Tips for Finding Work Updated 19 June 2009Teaching jobsYou'll find some general information about teaching in Peru below. You can find ways to supplement your salary, in
Supplement Your Teaching Salary. If you're interested in jobs besides teaching, scroll down to the "other jobs" section. For more comprehensive information on teaching, try looking in
The Ultimate Guide to Teaching in Peru, which was featured in
Transitions Abroad.
In general it’s difficult to secure a teaching job before you arrive here, but not impossible. You might try contacting schools before you arrive, and can find a list of schools in
The Little Black Book of English Institutes in Peru. Keep in mind that only institutes are mentioned in the link above. If you're a qualified teacher and interested in primary or secondary schools, try
IBO or
TES.
The school year goes from March/April until November/December.
International schools may start looking for teachers as early as May to start in February. Recruiting usually starts in May and runs until the first week of February when schools are desperate to fill vacancies. Universities may wait until the beginning of the year (January or February) to start hiring. Many institutes hire year-round.
Although it might take a lot of work at the beginning, you soon build up a solid schedule. Try looking at the advice in
What to do Upon Arrival to find out how to get a good job quickly. If you're a single parent or have children, you'll have more things to take into consideration. Be sure to read
TEFLing as a Single Parent and
Teaching with Kids in Tow.
In most places, employers will want to meet you before having you sign a contract, they might also have you take English or psychological tests and do a
demo lesson. Don’t worry too much about TEFL certs. Having a degree and being a native speaker are usually enough to get a job. Experience and is also a big help. And if you have a teaching license, you can get a job just about anywhere. Watch out for chain schools, although some are good, they may not treat their teachers as well as other places. And remember don't just accept the first job offer just because you need a job. Look at the article,
Things to Consider Before Accepting a Job before you sign a contract.
Sending your CV works, but going in person is better. You will probably have to have an interview and might be asked to do a demo lesson. For tips on how to make a good impression, see
The Interview and Demo Lesson. Also, with lots of places, you will need Recibos de Honorarios, and unless you are legally here, you can't get them. You’ll have to find someone who does have these. They're like receipts. Many people won't want to give you theirs since there's a limit on how much money you make a month without paying taxes. So if your recibos de honorario total more than 2550 soles a month, you have to pay taxes. So if you don't have these, start looking for someone who does.
Other JobsIf you can get hired in your own country and get transfered to Peru, all the better. You'll have a better salary and benefits. If you want to try to get a job while in Peru, checking
El Comercio the local paper is good. Contacts and connections help as well. Try going to
Living in Peru and
Expat Peru and seeing what kind of jobs are there. Jobs which cater to foreigners and rich Peruvians pay better. You could also work online, read
Supplement Your Income Online.
The type of jobs you can get here are endless: secretary, tour guide (see
Amazing South America or
Peru for Less) financial advisor. You can even
start your own business.
Where to go: Some people are certain what city they want to live in while others aren’t. Many people want to go to Cusco. Keep in mind that there are lots of tourists and is similar to Europe, so if you want the real Peru experience, I would advise against Cusco. Smaller towns are an option. Piura and Chiclayo are close to the famous beaches. Trujillo is a uni town. Lima is the centre of everything. Arequipa is famous for its volcano. Puno has snow. Iquitos is in the jungle. Do some research; what appeals to some many not appeal to others. Read more about Peruvian cities in this
article.
Teach online: Nowadays there are many places that need online teachers. Usually you will be a conversation teacher, but there are other positions available, such as assisting with writing. Pay varies, but is around 10USD an hour. Here are some places to look at. You can find more info at
Teaching Online.
Smart ThinkingBerlitzGlobal EnglishEnglish EverywhereUB SchoolEnglish TownEFL Job FranceNative 79Avatar LanguagesJob Placement: If you’ve done a TEFL certificate programme or are planning on doing one, often they have a lifetime job placement service that you can use. If this isn’t an option for you, there are places that specialize in job placement for teachers. There’s usually a fee involved, but they tend to have good contacts with schools. Some good places are
Innovative English and
TEFL Job Placement , they have placements in Cusco. Lastly, although it may be a long shot, try your local college or university. If they have a career service centre, they might be able to provide you with some places that are looking for teachers.
