If you are thinking about coming to Moscow to work yet the thought of it is too daunting, stop worrying, pack your bags and get here asap. I have now been living in Moscow (with very limited Russian language skills) for 11 years. I have travelled and worked fairly extensively in other countries. I can honestly say I have found Russian people to be some of the friendliest, most generous and welcoming people I have ever met.
If you are choosing to work in some form of educational role then typically there are 3 options:
- Working in an educational establishment such as school, kindergarten or language school
- Working as a tutor
- Working in a private household as a governor/governess.
Each option certainly has its pros and cons. I will try and highlight my experiences and opinions on each. I have worked in all of the options mentioned above except for a language school.
Schools/kindergartens
If you are new to Moscow this will be the easiest path to follow. Typically they offer visa support and some might even have a flat you can use or provide some type of housing allowance. Please note often these flats are shared with other teachers. You will typically have your own small private living area with a bed but you will share amenities such as the kitchen and bathroom. If the place of work is not directly in the centre of Moscow then they generally provide a free shuttle bus service from one of the metro stations. Positives also include you have very clear hours of work and a fixed salary each month. Also, you will be surrounded by colleagues who are either English speaking Russians or expats such as yourself who have lived here for a while. These people will be more than helpful in providing you with advice on the best places to eat, drink, how to get around etc. Something to be aware of is the summer holidays. Russian children enjoy 3 months of summer holiday each year. If this is a positive or negative depends on your own personal circumstances. It means no regular pay in the summer months. However, you can use this time to travel a little, perhaps go back home. Many however use this time to experience working in a summer camp. Typically held outside of Moscow and if you're lucky enough perhaps by the coast in Sochi for example. There are always many opportunities advertised to work in summer camps leading up to summer. The only downside in working in a school/ kindergarten, in my opinion, is you can typically earn more money working as a private tutor or governor. However, if it's your first time working in Russia perhaps at least initially it might be your best option for the reasons mentioned above while you become settled and familiar with the city.
Tutor
It can take a while to become established and build up a regular client base. But you are able to set your own working hours and days. Be prepared many of your clients will want lessons in the evenings and weekends. These lessons can be held from somebody's home, office, cafe or if the weather is good you might even find yourself sitting in a park. Finding companies who want regular lessons for their employees is a great source of regular work and therefore regular cashflow. Unless you manage your schedule properly you might find you are spending lots of your time travelling around the city. This in itself isn't a huge problem as the metro system (subway) is incredibly efficient. Taxis are easy to order and quite inexpensive when compared to other capital cities around the world. So planning your time well is important to reduce the time spent travelling. Remember if you're travelling for 3 hours a day, multiply that by your working week and your hourly rate for lessons. This travel time has a cost to you. Once again summer months and May holidays are something to be aware of as many Muscovites leave the city in these periods. For me, the biggest issue initially working as a tutor would be cancellations. Remember for most people learning a 2nd language isn't a necessity. It's a hobby. So if they get an offer to meet a friend or just don't feel like it. They will cancel your lesson without much notice. This means understanding your own cash flow can be difficult as you can never know in advance who will cancel. At one point I was experiencing something like a 30% - 40% cancellation rate. Obviously, we cannot live like that. Therefore, I decided to put in a cancellation clause with all my new clients. If they cancelled within 24 hours then they had to pay me 50% of the lesson cost. If they cancelled on the same day, they had to pay 100%. Obviously, you have no written contract with your clients so it's up to you to enforce this rule. In my experience when you tell a new client of this cancellation clause. If they have a problem with it then typically it's because they already know they are likely to cancel your lessons on a regular basis. Don't be scared to walk away from this client. Finding clients isn't too difficult. There are plenty of agencies you can register with. Be aware some of these will ask you to pay a commission/fee for finding you a client. Most don't ask for a fee from the tutor. There are also many Facebook groups you can join.Governor/Governess
By far these roles will typically be the most lucrative. The trick here is to find a good family. In my experience, there is never a problem with the children. If there is a problem it generally comes from the parents. You are generally working outside of the city centre. These can be live in or live out contracts. Usually the families will travel extensively and will want you to travel with them. This will be a separate room in a hotel or villa. All food and travel expenses are covered. If you don't wish to travel it's best to discuss this with the family at the time of interviews. As a governor you will have set hours of work, however, don't expect you will always be working your contracted hours. Often you will visit restaurants, theatres, family friends etc. This will often involve you working late. You won't be compensated financially for this extra time. You get paid well for a reason and you have to take the rough with the smooth.Useful resources There are plenty of Facebook groups such as
- Moscow expats language
- Moscow goes out
Google translate. Useful for obvious reasons Yandex taxi- excellent taxi ordering service. Good prices. Choose the type of vehicle class you want to travel. You can even add card payments so you don't even need to speak with the driver. Customer service also in English.
Yandex metro - a great online map showing you how to navigate from one metro station to another. Showing where to change and journey times.
Yandex maps - useful for getting around the city. If you're driving it also shows you journey time taking into account any traffic issues.
Whatsapp an instant messaging service for voice, text and video. By far the most popular messaging service in Russia.