Job Discussion Forums

[timothy81]

Hello

This is my first post on the forum.
I am an American with Euro citizenship planning to move to Spain to teach ESL in September. I haven't yet taken an ESL certification course. I am planning to take an online course because they are so much cheaper than the classroom courses in country.
I was hoping someone might be able to tell me if having an online certification would be looked down upon by prospective employers and if they generally prefer that you do the month long course. Or if they just want to see come certification.
I have a bachelor's degree in Spanish and some teaching experience as an intern in college so I am not too concerned with getting classroom experience before I start working.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[spiral78]

Your problem will be that 90+% of the newbie teachers in all European markets have certification from the on-site courses, which include supervised teaching practice with feedback from trainers. Language schools generally consider this the key to a reputable certification.

Teaching other subjects than language doesn't give you direct experience in this field - it's a distinct area in learning for many good reasons.

Not that you absolutely can't find work with an on-line cert, but it will put you at a disadvantage, regardless of your other teaching experience. And many more desirable schools may well not even interview you if your CV features certification they recognize as on-line.

[timothy81]

Hi
Thanks for the quick and useful reply. That is discouraging news. I was really hoping to avoid the major expense of a month long course. But if that is what it takes I imagine that is what I will do.
Are there any schools in particular that you could recommend?
I am also particularly interested in the prospect of job search support after completing the course.
Thanks in advance.

[spiral78]

The ideal solution is to take the course in Spain. This would mean that you can count on some support early on in your move - training centres usually arrange for your housing during the course and stuff like airport pickup and local orientation.

You're ahead of the game in terms of language skills and not being in need of a visa - but there are still serious advantages to taking a course in-country.

The training centre can also give you very useful information regarding reputable schools and connect you with housing agents after the course is done. And you can be more certain that your cert will be recognized by local employers.

The general rule for Europe is that reputable employers aren't interested in hiring from abroad. They usually want to see you standing in front of them, CV in hand, looking responsible and professional. The exceptions are for teachers with extensive, specialist qualifications. Not for newbies...

I'd be very wary of any training course that purports to be able to 'place' you in good jobs in Europe. It doesn't work that way here - the region is too desirable overall. Asia is an entirely different scene....they can't get enough native speakers in many areas and, therefore, recruit from abroad and offer incentives such as paid flight tickets. Europe doesn't need to do this - the job market is in favour of schools, not teacher here.

[timothy81]

Thanks again for such a quick and helpful reply.
If I am going to do an in-country course I will probably have to push my arrival date back a few months.
I have been looking around the forums and it looks as though both Canterbury and EBC have good reputations and they have courses every month of the year. But I have read that it is quite difficult to get work after September/October.
As far as you know would coming in January really put me at a great disadvantage when looking for work?

[spiral78]

Yeah, kinda...
Not to say that you wouldn't find work, but standard contracts are Sept - June. If you are on the job hunt in February/mid-Feb, the pickings will be at their slimmest.
Now, if you could take the course in Nov/Dec and start a job in January, you'd likely have more opps. There are usually a whack of teachers who don't return from their winter holidays...