Teaching English in Vietnam Post-Reopening: Observations & Insights
It’s been 1 year since Vietnam opened it’s borders again so let’s talk about how things have been post re-opening for living and teaching English in Vietnam.
Over the last couple of years the world has been opening up for travel again and I know a lot of people are want to make the most of this after being stuck at home for so long.
Maybe you’re also not enjoying what you’re doing right now in your home country, want to try something new and you’ve come across the possibility of teaching English abroad in a country like here in Vietnam.
Well, let’s talk about how things are looking on that front now that Vietnam has been open again a full year.
How Is Life in Vietnam Right Now?
So in terms of how daily life has been in Vietnam, it’s been “back to normal” for a long time. Vietnam was actually very cautious about reopening it’s borders so things were fairly back on track even before borders opened. So once the borders did re-open, it was opening up to a Vietnam that was back on track.
So naturally when the borders reopened this provided a big boost to the economy with tourism, business and trade increasing significantly.
Vietnam had impressive economic performance last year with GDP rising over 8%.
So how has that affected day to day life here?
Well things are good here – cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs and businesses are going well.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven’t already for videos about day to day life in Vietnam to see for yourself!
What About Teaching English in Vietnam?
Well let’s take a look at some of the data we’ve accumulated from teachers we’ve helped move to Vietnam to give you some insights.
So after borders reopened on 15th March, we relaunched our in-person TEFL teacher training and job placement programs at Ninja Teacher.
Teaching English in Vietnam Insights
Since then we’ve run regular programs and have helped nearly 100 people get jobs in this time.
So this is a great indicator that the teaching market is back on track and means we can currently offer a job guarantee that anyone coming through our Vietnam TEFL program will be hired.
In terms of teaching English in Vietnam salaries, we talked about this recently and we’ve seen salaries to be nicely in line with this.
In terms of job types, most of our teachers are getting jobs in private English centers or public schools with a higher percentage choosing English centers at this time.
In terms of location, the majority of our graduates choose to stay and teach English in Ho Chi Minh city, with Hanoi being the second most common choice, and then some also going to smaller cities throughout Vietnam.
In terms of how quickly people can get a job, most of our program participants secure a job within 2 weeks of completing our training course, although this can take longer due to various factors such as the preferences of the teacher, what job options are available at any given time and how proactive they are being during our placement process.
Teaching English in Vietnam Visas
One thing that we have noticed is that the work permit processing time has been taking longer than usual lately so when it comes to getting a business visa, work permit and a temporary resident card this has been taking longer than normal.
The rules and procedures around this change very often in Vietnam. What we do recommend though is working for a reputable company that can definitely get a work permit processed for you because things are a little bit strict on that front and you want to make sure you’re working for a company that can actually get you legal employment.
So I’d definitely try to get in with a reputable company that will support you with all your HR needs and to do this it is important to take a good quality TEFL or TESOL certification because the more reputable schools really do look at your qualifications and how well you’ve been trained to be an English teacher, and if you are an effective teacher, before they hire you. So I would definitely bear this in mind when you’re choosing your TEFL or TESOL certification.
Teaching English in Vietnam Community
The last thing I wanted to say is that the fact that the borders have now been open for a year is great in the sense that a lot more people have arrived and the community of English teachers in Vietnam has really grown and got back to a point where there’s a lot of people here.
It’s really nice to be able to meet other people and that’s a big part of what we do at Ninja Teacher.
Bringing people into the country, not only helping them to get trained and find jobs, but also having that support system and the community of people here.
It’s really great to come into a new country and get to meet a lot of people, create a new social circle and be able to make friends and really build up a community of people here in Vietnam.
So, the fact that we’ve now brought in nearly 100 people in the last year means that we’ve got a really nice group of people living here in Ho Chi Minh City and also spread out throughout Vietnam.
I know people are planning to go visit their friends that they’re made during our TEFL course in different parts of Vietnam.
The people who join our programs are from different countries so you get to meet people from all over the world as well as local people here in Vietnam.
We’ve also been very happy with our location here at Ninja Teacher TEFL Academy. Our new location since we reopened is really centrally located and has great accommodation options nearby, as well as cheap local food nearby.
Conclusion
So overall the last year in Vietnam has had a lot of positives since the borders reopened and we’re very happy that Vietnam is in this position that the teaching English scene is looking so good right now.
If you’re interested in joining one of our programs you can learn more about our program here: Vietnam TEFL course