Job Discussion Forums

[tstimbert]

I plan on getting CERTA or TESOL certified this year in Santiago, Chile. I want to start working immediately. If necessary, for a short amount of time, I can make ends meet in another field, as long as I'm albe communicate mostly in English.

I suppose I'm asking for direction as to which certification programs, institutes, and/or jobs would be the best when the cards are stacked against me:
* No university degree
* Only 18 years old
* Santiago is a must
* Less-than fluent in Spanish (especially spoken)

But
* Native speaker from North America
* Very good test (standardized and ACT) scores in English and Reading
* Large vocabulary
* Vast knowledge of both formal and slang English


I understand that a degree is very helpful in finding an overseas career, but I would like to support myself in Santiago as soon as possible.

[CountBassD]

From the research I've done and people I've talked to about Chile, a university degree is more important there than anywhere else in the continent. Santiago is also one of the tougher job markets in South America. There are very qualified teachers struggling to find jobs in Santiago.

Also, I'm not sure what a CERTA is, but if you mean CELTA, it isn't offered in Santiago, only Ecuador, Colombia and Buenos Aires as far as South America goes. Also, you have to be 20.

I wish you luck, but I would recommend looking at other South American cities, especially in Peru.

[Dia]

purely anecdotal evidence, but i have usually beeb asked for my university degree at the places that considered hiring me, not to mention its on my resume but they were serious enough about that aspect to want a copy. i have not met anybody teaching here who does not have a degree. i do know of someone who found a job using mostly english who started but did not complete her degree.

so not to say that its not possible, but it wouldnt be the most common situation.

it is very unlikely that anybody here would ask for, or even know what to do with, your ACT scores.

you mentioned the possibility of other types of work, and unfortunately getting some average job like one might in the US (e.g. coffee shop, etc) probably wouldnt be sufficient or sustainable for most foreigners here. however there is always the possibility you would find some company that really needs someone with a good level of english for a position that doesn't require a degree. something in tourism comes to mind, being a guide, shifts at a hostal, etc...

i dont think it would be an impossible situation, but the job search might be kind of a drawn out process. hopefully you could come with a little money in the bank for the meantime or to cover any shortfalls.

good luck!

[geolady29]

This is probably a horrible newbie question, but when people in the Chile forum are discussing college degrees, do they always mean a teaching degree? For instance, I have a B.A. & M.S. in geology, my husband has B.S. in physics and M.L.I.S. (Masters of library & information science).

Would our degrees, in conjunction with a CELTA, be sufficient to get a job teaching in Chile? Or would we need to get teaching degrees? Or simply get the CELTA and get teaching experience elsewhere first?

Any guidance would be appreciated, as we intend to take a year off from our careers and teach English overseas. We still have some time before we're ready to go to address any deficiencies, so long as we can identify them

Thanks!

[geolady29]

I should mention maybe that we're older (35+), and both of us have 15+ years of experience in our chosen careers. Would that help make up for some of the negatives associated with not having classroom teaching experience? At this stage in our careers, we have both trained and/or mentored many people...

[Don Alan]

Get the CELTA and you will be fine.

[Cruiser]

[geolady29]

what, old geologists and librarians aren't different from all the other people doing TESL? lol

My husband works at a public library with a growing Hispanic and Asian population, so I think both private tutoring and/or teaching classes at the library are options.

If my husband were the geologist, we could live in the Middle East and clean up teaching oilfield English. Unfortunately, I am the geologist, and don't have much interest in living in a country where I'm a second class citizen at best.

Speaking of, I've seen posts about people teaching at the uni level, has anyone heard of TESL for specific things except business? For example, teaching English for geology, physics, or mathematics?

Thanks to each of you for the reply, and I will keep in the mind the need for additional and/or specialty experience to give us a firmer footing.

[Dia]

the majority of foreigners teaching English seem to have have degrees in something apart from education, and the TEFL or similar is the only official training they have had as far as how to teach. I have never heard of a course geared towards a particular field other than

You would probably be very much appreciated by companies if you were to teach English to people in your field. This also goes for private tutoring, and possibly university courses (while often times the universities employ English teachers with teaching degrees, there would be some advantage to having an English teacher who is a professional in that field.) This would basically depend on you finding your way to the right person at a university where the English teaching isnt outsourced to a private company.

I worked at an institute with a man who was in a similar situation as you, the companies he was sent to really respected the chance to study with someone like him, another adult with professional experience in the field (as opposed to the typical young and right out of university teacher). However since he was working through an institute this didn't have any advantage in terms of pay, whereas independently he would have been able to charge more for his services (or charge the same but keep it for himself).

Good luck!

[Cruiser]

[geolady29]

Cruiser,

Thank you for the ideas... I don't have any minerals extraction experience, but I have years of oilfield and environmental. I expect there is a good bit of oil exploration going on as well.

I will start digging deeper re: private teaching, rather than going through an institute. Sounds interesting, plus to be honest, I would much rather stay in geology (or construction management, which I'm doing now) than teach basic English.

Maybe my husband can pursue the same type idea for his physics and/or mathematics background.

Thank you everyone else as well, you have given me much to ponder.