What's a Person Gotta Do to Get a Job Around Here?

I'm tired of being underemployed. I can say that far and beyond any other thing in Lima, the employment situation is the single most frustrating part for me and I'm guessing many other expats who come down without an expat package with a foreign company. It's one of the main reason expats leave: they're tired of teaching English, and they're tired of scraping by. Lima is either very cheap or very expensive depending on your employment situation. For English teachers, it's usually very expensive.

Now, having said that, I'm not starving and I have a flourishing social life. I spend more than is prudent on alcohol and eating out, although I do cook a lot, and my home is full of beautiful things. HOWEVER. I have a college degree, a teaching certification, and over three years' experience doing what I do, and I earn around $10 an hour teaching at institutes. This is pretty standard pay, although it doesn't seem to vary much with experience. Thankfully, I no longer have to schlep all over town like I used to, but institutes are not good to their teachers. There is no contract and no health insurance (I have private insurance now). According to Peruvian law, workers on contract are paid an extra salary in July and December, called gratificación. Institutes (and language departments of universities, by the way) will bend over backward to avoid paying this. It's a depressing situation.

Universities are no less exploitative, but the pay is better, and private students will pay double what you make at an institute. The dilemma with that is that you have to go all over town to their houses or businesses (see "schlepping" above).

And what if, gasp, you don't want to teach English? Well then my friend, you have got some pretty slim pickings. Most jobs for skilled workers, like engineers or geologists or technology experts, are hired from overseas. The jobs advertised locally in Peru are few for English speakers, and essentially none if you don't have a carné (residence permit). There are a few openings at the US Embassy, but I don't want to imagine the volume of resumes they receive. Full disclosure: I applied for two positions and still haven't heard back. I've got an interview on Friday for a company that hooks up qualified Peruvians (read: rich and fluent in English) for a seasonal work visa in the US. It was advertised as an "English interviewer" position, and I was thrilled at the prospect of not teaching English. Until, you guessed it, in the initial interview I was told they want to start an English program for culinary students whose English falls a bit short, and they need someone to design and teach the curriculum. So you see, it seems you just can't get away from it. :)