaking generation that has grown up and that now needs to take TOEFL just like the Chinese and the Japanese. Filipinos did not use to have to do that- they were an English speaking nation, but not anymore.
As talented teachers leave for the US, foreigners can now find ESL jobs , particularly teaching Koreans who have invaded the country in enormous droves. There are not enough Filipinos to teach them good English.
2) The Philippines has discovered and established a new national industry- Call Centers. People in these need to be taught how to speak American English to deal with demanding American customers who cannot understand the Filipino English which has somehow developed into a strange brogue with Tagalog phrases or even strange English expressions that are uniquely Filipino interspersed. Kind of like some weird Asian Creole. These people need to be trained and there are not enough Filipino trainers with American accents for a country of 90 mils.
3) There are not enough foreign language teachers and speakers, either. If you are a Spanish or a Russian speaker or a Dutch speaker, you can find jobs.
The work permits are also being issued.
The country seems to have become less strict towards employment of foreigners. Even foreign bar girls have been issued working visas.
I have been scouting various Philippine job bulletin boards ( google ' jobs philippines') and go through them with a fine tooth comb. Email some 20 places a day there and people start responding.
So, what is the catch? Well, the jobs do not pay that well. A thousand dollars a month is kind of standard, more or less. But that is a good salary in RP and one can live there and savour life they way it should be savoured.
Then, one can also teach online and take some assignments from the US.
They key words are patience and persistence. I figure it takes 2-4 months of very serious effort to kind of get established in RP. But if you want to live on this Planet of Girls and spend months and months or years bathing in heart-rendering romance or spending nights with heavenly beauties the likes of which you could never dream of, it may be worth your while.
I still have not found a job here , but I am seeing that it is much more possible now whereas it was impossible in 1991.
Things seem to be changing. The country has always been friendly socially, but as far as employing non citizens, it had very strict laws that made finding work, even for ESL teachers a hard undertaking. Plus the country spoke perfect English, so why would they need us? Well, apparently things are different now.
1) As more and more Filipinos leave for greener pastures, there are now fewer and fewer people that can teach. Because there are fewer teachers, the English standards are slipping. There is a new non-English speaking generation that has grown up and that now needs to take TOEFL just like the Chinese and the Japanese. Filipinos did not use to have to do that- they were an English speaking nation, but not anymore.
As talented teachers leave for the US, foreigners can now find ESL jobs , particularly teaching Koreans who have invaded the country in enormous droves. There are not enough Filipinos to teach them good English.
2) The Philippines has discovered and established a new national industry- Call Centers. People in these need to be taught how to speak American English to deal with demanding American customers who cannot understand the Filipino English which has somehow developed into a strange brogue with Tagalog phrases or even strange English expressions that are uniquely Filipino interspersed. Kind of like some weird Asian Creole. These people need to be trained and there are not enough Filipino trainers with American accents for a country of 90 mils.
3) There are not enough foreign language teachers and speakers, either. If you are a Spanish or a Russian speaker or a Dutch speaker, you can find jobs.
The work permits are also being issued.
The country seems to have become less strict towards employment of foreigners. Even foreign bar girls have been issued working visas.
I have been scouting various Philippine job bulletin boards ( google ' jobs philippines') and go through them with a fine tooth comb. Email some 20 places a day there and people start responding.
So, what is the catch? Well, the jobs do not pay that well. A thousand dollars a month is kind of standard, more or less. But that is a good salary in RP and one can live there and savour life they way it should be savoured.
Then, one can also teach online and take some assignments from the US.
They key words are patience and persistence. I figure it takes 2-4 months of very serious effort to kind of get established in RP. But if you want to live on this Planet of Girls and spend months and months or years bathing in heart-rendering romance or spending nights with heavenly beauties the likes of which you could never dream of, it may be worth your while.
I still have not found a job here , but I am seeing that it is much more possible now whereas it was impossible in 1991.