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"Hello Folks, welcome to Whittemore de Costa Rica, S.A. We are looking for a few good teachers that are certified native English speakers, to teach English as a second language at the corporate offices of our clients, and will be in Costa Rica for at least six months."
"The best time to visit Costa Rica to be interviewed (we do not hire over the Internet), would be the beginning of January, through the end of September. If you don’t have a job lined up by the end of September, there is no reason to come to Costa Rica, unless you like very long vacations. Costa Rica loves the holiday season, so the last two weeks in December and the first week in January are pretty much FIESTA time! No classes are usually taught during that time. From the end of August on, the teaching schedules are pretty much filled."
"English companies/schools that are teaching English as a second language require you to be physically here in Costa Rica for an interview. You can stop looking at Costa Rica for a place to work if you are unable to do this. 99.5% of the companies/schools in Costa Rica will hire you when you get down here. Providing you do not have a lot of tattoos (in visible places), piercings (other than ear lobes; one per ear please), crazy looking, and crazy colored hair. Your credentials can be verified, along with your experience. Most companies/schools here in Costa Rica will hire you if you just have a TESL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate. We most likely will not hire you with just your teaching certificate. We like to hire experienced certified teachers."
Whatwearelookingfor:
"Mature native English speaking teachers with a TESL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate, and around 2 years of experience teaching English as a second language. We also prefer teachers 30 years old and above. Our clients ask for mature, native English speaking teachers. Please do not request an interview unless you are a mature native English-speaking teacher who teaches English as a second language."
"This experience is for teachers who want to explore a tropical paradise, and teach highly motivated students. NOT for a person who is interested in a lot of money teaching. Those "jobs" (sorry I used that 4-letter word) are in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan."
What we expect from you:
What we are offering you:
Top 10 Questions Most Teachers Ask!
1. Why can't English companies/schools hire over the Internet?"Excellent question! Many teachers have told me personally, I promise to be in Costa Rica on such and such date. Needless to say, I'm still waiting for them. My clients are not; the clients are with another company. See my point? 99.5% of English schools will hire you once you are here. You must be here for a face to face interview."
2. Can I get a Visa while I’m working in Costa Rica?"No. Simple as that. Usually teachers come to Costa Rica for 6 to 9 months. So it’s not worth the “hoop” jumping to get an “A-6” visa. If you are still interested in doing so, try this site for more information:" http://www.namasthenri.com/costarica/visa.html
3. How long can I stay in Costa Rica?"90 days. What most teachers do, is leave the country just before their 90-day stay is up. You must leave the country for 72 hours for it to be valid. Then you come back for another 90 days. This is completely acceptable from all English schools in Costa Rica. Great way to get a four-day holiday every 90 days!"
4. Where do teachers go when they are renewing their tourist visa?"Well... 65% of the teachers that work for us visit Nicaragua, 20% visit Panama, 5% fly to other countries. The last 10% of the teachers just stay the six to nine months and pay the penalty when they leave. I’ve heard it was around $45.00 - $65.00 for a six-month stay without leaving."
5. I’ve never been to a foreign country before. How would I know where to go, for a place to stay?"That’s why we put on our web site Where to stay. We will walk you through it, before you even step on the plane to come here! Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions before you even accept an interview. We are here to help you. If your Spanish is pretty good, go to this site: http://www.economicos.com/home.do then to Bienes Raices. This is the national daily newspaper called La Nacion." You can see what places cost here to rent.6. Can I live off of 8 - 12 hours a week?
"No. Simple as that."
7. Then how am I going to survive?!"There is not one English company/school that teaches corporate clients, that can give you a guarantee of more than that. If they do, they are lying to you! We recommend that you give us 1 month of your undivided attention. If we don’t have your schedule filled to at least 12 hours, then we don’t blame you if you look for a second company/school to help with your income. If you try to get hired at two companies/schools at the same time, what happens is you actually get fewer hours than working for one company. First get 12 hours from us, and then look at another company/school with your schedule in hand. Then you can fill in the blanks to give yourself a full schedule. Check out our Cost of living section to see the average income for working with us along with what it will cost to stay here in Costa Rica."
