Hello to all,
I posted the message below a few weeks ago under the “Life in Germany: English Teaching as the only option” forum, and it didn’t seem to catch much attention/interest.
But, out of purely selfish reasons (i.e. the hopes of finding some cool, new people to work with), I’ve decided to post the same info on my local, Schleswig-Holstein forum. So, hey all you people living on the east coast, if you teach and are willing to drive or move to Heide, we are looking for teachers to join the team!
The original message:
Hello to everyone,
I’m an English teacher here in Germany, and I’ve been reading through some of the teaching threads/posts recently. I could go into details about having American teaching credentials and how the German public school system was never able to jive with that long-term. Or how free-lancing can get old after years and years.
But the reason I’m writing is to let everybody out there know about the Bundessprachenamt. I don’t think many people know about it, and I only stumbled upon it randomly after living here for over 15 years. But I’m so happy there. It’s like an employer was perfectly made for me.
It is adult education. We teach government personnel, usually soldiers. I’m in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, and we mainly get air force sergeants for 10-week stints. There’s not much military lingo. We concentrate on standard, everyday topics.
I guess the reason I like it is because it’s a “regular job.“ Starting salary at €3380.51/month (that’s Entgeltgruppe 10 des Tarifvertrages für den öffentlichen Dienst or TVöD), regular hours, paid vacation, health insurance, retirement, etc. The pay can even get bumped up depending on qualifications and previous experience. So if that sounds like you, get in contact. We need people! There are locations all over Germany. But we, especially here in Heide, will be needing people in the near future, though there are no active job postings. And I say this unofficially, as I’m not in the administration.
One important note: the Bundessprachenamt is one of those slow moving governmental organizations. It took me over a year to get my job after initial contact. They unfortunately don’t react or make decisions quickly. But they do cherish native speakers, and I’m convinced that there are spots for many newcomers if you are interested and can wait out the application process.
The official channels: +49 2233 593-5309 or info@bundessprachenamt.de
If you need a change, look us up and get the ball rolling!
P.S. It may be hard to get in contact with the right people on this end who will acknowledge that we’re looking for teachers. That has to do with being “correct” and officially advertising an opening (which only our central authority in Hürth can do). But if you’re specifically interested in Heide, I’d personally be willing to help from this side. I benefitted from visiting the barracks well before needing to worry about my job interview. And I think that a personal connection could facilitate some good-old practicality in, what was for me, an overly-bureaucratic process. Let me know (here on this website) if you’re interested, and I’ll see if I can set up something with my boss.
