Berlitz at the Bahnhof

Good news! I can tentatively say: I FOUND A JOB!

The Berlitz language school in Stuttgart, located right next to the central train station (the bahnhof), sent me an email yesterday telling me that they were very impressed with my two interviews, and could easily see me as a great addition to their team!

Berlitz operates worldwide with over 500 locations in 70 different countries. Those numbers include 50 locations within 24 U.S. states - and includes a school in St. Louis! It was explained to me in my 2nd interview, that after 2 years of teaching, employees have the opportunity to enroll in leadership training within the company, or to remain on staff as [the German equivalent of a] salaried teacher. You can also country-hop and transfer to any location in the world once you've proven yourself! Here's a link to their website: http://www.berlitz.us/About-Berlitz/67/

Now, while excitement IS exploding out of me, I still haven't seen or signed a job contract yet, so nothing is official. Life is all about legal documents in Germany, so when I recieve he contract, I will sit down and have a good, long look at it with Fabian's entire family before adding my signature.

Some things that need to be worked out include: Do I indeed get 30 days of paid vacation like a true German employee, or will my legal status as "freelance, yet employed English teacher" exempt me from paid vacation? Must I enroll in the government insurance program, or am I free to choose my own private insurance as a "freelance, yet employed English teacher"? There are kinks to be worked out and tons of documents to collect before I can even apply for a residence/work permit, and I cannot begin training until I have said permit.

There is one common complaint I've come across in my research, that, since the company markets and sells lessons to individual customers, there are busy times and slow times. I cannot be quaranteed a constant 40 hours a week, but here and there, I could schedule myself up to 60 hours a week if I so chose. My hours will vary. That also means I have the freedom to choose my schedule, to decide which courses I want to take on, or which ones I'll let my fellow teachers take. This could be quite useful if I decide, for example, to work on a Master's Degree on the side. It could be rather bad, however, if I really need money and the school is going through lag time. But Fabi earns money too ;) so I think we should be in good shape.

I will need 2 types of training: a certification in teaching English as a foreign language and a 2-week intensive course in the Berlitz Method® of teaching, which focuses mostly on learning a language through speaking it, and focuses less on boring, traditional grammar lessons. The only prerequisites I need are a University degree (in anything) and the right personality (which both the Irish quality manager and the French senior director have now confirmed that I possess).

It's not set in stone, but it's definitely a good start. With this training and certification, I could teach again at any location, at any time in my life. It's like adding a very practical 3rd major to my education. Despite the complicated paperwork and the few negative aspects, I am so excited to get started!