English Teachers: which certificate?

[xiongmao]

My CELTA is now back on track but there will be many more twists and turns. I believe one of the students has dropped out and another was in turmoil this morning over the lack of a lesson plan. It's a brutal course but you WILL learn a lot.

The cheap TEFL providers can be a good source of teaching jobs as they often have good contacts. Sometimes you have to take a low paid quasi-internship first, but after that you should be able to move onto better things. Yesterday they mailed me about internships in Sichuan Province. The pay is low, but you get free accommodation. And what are you going to spend money on in a small Sichuan town? But that would be a perfect place to get a total immersion in Chinese (doubt they speak Mandarin too much there though) and if you can survive there you can live anywhere.

For what it's worth I know a guy who does TEFL stuff in Canada, and he's never done a CELTA or TEFL course. Having an academic background and/or previous teaching experience overrides any TEFL qualification.

[Mr S]

How did you get that kind of job, Mr. S? I have a list of schools in the Philippines for the future (going to China again for the time being), but schools don't seem to ever reply to emails, although I haven't sent out that many so far. I'm assuming the first step is being there in person. What kind of qualifications do you have? I only have a bachelor's, but if getting an MA would more or less allow me to work as a teacher in the Philippines, I might make the investment.

Generally, it's best to apply in person when possible as most places don't respond unless their desperate and those are often shitty places to work or dubious recruiters doing that.

I have two MA degrees both related to education related fields. I specifically tailored my higher education to allow me to work overseas as having an education major from a Western English University is pretty much guaranteed work in Asia and other parts of the world. It pretty much allows one to make a middle class lifestyle in whatever country you happen to be in. However, I'd never teach in America or a similar Western country cause the kids and school systems are like prisons now and kids are horrible with no discipline and your screwed if one decides to false accuse you of something. So I'm stuck working and living overseas for better or worse whether I like it or not.

If you want to live overseas but don't have business sense or passive income from some other income source then higher education is your best bet. You don't necessarily have to focus on English related degrees, actually being a math or science major will give one more lucrative teaching jobs in international or private schools overseas.

BTW, you're not going to make much being a teacher in PI, unless you luck out and can work at one of the prestigious international schools here in Manila. They are fairly picky and few slots open up. They wouldn't even hire me, and you do need good references and grease people palms I guess. Best to find teaching gigs in countries that aren't as popular then travel to countries your interested in during school vacations.

As I stated I do English testing, which pays fairly well since it's difficult to get certified to do it. If I didn't have this gig, I'd probably be forced to have to live and work in another country.

If you have an English BA degree and get a CELTA/DELTA you can do what I do in China an get valuable experience while making decent money. If your BA is in a non-related English education type degree then you probably need to get an MA in education if you want decent teaching jobs.

[Ghost]

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[Mr S]

The best overall place to teach with a decent balance of quality of life with women and cheap living is probably Vietnam. However, you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get a proper working Visa, if I were you I'd look into that country if you want to remain in SE Asia.

China of course, if you have the proper credentials and are willing to wait for a decent paying job at a private school or university if you have a MA. You can get teaching jobs anywhere if you have lesser credentials but there is no guarantee that it would be a good gig or pay decent.

If you have a teaching degree from the states and are a certified teacher then you can apply anywhere at an international school. However, the 'decent' locations are usually hard to get cause most Western women gobble up the positions. So any country that is considered to be decent living is almost impossible to break into unless your maybe a science or math major. English or history, forget about it!

The Stan Asian countries seemed to have openings every year as well as Mongolia. Those are decent countries to get valuable experience and make connections for other more desirable countries in the future.

Here are some links to proper official international schools, however generally you will need to have a proper certified teaching certificate from whichever state you live in at the moment or have residency:

http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/c1684.htm

Some of these schools accept direct applications and some go through recruiters and international teaching job fairs, you just have to keep up with their school schedules and apply at the right time. This list should keep you busy.

BTW, this international teaching certification will also enable you to get hired at international schools easily. You can pay to go to a location to get trained yourself, but it's worth it if you want to work in an international school and have a decent salary with benefits. I was going to do this before I got the job I have now. If I had to teach internationally I'd do this for sure to maximize your hiring potential.

http://www.ibo.org/

International recruitment agency:

http://www.globalinkstutors.com/

If you want to risk working in Ukraine:
http://americanenglish.ua/