For those of you that have been with me since day one you probably already know that I don't have a very high opinion of this profession in general. I don't doubt how important it is for the students, it certainly is. It just wan't the right profession for me as for the most part i would rather do literally anything else for a living. However, for many people this could be a wonderful opportunity to travel the world and see new places.
image from International TEFL Academy
I know many people that this is the only job they have had for many years and they have moved on to much more rewarding positions that they can actually make a decent living in. Just like any other profession, you start at the bottom and work your way up. I never made it past the bottom because I determined that it was not the right job for me since I pretty much loathed all of it. This article and the others that follow it, are a guide (of sorts) for how you can move your way up to the higher ranks and actually make a real living in this field.
Number 1: Have real credentials
The days of being able to fake your CV / Resume are behind us. Sorry folks but it just isn't possible anymore. You will be required to have a university degree of some sort to qualify for a vast majority of the jobs available. There are exceptions, but in order to qualify for those you have to be in certain countries and even then you will likely need experience in order to get hired. This can still be accomplished by volunteer work but some countries' Ministries of Education don't leave it up to the individual schools and they can actually get in a lot of trouble for hiring you. A good rule of thumb is to have a degree. This is easier if coming from a country that has multiple tiers of diplomas but if coming from North America you will need a Bachelor's degree. This degree can be in literally anything but as you might expect, a degree in Education will open a lot more doors for you.
The TEFL certficate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is not necessary for more new hires, but to be honest the certification is not difficult to obtain and actually helps quite a lot in getting better positions. I took the lowest level one that was available and actually learned quite a lot. Basically this is optional at first but if you find that you like the profession and want to move "up in the ranks," it is very helpful to have one
Number 2: Be between 20-35 years old, or at least look like you are
This seems like a real jerk move by the schools but it is just a fact. They are unlikely to be interested in someone that is older than this unless they already have a lot of experience. If you are older than 35, get a haircut and a nice shirt and try to play it off. If you are friendly enough you can still get the job. It's not like it is a law or anything. For whatever reason schools just aren't interested in hiring older teachers unless they have a mountain of experience under their belt.
as unfair as it sounds / is, older people stand very little chance of being hired
Number 3: Be willing to take whatever at first
As i briefly mentioned before, this is not really different from changing into any other field in life. The best jobs are not (except in very rare situations) going to be awarded to anyone who is new to the industry. In Thailand, there are always jobs available - I see at least a couple of listings a week on our local FB page, and if you look at online agencies such as Ajarn.com there are just heaps of opportunities.
Number 4: Turn up with a nest egg
If you want the correct job, it is a much better to not need one right away. I only taught on and off for about 5 years and I don't know how many people took the job because they were broke, then worked for a couple of months then disappeared. This of course reflects very badly on the people that left without giving notice and of course they will be blacklisted, but it is incredibly unfair to the kids. They all of a sudden don't have a teacher and the school has to frantically search for another one. I had to fill in multiple times in the past because of "runners" and this was despite the fact that I had left the teaching profession many years prior.
Number 5: Don't get too bogged down in one area
This sounds crappy because a lot of it incorporates not getting invovled in long-term relationships because if you want to move up in the ranks, there is an extremely good chance that you will need to not just change cities, but also change countries.
The jobs in the "easier" countries like Thailand and Cambodia have long since been seen as "springboard" jobs where the teacher stays here long enough to get some experience on their resume / CV and then head off towards other, far-more-lucrative jobs in countries such as Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Number 6: If you hate being around kids - just forget it
I have met many people that state that they only want to teach adults and I am not saying these jobs don't exist, because they do, but they exist in much lower numbers than teaching kids. I have done both and I felt the same way at the beginning. However, after many years of teaching both kids and adults I actually prefer to teach kids. If you only want to teach adults I would say try to get employed by some sort of online agency that specializes in that sort of thing.
These jobs do exist and in my experience they are normally part of a hotel operation where your job is not just to educate the workers, but also to make sure that none of their signs / advertisements are nonsense. These jobs are extremely scarce and that is why I say it should NOT be what you are aiming for.
There are some school that cater to all ages but they will most likely not just have an adults only class as they will be willing to accept as many students as they possibly can in order to make money (you know? Like virtually every other business in the world.)
In later parts of this series i will explain how these jobs can actually be very rewarding, both in the increased salaries, and also how much more it seems like an actual career rather than a playtime job.
I personally know many people working all over the world that make probably better money than the average office slave back in the west (after taxes, which we don't pay very much of over here.)
While I personally don't like the profession and will never do it again (I will take a dish-washing job at McDonalds before i teach again,) I do recognize that this is because of me being incompatible with the job - it isn't because the job sucks.
The people that i know that have been working in this field for as little as just a few years have many opportunities available to them all over the world and they also get to travel a LOT because of school holidays.
"If you are older than 35, get a haircut and a nice shirt and try to play it off"
This made me laugh my ass off. As someone in the older age group, I love the idea of going undercover "21 Jump Street" Style.
" I had to fill in multiple times in the past because of "runners""
Oh god, I'm laughing again. I never knew that teachers could go all Roy Batty and turn into "runners." I guess the day before they run, they make speeches about teaching "attack ships. . . off the shoulder of Orion."
