Academic Nincompoops & Job Searching in Chile

One of the irritating factors about living in Chile is dealing with the pseudo-academic nincompoops when looking for a job.

Regarding an add for an academic job that does not mention where to send one’s CV , I called the “For more information call …” number listed.  I’m pretty sure  the department head (directora) picked the line up (her voice gave it away).  What I got was an unprofessional,

“Hello, why are you calling?”. Given her tone and informality, she may of just as well phrased it, “Hello, why the hell are you calling?”.

“I’m calling about the job advertisement.”

“And you want to know … what … where to send your CV?”

After that statement, I thought I had a real genius on the other end of the phone.  I answered, “Sure, that would be helpful.”.

But before receiving any information I first got interrogated with (what I’m pretty sure is an illegal interview question), “Where are you from”, as if my origin mattered.  I thought to myself, “Is this job only for people of a certain ethnicity, or race?”.

Edubuntu to the Rescue of Underfunded Chilean Schools!

Okay, reading a couple of articles –that mention the implementation of Gnu-Linux as a low cost saviour to an underfunded school with low processing powered computers within Chile’s under funded school system– really sets me off into a barrel of laughs.

Getting Wages Owed –Chile

First of all, this applies to people that teach English (in Chile) without contracts or “salaries” (in the Canadian sense of this term), and bill the institution for which they work (Boletas Honorarias).

Well, I decided to not return to a English teaching gig at an Adventist school of “higher learning” located somewhere in Chile, in part because I found them unwilling to pay me what was agreed.

Concerning this money, despite conversations and emails spanning months –involving the English career co-ordinator, the faculty dean, and the vice-rector of the university– they just ignored their debt. Sure, I would get calls from the career coordinator inquiring for greater billing detail (but only after my inquiries), giving the impression that the matter was near resolution (this is called “tramitación“, usually referenced as “me tramitaron” in Chile, the arbitrary creation of bureaucratic steps to avoid resolution and make one look as the failing party when one fails to or can’t “co-orporate” and to just plain discourage one from seeking resolution). The money owed spanned back from Dec. 2006, and it was not until now in May 2007 I got payed (so who was the party that refused to cooperate?).

Here’s how I got my money.