Short-term: If you want to come here for a short time it's difficult to get a job and a visa before you get here. It's not impossible though. Look at
Working Holiday Visas and Short-term Teaching for more info. However, if you want to stay for six months, you could sign a year-long contract with a school and simply leave after six months. It’s not that honest, but it is an option. And chances are that they would get you a visa. But, if you have a work visa, the school has to give you papers in order to leave the country to prove that you have paid taxes. See
Leaving Peru and taxes for more information.
Many people simply come here and hand out their CVs. You will probably make about 5-10 USD an hour. Keep in mind working without a visa is illegal. However, this being said, many people do it though and chances are slim that you will run into problems. You get up to 183 days upon entry. There are no visa extensions, you'll have to border hope. Some places hire people on tourists visas. Expect to get around 6-10 USD an hour. For lists of schools try ,
Breaking into the TEFL Market in Peru, and
The Little Black Book of English Institutes.
Networking: Many jobs aren’t even advertised and are filled by word of mouth. Learning how to network is key here in Peru, look at
Using Connections to Get a Great Job to find out more about networking. People often find jobs through friends of friends and that it especially true here in Peru. Be sure to tell everyone that you’re looking for a job. Who knows, your cousin’s girlfriend might know of a perfect job for you. You can also make contacts through forums as people tend to help each other out.
Answer Adverts: Advertised jobs in Peru are few and far between. If you’re in Peru try buying El Comercio on Sunday. The good jobs can be found in the Empleos section. Here are some more websites for finding jobs.
Teach Abroad Volunteer AbroadThe Peru Job BulletinLiving in PeruExpat PeruLaborum
Cold Calling: This comes in many forms. Applying to schools can be discouraging. Many places won't reply. This may be because they usually hire in Jan or simply because they would rather have you come in person before they hire you. Don't give up. Being persistent pays off. You can try emailing places. Another option is calling or better yet going to schools in person. If you’d prefer to work in a school or university than an institute, check out the
Education section for links to Peruvian schools and universities.
Top Institutes in Lima might also help you if you want to work in an institute.
The Little Black Book of English Institutes has info about the pay for the best institutes in Peru.
The Ultimate Guide to Teaching in Peru has info about schools, institutes, and universities around Peru. Try also contacting top hotels as they often need to train their staff English.
Private lessons: Another option is coming and teaching private lessons. Try posting at private schools and universities. You can also try posting your advert at
Expat Peru and
Living in Peru . Expat Peru also has a Listserv, you will have to join first, but around 1000 people: expats and Peruvians read it. So consider posting your advert there. You can also post in the local paper. Privates outside of Lima pay around 5-10 USD the hour. In Lima they can pay up to 20 USD an hour. Another thing, MAKE them pay AHEAD Of time. There's nothing like giving a months' worth of classes and never hearing from the student again. Charge more if you go to their house. Make a minimum time, ex. lessons must be at least 1.5 hours.
Word of mouth, the yellow pages, and business cards work well. Sending out fliers, business cards to your target area. If you want to teach Business English, go to Businesses, if you want kids English, stand outside schools. Try posting in El Comercio, OR read the classifieds, students post there and are looking for teachers, so you could call them. Read more about
private students in this article.
Volunteering: Volunteering can be expensive and some places charge very high fees. The places below don't charge a fee or have a small fee.
AYNI,
Awaiting Angels,
Cross Cultural Solutions,
The Colour of Hope,
Habitat for Humanity and
Teach Peru. See
Section 5 and
Volunteer South America for more volunteer opportunities. More can be found at the
Business Directory at Living in Peru and
Trabajo Voluntario.
Working legally: Getting a permission to work legally is difficult, however, this is Latin America, so laws tend to be shades of grey rather than black and white. Some options are getting a permission to sign a contract visa, see
Permission to Sign a Contract Visa for more info. Have your work get you a
work visa: schools and universities are more likely to get you a work visa than institutes. Or if you’re married to a Peruvian and get a
llamado de familia / marriage visa, you can work legally. There might be other visa options for you that let you work legally, such as
student, independent, artist,
immigrant visa, and religious, so see
DIGEMIN for more info. Or simply work under the table and border hop. If you’re only planning on staying for a short time, it might be the best option for you.
Prevent PiracyA lot of time and effort has gone into making
The Ultimate Peru List. I have been gathering info so you can easily find information about life in Peru. Please acknowledge this effort and do not reproduce any material on this site in any way shape or form without prior permission.
All posts and all purchased or public documents by Sharon K. Couzens de Hinojosa are copyrighted in compliance with international law.
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