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Australian headed to SF Bay Area
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cloud_pleaser



Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 83

PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:25 pm    Post subject: Australian headed to SF Bay Area Reply with quote

Hi all,
I am, as stated in the thread title bound for the SF Bay Area (Have family there) in January. I am going to be doing my CELTA and then trying to find some teaching.
Other fun facts: I have five years experience (mostly in China) and am working towards a Masters in Applied Linguistics (one more year!).

I guess my main questions are:
Where are good places to begin? The standard places like IH/Kaplan/ELS? or community colleges (I notice most of them teach ESL prep).
Another tricky question is visa sponsorship. Do ESL employers in the US generally sponsor visas? This is kind of a niche question as Australians actually have our own special visa category for the US (E3), which is easier to sponsor than others.

Any help would be appreciated, I'm trying to gauge what level of optimism is appropriate Wink
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Give craigslist San Francisco a look for ESL ads to see what employers require. Also do an Internet search using community college san francisco esl jobs.

You'd have to email potential employers about visa sponsorship. Keep in mind they may not find sponsorship worthwhile if they already have a pool of qualified American teachers to draw from.
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cloud_pleaser



Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 83

PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nomad soul wrote:


You'd have to email potential employers about visa sponsorship. Keep in mind they may not find sponsorship worthwhile if they already have a pool of qualified American teachers to draw from.


This was what I had feared
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mitsui



Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki

PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 6:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You might have more luck teaching at a high school.
Some schools even hire people who aren't certified, but that means they cannot be picky.

Obviously qualified Americans are first in line.
Visa sponsorship is needed.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I doubt this is the situation in the San Francisco Bay area.
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Oztobeyond



Joined: 04 Aug 2015
Posts: 53
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi everyone!

I'm dragging this one back from the graveyard.

I too am an Australian, and I too am interested in working in the US toward the end of 2017 teaching English. I am particularly interested in New York or the Bay Area, however I'm keeping an open mind.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in English (University of Sydney) and hold a CELTA. Furthermore, by late 2017, I would have had just under 2 years teaching experience (in Uzbekistan and China), and would have taught general English, teens English, and IELTS preparation in both a language school setting and in a Chinese public school setting.

What are my options? I'd love to spend a bit of time in the States.

Thanks all,
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oztobeyond wrote:
I too am an Australian, and I too am interested in working in the US toward the end of 2017 teaching English. I am particularly interested in New York or the Bay Area, however I'm keeping an open mind.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in English (University of Sydney) and hold a CELTA. Furthermore, by late 2017, I would have had just under 2 years teaching experience (in Uzbekistan and China), and would have taught general English, teens English, and IELTS preparation in both a language school setting and in a Chinese public school setting.

What are my options? I'd love to spend a bit of time in the States.

Then head to the US as a tourist only. Getting a full-time TESL job will be impossible; enrollments are down and are likely to stay lukewarm, and your qualifications aren't beefy enough. Plus, as mentioned above, employers may not want to deal with sponsorship since they have a local pool of teachers to choose from. Then there's the issue of your target cities: NY and San Francisco. They rank as two of the most expensive in the world --- even a full time teaching job wouldn't likely pay enough.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Curious how things are going in Tashkent, Oztobeyond!?

Unfortunately have to ditto nomad soul's take on your chances of making it on the US job market. Even if you lowered your sights to a mid-tier city, you'd still have a large pool of qualified locals who don't need visas at all to compete with.
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Oztobeyond



Joined: 04 Aug 2015
Posts: 53
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nomad soul wrote:
Oztobeyond wrote:
I too am an Australian, and I too am interested in working in the US toward the end of 2017 teaching English. I am particularly interested in New York or the Bay Area, however I'm keeping an open mind.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in English (University of Sydney) and hold a CELTA. Furthermore, by late 2017, I would have had just under 2 years teaching experience (in Uzbekistan and China), and would have taught general English, teens English, and IELTS preparation in both a language school setting and in a Chinese public school setting.

What are my options? I'd love to spend a bit of time in the States.

Then head to the US as a tourist only. Getting a full-time TESL job will be impossible; enrollments are down and are likely to stay lukewarm, and your qualifications aren't beefy enough. Plus, as mentioned above, employers may not want to deal with sponsorship since they have a local pool of teachers to choose from. Then there's the issue of your target cities: NY and San Francisco. They rank as two of the most expensive in the world --- even a full time teaching job wouldn't likely pay enough.


Sad

Okay, thanks for the honesty. Is there anything I can do to make it more feasible? I'll be working in Beijing from this month all the way through to September 2017. Maybe I can undertake an extra qualification to beef up my qualifications while there? Also I'm willing to be flexible on the target region. But it has to be somewhat interesting! Chicago, New Orleans, San Diego, Boston, Miami, San Antonio...
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Oztobeyond



Joined: 04 Aug 2015
Posts: 53
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spiral78 wrote:
Curious how things are going in Tashkent, Oztobeyond!?

Unfortunately have to ditto nomad soul's take on your chances of making it on the US job market. Even if you lowered your sights to a mid-tier city, you'd still have a large pool of qualified locals who don't need visas at all to compete with.


