Job Discussion Forums

[WhirlwindTobias]

Hey everyone.

First of all I want to apologise if anyone ends up repeating themselves. I've done a fair amount of reading on this forum, learnt much but I work better when I have personal feedback rather than processing a boat load of information all at once (especially when it's conflicting).

This is a long post, but bear with me.

I'm 28 years old, and as a result of having no direction I've been working menially and spending any extra savings (I'm not very frugal when it comes to spending) on mountaineering trips. Lately I've had a wave of ambition on account of approaching 30, and planned on working more hours, saving up some money and then travelling for a long period of time (maybe even working during). I also wanted to pick up pace on my extra-curricular activities, one of these being learning Polish.

As part of my mountaineering pursuits and interest in Polish, I chose to vacation in Zakopane, The Tatra's and Krakow for 2 weeks in October just passed. Thanks to my experience and my newfound friends, I came back a different person. A person with direction. That direction is, as you may guess, Poland.

Now, obviously I have to find employment there. My first options based on an Employment Agent I have as a personal contact were something in HR, Accounting or Sales (as an English speaker, anyway). However I went back there for a second time this Jan, and I met a few English speaking Internationals (and some people married to one) and the general consensus was I should teach English, especially given my "attributes". My attributes being that I have a high level of speaking even for a native, my accent is incredibly clear, and I'm incredibly thorough. In fact I've been told many times in the past I should be a teacher.

So now we come to why I'm here. My current situation:

-No class teaching experience
-No TEFL qualifications
-Not much in way of savings (Not enough for a £1200 TEFL course anyway)
-No idea where to begin (So many options)

I've heard of instances where individuals teach English in Poland without any qualifications, the fact that they were native speakers and could write lesson plans, carry themselves professionally etc was enough. Obviously I'm not expecting the same situation, but it would be pretty awesome to not drop £1200 before getting anywhere.

For the moment I am going to sort out my working situation because at the very least I would like to save up a decent amount of money before moving over, just to tide me by in an emergency.

I'm also starting to teach english on a "formal" basis (Getting clients and offering free lessons for experience), currently over Skype.

What I would like from you guys is feedback.

-Whether these formal lessons are a good idea or if I should be investing my time differently.
-How common it is for native english speakers to get work without a qualification, if at all.
-What kind of course I should be looking at for the future.
-Do I even have a chance in today's market (Hey dragonpiwo haha).
-What are the best resources for job searching, information etc (apart from this place)
-Anything else you have to say. I value all opinions.

Please don't try to convince me on going to Asia instead (I see this a lot here). I have my heart set on Poland and I love the cultures from that part of Europe. Not to mention I have friends in Poland, including a potential girlfriend (Do not comment on this, I am going there for myself first). The integration will also help me with my language goals.

I'm getting really tired of England and I would like to be living in Poland before we roll onto 2016.

Thanks for all your responses,


-Tobias

[nomad soul]

You really need to post this on the Poland forum since that's your target country: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewforum.php?f=19

[santi84]

My advice is somewhat broad as I have never taught in Poland. As you are approaching 30 and admit to a history of working menially without direction, I think you would really be doing a disservice to yourself and of course, your students, without getting bare minimum qualifications. I get that you clearly have your heart set on living life in Poland (and I don't blame you as it is a beautiful place), but remember that your students are investing time and money into your "skills". It's about them, not you. I'm not saying you need to get an MA or anything, it's clear that you work to live and that's fine, but is it really too much to ask for a basic four week course?

I know some native speakers with zero qualifications think they give great lessons but truth be told, they are usually not very good at what they do. Teaching is both an art and a skill - training is highly valuable, and feedback from qualified teachers is critical to improving yourself. If you wish to sustain yourself on private lessons, you'll really want to continuously improve as a teacher.

A lot of people on this planet have great accents and have a high-level of speaking. That doesn't mean they can teach the language well. People who say "you should be a teacher" probably haven't had to sit there and explain to someone the difference between past perfect and present perfect - and then explain and re-explain when someone isn't getting it.

[nomad soul]

Your "qualifications" put you at a huge disadvantage given that you have:

No degree
No CELTA
No TEFL experience
Not much in savings

.

[3701 W.119th]

A friend from my CELTA group is now teaching in Poland. Really enjoys it.

CELTA is the bare minimum you need for a job there, without any experience.

[WhirlwindTobias]

[nomad soul]

[santi84]

[esl_prof]

[Alien abductee]

[nomad soul]

[happyinshangqiu]

I was about 28 when I was on the dole, and one morning in a library in the north of England, trying to kill all the free time I had by reading books about other places, I found a book called 'How to teach English abroad' by Sue Griffith.

I read that book, cover to cover in about an hour - people are desperate to learn English in Korea? You can find a job in Taiwan as soon as you stepped off the plane (this was about 1995), in Spain there are loads of English schools? I never knew anything about this, I was amazed, the book was a revelation. Like a whole new world I knew nothing about was suddenly opened to me.

And then that weekend, I went to see my parents for lunch. At the bus station waiting for my bus, I got talking to this old feller who was talking about his son who was teaching in Taiwan, married a local woman and had a family and a flat and all he did to earn his living was 'play with kids and teach them a bit of English' I was impressed as was the proud dad telling me the story.

So, for the next few years, I looked into teaching English abroad and what one needed to get a job. I decided at the age of 31 - a few years later - to bite the bullet and go to university to take a degree in linguistics and TEFL.

So, you are 28 and you now have a direction - a pretty strong one towards Poland and teaching English, and you can earn a living and live a life out there so what I suggest, now it is January, is to get on the UCAS website and start applying for degree courses in linguistics and TEFL.

It will take you three years - and in three years from now, you will be able to go out to Poland, or wherever else you fancy - Korea, China, Spain - I don't know - Taiwan even, though the market has dropped considerably since the 90's. You will have more choice to go and teach and live the dream. It is a great life.

OR...


Save what you can, go to Poland, look smart, dress well, speak clearly and knock on doors, it may or may not work. But the less you have to offer, the more door knocking you need to do. There is no shortage of out of work graduates who can speak English so, you have your work cut out.

I had to go and get my degree because even though I knew I could probably wing a job somewhere - my lack of qualifications were going to hamper my long term goals regarding this, and now I have a masters degree.

So, my advice is start looking to get qualified and take it from there, what's three years at the age of 28? I wish I did it at 28 instead of scratching my arse with my brain in neutral. I knew then what I wanted to do but thought it might drop into my lap if I sat around and waited for it to come to me - the only things that come to your lap are the remote control and if you are a bloke - yes, that. Not even the cat bothers half the time!

[spiral78]

First, the hiring season in the Poland region is Sept/Oct, so you have some months to prepare - it's pretty tough to find anything in the spring in any case, and everything pretty much grinds to a standstill July/Aug anyway!

Save up, then consider doing a CELTA in the region. This will be maybe a bit cheaper, and give you better contacts in the area. The most efficient way is to come over at the first of August, take a course, then hit the pavements right at the start of the hiring season with your new CELTA.

Good luck

[WhirlwindTobias]

Hey again everyone. Thank you for all your responses, just discussing the situation helps immensely.

[rtm]