TEFL forum

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone has worked for the Ila organisation in Vietnam. I have been looking at their website and the job offers seem attractive. they also offer Celta courses. Has anyone done one and is satisfied? If anyone out there has any information then I'd be happy to hear from you.

I have an interview coming up with them, but feel a bit uncertain. I have read many bad reviews about them, but also a few positive ones. Working situations in EFL schools change constantly, and I hope you get a response from someone with recent experience.

ILA is a popular school here in Vietnam that has excellent facilities. If you're planning on being here short term or temporary, and are looking for a way to make good money doing something that you might enjoy, then working at ILA is great for you. If you take the CELTA program, you can start working at ILA almost immediately, but it may take a while to become full time. Even then, there are no benefits. It's only an evening English center. You may get paid up to $23 USD per hour. If you take a TEFL or TESOL program for a certificate, it's not as popular as the CELTA, and you won't be able to work at ILA. However, you will be able to work at other English centers no problem, making 12-16 USD per hour. No matter where you go, though, you'll be teaching "Hi! How are you?" to little kids.

If you have a 4 year degree in education or English, you do NOT want to work at ILA. You'll still want to take the CELTA or equivalent for your English as a Foreign Language certificate, but after that, you can work at other places that offer a more stable job teaching more advanced English. You try colleges and universities, or international schools. REAL international schools, such as Saigon South International School or RMIT (college) will start you out at full-time with benefits from 24K-48K a year.

If you want to work at ILA temporarily teaching little kids, that's fine. But it's not a place for a career. The quality of teachers and education there is nothing special; it's the norm. I have known several people that were on vacation in Vietnam and wanted to earn extra cash so they worked at ILA. Myself and others whose careers are education cannot get a job at because they don't like to offer anything above part-time or temporary, and they prefer new teachers all the time. It's something to do if you're new here and need the cash.

Let me know if you need anything else!

I would be careful about signing a contract with ILA. I started with them in March 2011 and went to a full time contract in June. At this time I was doing 34 contact hours a week and was under pressure to take more. Come October I was made redundant because of a Visa 'technicality' that mysteriously arose after student enrollment dropped off.

Most ESL teachers in Vietnam and at ILA are backpackers, not permanent residents. There's a continual supply coming in, so schools are under no pressure to honour contractual agreements with you.

Matthew Molloy