The majority of jobs filled by western expatriates in Cambodia are either in the field of teaching or with the numerous aid agencies that operate within the Kingdom; there are however a growing number of jobs in the tourism industry and because significant oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the territorial waters of Cambodia recently it’s likely that this is an alternative field of employment that will open up to external contractors in the future.

Jobs in Cambodia are quite difficult to source unless an individual approaches specialist recruiters or the aid agencies who work in Cambodia directly.  Here’s a guide to finding jobs in Cambodia and what to expect from the working environment.

The main complaint that you will hear from those looking for teaching jobs in Cambodia is that the level of pay is low and consequently the standard of living teachers can aspire to in Cambodia is correspondingly low…but you have to ask yourself why you would want to teach in Cambodia in the first place!  Those who commit to teaching in schools in Phnom Penh or even in smaller towns such as Battambang generally aren’t in it for the money!  Rather they are after the life experience, the travel and adventure and some even find the challenge of teaching students who make up for what they lack in ability or experience with their enthusiasm.

There are a number of international schools in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh as well as numerous language schools.  Some teachers also work along side Khmer teachers in the provincial schools teaching English and teaching other subjects through the medium of English.  Rates of pay differ greatly but on average a teacher can expect to earn USD 9 per hour and teach for an average of twenty five hours a week.

A large recruiter of teachers in Cambodia is the Australian Centre for Education, they have two campuses for which they recruit one of which is based in Phnom Penh and the other is in Siem Reap.  ESL Employment.com is another place to search for English teaching jobs in Cambodia.  Alternatively excellent expatriate forums and blogs such as Khmer 440 can be used by those looking for contacts and advice about living and working in Cambodia.

For jobs in all other sectors of employment the Khmer Website Directory lists jobs in many diverse fields and the UN jobs site http://unjobs.org/ lists an assortment of mainly aid related vacancies across Cambodia…at the moment for example they are seeking everything from people to work within various fields in a post conflict rehabilitation centre to an operations manager for the HALO trust.

As is often the case those working for charities and aid agencies are quite well remunerated in Cambodia and the standard of living they enjoy is also good.  The main criteria that anyone who is committed to working in Cambodia should have are a desire to assist rather than to take and to facilitate development and improvement.