Working in Malta

                                     Expat Living in Malta

       Teaching the Present Purrfect

 

 

I've got at least three months before I can start teaching or doing anything in Malta--that is, if my permit for self-employment comes through. 

 

Meanwhile,  I'm  fortunate to have a captive audience to practice my CELTA techniques on:  Mr. S. and my cat.  Hey, it works.

 

I develop a short lesson, usually around some very sophisticated vocabulary word that Mr. S. doesn't know.  Then I teach him the word--meaning, usage and pronunciation.  We practice individually.  Then it's time for students to work in pairs. So Mr. S. picks up Egypt (my cat) and practices with her, and then as a pair, they come back with the answers.

 

Okay, so Egypt is a real beginner in English.  But you can't hold the class back for one student.   My next lesson will be grammar, which is always the hardest thing to teach in EFL.

 

By the way, do you want to see what you need to do if you want to become self-employed in Malta? 

 

See this nice building?  This is the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) in Malta.  This place holds my future in Malta in its hands.

 

If you're a non-EU member and  want to become self-employed in Malta, you must get a permit.  It's almost the same process you would go through if you wanted to be hired by a company; the only difference is that the company fills out the form for you and submits it. It's the same form (and attachments) whether you're applying for self-employment or a regular work permit.  And either process takes three months.

 

The fun thing is that no one tells you it's the same form.  So after you panic when you don't find one for self-employment and call back the ETC office a couple of times, finally you find out that you use the same form for both types of permits--self-employment and work.

 

So you may ask--why would I opt for self-employment when a few schools have been willing to go through it for me?  Here's the answer: if you become self-employed, you can work as a freelance teacher (supposedly) and work at any school that needs you.

 

If a school hires you and gets the permit for you, you are bound to that school for a year--whether or not there is any work for you. At this stage of the game, the schools in Malta are only paying new teachers on a per teaching-hour basis.  If they have hours for you, that's great. But if they don't, you can't go to another school to work.  But--you can if you are self-employed.

 

Know what I mean?  I'm going to lay it all out for you because you never know--you may end up in Malta and decide to become self-employed.  I know it sounds crazy but it can happen. 

 

On the other hand, you may be happily at home wherever you are and you have a job (or not), but seeing all this may make you feel better because you say, thank G-d  I'm not like that weirdo American woman who's in Malta now looking for work.  She left America because she had no work and now she's in Malta and she has no work. What kind of nut is this?  I'm going to read what she has to go through now because I thought I was miserable. Wow, she's a lot more miserable than I am.  I love it!

 

So either way, the rest of this info may interest you. If not, forget the rest of this crap and do something else.  But do come back another time, OK?

 

Having said all this, here's what you have to do:

It all starts with the ETC.

1. You go to their website http://www.etc.gov.mt/  and then click on Work Permits.  Then when you get there, scroll down and click on Third Country Nationals Issue Application--which is a template you download.  And let me tell you something--this is the first time I've been considered a third-country national--and it doesn't feel too good.

Next, you download two more templates you'll need to fill out:  Position Description and CV Template.  These take a lot of time to fill out but they're pretty self-explanatory.  But--remember this: there's nothing there that says self-employment.  It's actually the form a company (or school) fills out for you when you apply for a regular work permit.  So you just have to adapt it to your own self-employment needs.  (Sort of makes you wonder how many people apply for self-employment and how many succeed in getting it--if the ETC people don't even have a separate form for it.)

 

At this point, you could be saying to yourself:  wow--this woman better get a job soon.  Or this woman needs something to do.  And you're right. But just don't use that expression: get a life. I HATE that expression.  It's like when Mr. S tells me to calm down; it doesn't work.

 

Enough for today, right? 

 

Tomorrow, we'll talk about what you do after you get your application completed.  Have to go now because I've got a question from one of my students!  No, it's from the one without the tail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Dee, she would definitely be "in house." Cats should always stay in for their safety!xx

[Dee Owen]

Now the thing of it is...I'm sure she'd love to learn more..but I don't think she'd like the quarantine. Is it 'in house' or in a facility? Here it was 'in house' and she doesn't go out any way!

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Hi Dee, We can arrange for some private lessons for your cat if you want :-)

[Dee Owen]

That sounds a bit complicated! But sounds like a good deal in the long run. Good luck Ilene. Wish I could teach my cat some more English...all she says is 'now' and 'no', very limited vocabulary!

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Hi Alistair, Thanks a lot for your confidence. And you're going to have a bestseller!!!

[Alistair Forrest]

Omigod Ilene what a crazy system, but it will be worth it in the end. Just think, by the time you're allowed to work in any school of your choosing you'll have a USP - you not only speak 'cat' but can teach them English too. Very useful for all those sniffy Maltese cats that hitherto only speak Maltese! - Alistair