Job Discussion Forums

[LindaMickey]

Hello all,

I'm Linda and i reside in Sydney Australia. I am Vietnamese and would really like to work in my country, especially Hanoi. After reading many posts i've inferred that you need to be a native English speaker to be more eligible as an ESL teacher in Vietnam. Is this true? I have lived in Australia all my childhood (I'm eighteen) and just finished High School and consider myself a native English speaker (as i do not speak Vietnamese very well).

Next year i would like to take a Global TESOL certificate to enable me to work in Vietnam. This course finishes in late February of next year. For all those people who have completed this course, or similiar (ie. Celta) can you please give me some advice as to whether i should sign up for the course or not? I would like to know as much information as possible before i make my decision. Are there many job opportunities in Vietnam and would my age be a disadvantage as i do not have any experience? In school, i have been involved in a Peer Reading program for 2 years, teaching my younger peers to read.

I would also like to ask if i need more qualifications than just a TESOL certificate? I also have one tertiary education certificate (as i completed it in my High School Year) in Information Technology Certificate II. This is my dream career (I know, i know, i sound like a little high school girl entering the real world, but hey, that's what i am) to be able to work in Vietnam which will give me the opportunity to learn more about my culture.

Any comments and advice would be more than welcome!

[jojoni]

WHy don't you just get there and see for yourself.

[sigmoid]

Hey Linda -

There seem to be a number of overseas Viet Kieu teaching in Saigon. I imagine there are plenty in Hanoi too. So, I believe that you should probably be able to find a teaching job. There is a fairly big demand for native speaking English teachers in Vietnam.

The two potential problems I see are that you might not get paid as much as a native speaker of European background and most schools "require" a university degree, but as I said I'm not sure if those things will really be obstacles for you. Certainly teacher training will be helpful, but it's not a requirement.

I think you should give it a try because I think it's certainly possible for you to find work either with a school or just private students. And there may be opportunities to do things other than teaching as well.

have a look at this site:
http://www.vietnamworks.com/

[OzBurn]

Many schools hire people without a college degree and without any teaching skills. You should do fine, just come out and pretend you know what you're doing like the other 99% of the expat English teachers. You might have to beat the streets for a while, but that's life.