"I will take a dish-washing job at McDonalds before i teach again"
I'm guessing you were either teaching Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or Rodney Dangerfield in "Back to School." :)
the problem with naughty kids when you are teaching them in a second language is that unless you become fluent in the local language before you ever take a job (which isn't going to happen) they can talk trash directly to your face and you wont know it. Rarely would anyone be this bold / naughty but if you get a Spicoli in your class it is much more difficult to keep them under control in a language they don't yet understand :)
"if you get a Spicoli in your class it is much more difficult to keep them under control"
Oh man, that is the worst lol.
When I was a kid, there were so many Spicolis in my class. Any teacher who showed the smallest sign of weakness got so much hassle. One teacher lost it and threw a book at a kid's head. Another just started to cry.
If this crap was happening in a foreign language as well, sheesh! :0
I actually have so much respect for any teacher who can keep control, at the same time as making the class fun. In my experience, if you could do one, you couldn't do the other. :0
when i was a TEFL teacher i was able to maintain control only because i devoted 70% of my time to "crowd control" and 30% to actual teaching. It ended up working and the kids were afraid of me / respected me and the Thai teachers thought I was awesome. Guess it worked out!
I am a part time teacher and the thing that drives me to do this is my love for kids and my passion to make them better pupils.
That is exactly the kind of teacher the world needs. Kudos to you for that :)
:)
Great post here and it’s very relevant to my current situation. So you taught English for about 5 years, was that all in Thailand?
I teach engineering (in English) in China at polytechnics, so like colleges. It works great for me at the moment as I have small contracts, 6-10 weeks at a time, I get paid pretty well and then get free time to decide what’s next.
I have been in the same position as you in terms of really not wanting to teach anymore, but I guess where I have shorter term contracts it helps me focus for 2 months and get it done - always light at the end of the tunnel!
It can be pretty rewarding and I guess teaching kids could be fun.
I don’t have a tefl but I do have a bachelors in engineering, both really do help. As you
Mentioned a tefl not only helps you get the job but also gives you skills and ideas when teaching.
I have some things to think about with the teaching career, I mean, like you’ve said, time off is always good. I don’t know if I can currently find a career I will want to work 12 months a year everyday. You do et great holidays etc!
Great post and I look forward to your next one about teaching :)
I actually taught mostly math and science (in English) and one year i taught all 3. Because i was in town I ended up being the go-to rescue teacher for a long time after other teachers did "a runner"
Getting a TEFL might not be required in your position and if you already have experience as an engineer and teaching english there are likely opportunities available to you that wouldn't be available to the run-of-the-mill TEFL teacher... the problem is finding them. I would imagine a good place for you to start (at least in Asia) is to look into the oil and gas industry as they are loaded and might need that sort of thing. It's worth a shot!
As far as teaching kids is concerned: If i were you you i would have a go at doing something in China (since you are already there) but to be honest i think you have much greater earning potential in doing something specialized towards engineering - i mean teaching Asian foremen or engineer-related individuals English. That is very important if they ever aspire to work on lucrative middle-eastern projects, for example.
The big money contracts for teaching kids are almost entirely located in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Everyone i know in this field currently makes BANK, and gets flights and accommodation paid for. I will touch base on this a bit more in the next episode, which i plan to release tomorrow :)
All the best...
I’ve been teaching in China for 5 years now. It’s like a love hate relationship, it’s not so much the teaching I don’t like but the working for a chinese company, the work practices really make me mad. I’m retraining in graphic design & going to push my video editing further so as to not get stuck doing it forever.
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good for you buddy. Yeah, as it may have been evident in my article, this job is not for me either. I just happen to know several people that have made pretty decent money doing it and the idea behind this entire thing is to hopefully make a map to how people can pull that off.
I know tons of people who work in TEFL. I don't know anyone with a start, middle, and end there.
I will keep these tips in mind.. just in case. I actually teach SAT English and Maths, and I must say teaching actually isn't that easy... especially when some of the students aren't that smart.. and you give everything you've got..yet they improve slightly. It's a noble profession with a decent pay tho.
with that sort of background you would bypass a lot of what i mentioned in my article. I guess it kind of depends on if you are interested in being and intrepid traveler! :)
So funny to read! Like the tips maby a nice thing to do for me!
if you are a native-english speaker that wants to travel the world (I should have put that in there, gotta be native-english speaker) there are lots of opportunities... plus travel is the best!
Alternatively of having training in-usa, every other option is acquiring your TEFL certificate on line by way of taking part in a digital study room. most on line TEFL certification packages can be taken from the comfort of your home, at your personal pace. Like an on-website software, you may obtain your TEFL certificate after passing a final exam and, depending on the program, may additionally receive help with securing a placement.
Execs: The big advantage of a web TEFL certification is flexibility as the route can be completed from everywhere and at your personal pace. in case you’re considering teaching English overseas, however aren’t sure precisely when or where you want to train, this will additionally be the option for you because it doesn’t restriction your vicinity upon of entirety. subsequently, the rate factor of on-line guides is often decrease than the ones that are run in-vacation spot on-website. If maintaining your upfront fees low may be very vital to you, online programs are definitely worth exploring.
i don't think i suggested getting a TEFL in USA and if i accidentally suggested that let me reverse that notion now. If you do it in USA (or really any of Europe or N. America) you will end up paying significantly more for the same piece of paper that only some places require.
I got mine online.
Hummm @may be!
great writeup
Hiii... Gooddream
Great Post with Great Information.
Hiii... Gooddream
Great Post with Great Information.
There are many oppprtunites but as you should have good real degree & comfortable with kids.Have you tried your hand in india ? @gooddream
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