Again that's sad re the situation on visa. ANY advice at all if I can do something to improve my chances, let me know because I like a challenge!

I think you guys were more optimistic about the OPs chances. He didn't have a CELTA however...

Anyway Tashkent! Yes I've made great strides professionally here, my employer has been fantastic. The students as well are fabulous, I couldn't ask for better, more enthusiastic students. I've also had great colleagues and made life long friends Smile

That said, to be honest, I'm really looking forward to moving on. The city is quite bland and conservative culturally. I'm flying out at the end of this week and working in Beijing for 1 year. I can't WAIT to go somewhere more cosmopolitan and open-minded than here...
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The OP had family in the region and most of a related MA. That said, I doubt s/he found anything either. Anyway, remember that a CELTA is a starter qualification - it won't swing anything for you in the US.

Essentially, you are considering trying to do the thing that never actually works; teach in an Anglophone country in which you have no automatic legal right to live/work. I don't honestly know (or even know of) anyone who's ever achieved this.

I have more quals and experience than you, but had great difficulty finding a good job in Canada even though I DO have a legal right to live and work there (I'm originally from the US). Employers would obviously give precedence to locals with equivalent quals and experience - and there are many! It doesn't matter to me as I've been happily based in Europe for work since 1998 with a couple of years in Canada interspersed.

I have a couple of students/grads from Uzbekistan. They are notably reluctant to return, but just wondered how the mood might have changed in response to Karimov's demise.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oztobeyond wrote:
Okay, thanks for the honesty. Is there anything I can do to make it more feasible? I'll be working in Beijing from this month all the way through to September 2017. Maybe I can undertake an extra qualification to beef up my qualifications while there? Also I'm willing to be flexible on the target region. But it has to be somewhat interesting! Chicago, New Orleans, San Diego, Boston, Miami, San Antonio...\
....

Again that's sad re the situation on visa. ANY advice at all if I can do something to improve my chances, let me know because I like a challenge!

I think you guys were more optimistic about the OPs chances. He didn't have a CELTA however...

We weren't optimistic about the OP's chances either. I pointed him to craigslist and TESOL.org for a realistic view of ESL in the US in addition to the level of qualifications employers want to see and whether they support sponsorship. In fact, I suggest you do the same for the cities you listed.

Keep in mind, you'd be competing against American MA TESOL holders for the few jobs that do pop up.
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Oztobeyond



Joined: 04 Aug 2015
Posts: 53
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spiral78 wrote:
The OP had family in the region and most of a related MA. That said, I doubt s/he found anything either. Anyway, remember that a CELTA is a starter qualification - it won't swing anything for you in the US.

Essentially, you are considering trying to do the thing that never actually works; teach in an Anglophone country in which you have no automatic legal right to live/work. I don't honestly know (or even know of) anyone who's ever achieved this.

I have more quals and experience than you, but had great difficulty finding a good job in Canada even though I DO have a legal right to live and work there (I'm originally from the US). Employers would obviously give precedence to locals with equivalent quals and experience - and there are many! It doesn't matter to me as I've been happily based in Europe for work since 1998 with a couple of years in Canada interspersed.

I have a couple of students/grads from Uzbekistan. They are notably reluctant to return, but just wondered how the mood might have changed in response to Karimov's demise.


Okay, again thanks for your honesty. I'm just so keen to keep living in different places, and I thought next up after China the US would be great. A part of me is craving a western place, I miss the western mind set... Maybe when I'm in China my itch will be subdued.

It's been fascinating here from a sociological/psychological/political perspective. I've learnt a lot. That said, it's very obvious to me why your Uzbek students don't want to return. So many young people here want to emigrate from here, in particular to the US. To be frank, there's not much here for them.

Re Karimov's demise, everything is just ticking along as usual. It's quite suprising how 'normal' everything feels. Nothing has noticably changed. I don't expect any dramatic or sudden changes to occur here.
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Oztobeyond



Joined: 04 Aug 2015
Posts: 53
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nomad soul wrote:
Oztobeyond wrote:
Okay, thanks for the honesty. Is there anything I can do to make it more feasible? I'll be working in Beijing from this month all the way through to September 2017. Maybe I can undertake an extra qualification to beef up my qualifications while there? Also I'm willing to be flexible on the target region. But it has to be somewhat interesting! Chicago, New Orleans, San Diego, Boston, Miami, San Antonio...\
....

Again that's sad re the situation on visa. ANY advice at all if I can do something to improve my chances, let me know because I like a challenge!

I think you guys were more optimistic about the OPs chances. He didn't have a CELTA however...

We weren't optimistic about the OP's chances either. I pointed him to craigslist and TESOL.org for a realistic view of ESL in the US in addition to the level of qualifications employers want to see and whether they support sponsorship. In fact, I suggest you do the same for the cities you listed.

Keep in mind, you'd be competing against American MA TESOL holders for the few jobs that do pop up.


Ok, thanks for the advice Smile
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peripatetic_soul



Joined: 20 Oct 2013
Posts: 303

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 4:31 pm    Post subject: Australian headed to SF Bay Area Reply with quote

Deleted (duplication error)

Last edited by peripatetic_soul on Sun Sep 04, 2016 7:59 pm; edited 2 times in total
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