8. Why would I want to come to Costa Rica and teach?"The experience, the highly motivated students, the fantastic climate, and beautiful places to explore. Safety of a foreign government that has no military. They call Costa Rica “Little Switzerland”. Great place for a retired teacher to teach and explore. Great place for an experienced teacher to get some extra experience under their belt. Not a great place for a person trying to make a lot of money."
9. Why can’t English companies/schools teaching at corporate client's offices guarantee more than 8 - 12 hours a week?"Most schools contract out 50 to 100 hours for a level of English. We are always trying to get more clients, but we can’t have too many waiting while we supplicate our teachers over the Internet. It's very difficult to tell clients “Do you mind waiting until next month or next year? That is when our English teacher will be arriving in Costa Rica.” As you can see, this is not a very good business practice."
10. Why can't English companies/schools offset my travel/living expense to/in Costa Rica?"Costa Rica is considered a second world country. To be honest, our companies/schools can't charge what they charge clients in Japan, the Middle East, and Europe. Why? The Costa Ricans won't pay high prices to learn English. The benefits you can get from some English companies/schools here in Costa Rica are free Spanish classes (once a week or so), monthly seminars (to hone your teaching skills), free access to Internet (during office hours), free mail service to any part of the world (letters only), free beepers, and free parties once a month. We are still a small company but growing. At the moment we can only offer you free access to Internet (during office hours)."
"The best time to visit Costa Rica to be interviewed (we do not hire over the Internet), would be the beginning of January, through the end of September. If you don’t have a job lined up by the end of September, there is no reason to come to Costa Rica, unless you like very long vacations. Costa Rica loves the holiday season, so the last two weeks in December and the first week in January are pretty much FIESTA time! No classes are usually taught during that time. From the end of August on, the teaching schedules are pretty much filled."
"English companies/schools that are teaching English as a second language require you to be physically here in Costa Rica for an interview. You can stop looking at Costa Rica for a place to work if you are unable to do this. 99.5% of the companies/schools in Costa Rica will hire you when you get down here. Providing you do not have a lot of tattoos (in visible places), piercings (other than ear lobes; one per ear please), crazy looking, and crazy colored hair. Your credentials can be verified, along with your experience. Most companies/schools here in Costa Rica will hire you if you just have a TESL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate. We most likely will not hire you with just your teaching certificate. We like to hire experienced certified teachers."
Whatwearelookingfor:
"Mature native English speaking teachers with a TESL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate, and around 2 years of experience teaching English as a second language. We also prefer teachers 30 years old and above. Our clients ask for mature, native English speaking teachers. Please do not request an interview unless you are a mature native English-speaking teacher who teaches English as a second language."
"This experience is for teachers who want to explore a tropical paradise, and teach highly motivated students. NOT for a person who is interested in a lot of money teaching. Those "jobs" (sorry I used that 4-letter word) are in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan."
What we expect from you:
- Before starting your 1st class, we would like to sit down with you for an hour or so over coffee and snacks. Explain to you what we are looking for in a classroom enviroment. This is also to show you the types of books we like to use.
- Observe a seasoned teacher teaching a full class. (This is not paid). We do not like to throw a teacher right into a class without them seeing our types of classes in action.
- Professionally dressed. Men in collared shirts, dress pants, dress shoes, and tie. Women professionally dressed.
- Use our Cambridge New Interchange system as a guide only. Please go to the Cambridge site to see the style of books we use. http://www.cup.org/esl/nic/support/. We furnish you with the teacher's books free of charge.
- Be creative
- Never speak Spanish in your classroom.
- Most of all have fun teaching! Make your classes the most enjoyable experience for you and your students!
What we are offering you:
- Help with finding a place to stay, click on our (Where to stay ).
- Free fax reception 24/7.
- Free access to Internet + wireless for your own laptop! Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- $7.70 USD* per hour (*¢4,000.00 colones per hour) If we have you teach outside of the Central Valley area transportation/food/lodging 100% paid!
