Teaching jobs in Russia

Aug 13, 2018 · 4 min read

Communication

If you get lost, people usually are trying to help, but don’t expect everyone to speak English. Basic understanding of Cyrillic letters and a Russian friend make life much easier.

Weather

It’s cold in winter and the biggest challenge are long periods without sun from-mid autumn till mid-spring.

Housing

35–50 K rubles per month for 1 bedroom apartment, 17–30 K for shared accomodation. If a school provides an accomodation, it is a big advantage.

Travels

Major cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg afford infinite number of new places. Take Moscow Times guides to see more than average tourist. And even some locals.

Teacher salary in Russia

Teacher salary varies depends on school type and their requirements.
Russia doesn’t have a government program of hiring English speaking teachers. So, available vacancies are spread between language schools, international schools and kindergartens. Most of vacancies are for ESL teachers and available in two major cities — Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.

Possible employment options for a teacher

1. Big schools chains: English First, Language Link etc.

High level of organization but low salaries and lots of working hours. Typical contract includes separate room as an accomodation and up to 1000 USD a month. Big schools can also provide TEFL certification before teaching semester.

2. Middle-size and small schools

Level of organization depends heavily on the owner or manager you’re working. Salaries are higher but rarely exceed 1500 USD a month. Sometimes the school helps to find accomodation and provide medical insurance.
The biggest problem of small schools are “last minute calls” with an aim to place a new client in your tomorrow schedule and long-time commutes.

3. Kindergartens

Some kindergartens give a chance to recently graduated teachers and provide competitive wages, comparable to salaries in middle-size schools. We recommend to get experience of teaching and classroom management in the school, as in the kindergarten there’s few to no chance for academic support.

4. International Schools

The most lucrative salaries are provided by international schools and starts from 2500 USD a month and goes up to 5000 USD. Previous experience and advanced teaching qualification (PGCE, QTS) is highly preferred.

Look at other options to teach in Russia.

Teacher job benefits in Russia

Benefits list for average language school or kindergarten in Russia includes work visa and provided accommodation or accommodation allowance, state medical insurance. Check if a school provides Russian-speaking assistant, otherwise it’s hard to solve even simple problems like broken Wi-fi.
Usually, the longer the list of benefits — the longer the list of requirements.
Higher salaries and a wide range of benefits provided by international schools with highly competitive selection. Conditions include medical insurance, housing, flight reimbursement, wellness programs, paid leaves etc.

School requirements in Russia

In general, schools require Bachelor’s Degree in any field and some teaching experience. Some positions are available for native speakers of English with ESL certification — TEFL, TESOL, CELTA etc. Due to high demand, short interviews as “Are you a native speaker of English — you are accepted” is still possible, but more exception than a rule. These schools don’t usually provide any benefits, even a working visa and fixed salary.
International schools in Russia accept qualified teachers with matching degree, e.g. B.Ed., and international work experience. Professional certificates — PGCE, QTS etc. or teaching license from other country will be a plus for any ESL school and basic requirement for international school

Working visas to Russia for foreign teachers

We tried to get answers on most popular questions from teachers, who plan working freelance without visa support from school.

Check all ways to get work visa to Russia.

And look at high-paid teaching jobs available in Russia.