Job Discussion Forums

[CarolinaTHeels]

Im looking for some first or second hand info about some colegios that will hire someone with only a university degree and minimal to no experience.

Plan on coming to Colombia around june or july to start looking for a colegio job.

So any advice on specific colegios to apply at would be great.

I'm alittle nervous and paranoid I wont be able to find a suitable job that pays decent without a CELTA.

I just cant justify shelling out 2K for only teaching ESL for 6months - year.

[windowlicker]

There's a lot of factors here...With no qualifications, it won't be impossible for you to get a job at a colegio, but it will be tough, especially if you're not sticking around long enough to make solid contacts. But even assuming you beat the odds and get a job offer from a colegio right off the bat despite your lack of qualifications, the chances that it will pay good money aren't particularly high. as i've said many times on this forum, well paying colegio jobs are plentiful - though not if you lack qualifications and experience - but, more importantly, you often need to invest some time in Colombia before they become available...so the question would be why go through all the extra stress of working at a colegio if its not going to be a well-paying gig?

Then there's also the consideration that you're talking about only staying maybe 6 months - it's not particularly nice to go into a high school with no qualifications if you're not even committed to investing a full year into the kids' education. Even if you were willing to commit to a full year, with zero experience and no qualifications, stepping into a Colombian high school classroom would likely put you in way over your head - you'll probably hate it.

Maybe everyone's just better off if you stick to institute teaching? If you find a decent institute, you might make a solid $2 million/month teaching 20 hrs/week. Its low stress, and you'll probably have a much more pleasant 6 month-1 year experience.

[CarolinaTHeels]

If i can make 2mil pesos at a language institute than Id prefer that most likely. But im not trying to live in Bogota and institutes pay lower in other cities.

I guess I could try to get some work doing esl in south florida and maybe get some certificate.

Seems to me id have a better chance of making 2mil in another city at a colegio.

[littlelauren86]

I agree with windowlicker in that institutes would be better. I would figure that colegios would need some type of commitment from you, since hiring you will be an investment. Also, when working with children, it's better for adults to commit to them rather than coming and going.

[windowlicker]

If you're not planning on living in Bogota, your chances of getting a colegio job go down even further. There are far fewer schools in other cities that fall into that little niche you're looking for where they have the resources to hire a foreigner, but aren't so elite that they demand serious qualifications. And seriously, $2 million is not worth the stress of a colegio job. Either get the qualifications and make the time commitment to make yourself competitive for jobs paying $3 million +, or stick with institutes.

[MNguy]

A CELTA will not get you any job a TEFL won't in any Colegio. You think a school advertising for someone with a university degree and teaching licence is really going to care which one-month teacher training certificate course you took?

[Woodman09]

Forget it-- Won't happen without good contacts

[spanglish]

CELTA does make a difference.

If a school wants a teaching license then a CELTA would be an insufficient qualification. I, however, have been offered and accepted several jobs (including a high school, a language institute and 2 universities) and been told in the interview that having a CELTA (as opposed to some kind of online TEFL) was one of the key qualifications for having been called for the interview. When I was interviewing at a university fresh off the CELTA, the (British) head of the department specifically told me that there was no way I would have been called in for the interview if I hadn't had a CELTA.

[MNguy]

Very subjective truths there. So I will offer mine. The only places I've come across that care about the CELTA or TEFL are places with a financial interest in promoting one or the other.
The truth is that a four-year degree and experience (among other qualifications, depending on the position) are the things that matter most.

[windowlicker]

[windowlicker]

I'll just add further that the British Council works with high schools and universities all over the country. They send teachers to do workshops and teacher training sessions all over the place. Universities and high schools send their experienced teachers to the British Council to update their qualifications. In my CELTA course I had Colombians who'd been at their jobs in universities or high schools for years and years who were being encouraged by their schools to do the course.

Unless you're going to do a Master's degree in TEFL, the CELTA/DELTA route is the only path to most of the really prime jobs in Colombia. It's something the best employers recognize and set apart from a generic certification (regardless of whether or not that's deserved).

[MNguy]

[windowlicker]

[G22]

I was able to get a job at a small colegio w/o a celta, just a BA, however I had previous experience teaching at a couple of institutes. I kinda got lucky, the colegio was across the street from a house I was staying at and someone from the school approached me and asked if I could speak English because they were looking for a teacher. Perhaps establish yourself in the city and work at an institute to gain experience first.