- Paid CASH every 15th & 30th (in colones).
- Aproximately 2 to 6 clients per week.**
- Class sizes: 1 to maximum of 12 students
- Teach highly motivated students in their offices.
Top 10 Questions Most Teachers Ask!
1. Why can't English companies/schools hire over the Internet?"Excellent question! Many teachers have told me personally, I promise to be in Costa Rica on such and such date. Needless to say, I'm still waiting for them. My clients are not; the clients are with another company. See my point? 99.5% of English schools will hire you once you are here. You must be here for a face to face interview."
2. Can I get a Visa while I’m working in Costa Rica?"No. Simple as that. Usually teachers come to Costa Rica for 6 to 9 months. So it’s not worth the “hoop” jumping to get an “A-6” visa. If you are still interested in doing so, try this site for more information:" http://www.namasthenri.com/costarica/visa.html
3. How long can I stay in Costa Rica?"90 days. What most teachers do, is leave the country just before their 90-day stay is up. You must leave the country for 72 hours for it to be valid. Then you come back for another 90 days. This is completely acceptable from all English schools in Costa Rica. Great way to get a four-day holiday every 90 days!"
4. Where do teachers go when they are renewing their tourist visa?"Well... 65% of the teachers that work for us visit Nicaragua, 20% visit Panama, 5% fly to other countries. The last 10% of the teachers just stay the six to nine months and pay the penalty when they leave. I’ve heard it was around $45.00 - $65.00 for a six-month stay without leaving."
5. I’ve never been to a foreign country before. How would I know where to go, for a place to stay?"That’s why we put on our web site Where to stay. We will walk you through it, before you even step on the plane to come here! Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions before you even accept an interview. We are here to help you. If your Spanish is pretty good, go to this site: http://www.economicos.com/home.do then to Bienes Raices. This is the national daily newspaper called La Nacion." You can see what places cost here to rent.6. Can I live off of 8 - 12 hours a week?
"No. Simple as that."
7. Then how am I going to survive?!"There is not one English company/school that teaches corporate clients, that can give you a guarantee of more than that. If they do, they are lying to you! We recommend that you give us 1 month of your undivided attention. If we don’t have your schedule filled to at least 12 hours, then we don’t blame you if you look for a second company/school to help with your income. If you try to get hired at two companies/schools at the same time, what happens is you actually get fewer hours than working for one company. First get 12 hours from us, and then look at another company/school with your schedule in hand. Then you can fill in the blanks to give yourself a full schedule. Check out our Cost of living section to see the average income for working with us along with what it will cost to stay here in Costa Rica."
8. Why would I want to come to Costa Rica and teach?"The experience, the highly motivated students, the fantastic climate, and beautiful places to explore. Safety of a foreign government that has no military. They call Costa Rica “Little Switzerland”. Great place for a retired teacher to teach and explore. Great place for an experienced teacher to get some extra experience under their belt. Not a great place for a person trying to make a lot of money."
9. Why can’t English companies/schools teaching at corporate client's offices guarantee more than 8 - 12 hours a week?"Most schools contract out 50 to 100 hours for a level of English. We are always trying to get more clients, but we can’t have too many waiting while we supplicate our teachers over the Internet. It's very difficult to tell clients “Do you mind waiting until next month or next year? That is when our English teacher will be arriving in Costa Rica.” As you can see, this is not a very good business practice."
10. Why can't English companies/schools offset my travel/living expense to/in Costa Rica?"Costa Rica is considered a second world country. To be honest, our companies/schools can't charge what they charge clients in Japan, the Middle East, and Europe. Why? The Costa Ricans won't pay high prices to learn English. The benefits you can get from some English companies/schools here in Costa Rica are free Spanish classes (once a week or so), monthly seminars (to hone your teaching skills), free access to Internet (during office hours), free mail service to any part of the world (letters only), free beepers, and free parties once a month. We are still a small company but growing. At the moment we can only offer you free access to Internet (during office hours)."
