Job Discussion Forums

[pamantha]

There seems to be a lot of positive posting for EBC in Madrid. Can anybody help me out with the following?

Job assistance is supposed to be great upon graduation. Is this for EU-passport-sporting folks as well as those who don't (I fall into the latter category)

Are the jobs you /your fellow EBC grads have gotten legal?

Are their affiliated schools only in Madrid?

How easy have grads found their second (or third or fourth...) job? (espeically outside Madrid & outside of Spain) Does the EBC certificate have any recognition beyond Madrid and EBC affiliate schools?

At this point the classes are filled in order to graduate and getting a job in October. Anyone graduate at off peak times and have luck getting a job?

Big thanks in advance from this here newbie!!

[pineappleprincess]

Hello there,

I just finished the EBC course and now I am looking for work. From what I gather so far, it is true that you can get a job with the EBC certificate. However, it is not easy or pretty. You still have to go personally to many of the academies and then they will keep your name for their records. I think if some companies call the academies up and request classes, you may be able to find some hours to work. However, it is part-time work at best and especially in this season, there does not seem to be a lot of work available.

I would recommend that you bring a laptop with you to Madrid. These internet cafes are making a killing off of students who need to just use Microsoft Word for their assignements.

I took the EBC course because I thought the certification was regarded quite well here. Well I have heard some complaints from long-time teachers that EBC is not regarded very highly in SOME academies. It is a "backpacker" course for those who intend to stay and work for only a few years.

If you are serious about being a English teacher as a professional, I would advise that you take a CELTA course or get a Master's Degree in TEFL. That having been said, if you are someone who wants to live and experience a foreign country for a short while, perhaps a TEFL course like EBC is better. You may also want to know that I hear Canterbury is a joke.

I was happy with the teachers at EBC-- they knew what they were talking about and they sincerely cared about the students. However, it was a hassle to run around looking for photocopiers and supplies for the practice classes. Perhaps this is the way things are done in Spain, but for the amount of money you will be paying, you may be a bit disappointed with the resource situation.

I think arriving in September to October is a good idea. I hear that there will be virtually no work in August. If most of the English teachers leave during that time, though, you may be able to pick up private students. There are summer camps in July, and most schools end in June.

Another problem is working papers. That is another can of worms.

Well I hope this helps. I wish I had more of this kind of info before I came here. By the way, Madrid is fantastic. The people have been great and the city is beautiful.

[pamantha]

hey pineappleprincess,
Thanks for the great post that was really helpful. Is there anyway I you could send me your email? I'd love to ask you a couple more questions in detail if you didn't mind.

Thanks!
Pamela

[michelle ashley]

Hi!

I did my course with EBC, and I thought they did a good job. You see the thing is you do not expect any school to hand you a job , CELTA or non- CELTA. One question, have you honestly looked into the job assistance CELTA course providers give? From what I hear (this is not third hand info, btw, because I share the apartment with this ex IH student!!), you are on your own after the CELTA course.

I had to interview with different academies, but no TEFL school can get you a job without you interviwing and doing the leg work, can you? Also EBC gives you the job inetrviews, you have to get the job yourself.

I�ve had no problems looking for work in Madrid and I�m realy surprised at the comment about some academies not thinking highly of EBC, all my job interviwes were quite favorable towards EBC. Again we all interview differently regradless if we came from the same school. By the way, pineapple princess ( , is that really your name?, email me if you need any help and I�ll be more than happy to introduce you to the academies I met thru EBC.

The CELTA bit, sorry I don�t agree with you, to really pursue a long time career in TEFL, you need to do a Masters in TEFL, a CELTA is just like the rest, a 4 week intensive TEFL course.

Of course we will all have our experiences but I think EBC is a good school, and to be fair to John, Jim, Mabel, calling the EBC course a backpackers course is a bit too much. Have you seen and spoken to the staff at the other TEFL schools? I have , that�s why I chose EBC!

PS, Like all of us ex grads, I believe you are welcome to ask them for job leads, but don�t expect them to interview and get the job for you, even CELTA schools can�t do that, can they? By the way, what course did you attend?

Good luck.

Michelle

[Eric Paice]

Hi Pineapple,

A looooong time ago I was taught that getting a job is never easy and you need all the help you can get. No complaints and a big thumbs up to EBC for giving the help. Yes, I still had to go for interviews etc., but EBC did a good job getting my resume to lots of schools. They also give good references as well.

A laptop is (for me anyway) essential and I'm glad EBC gives this advice out before you arrive. Don't understand the running around for photocopying though. When I was there they had a great facility for printing and copying for about 15 bucks. It was cheaper and far more convenient than running around outside looking for copy shops. Although there is an Office Depot right accross. I suppose if 15 bucks is a lot of money, then it's worth shopping around to save a few cents. The thing I liked abut this as well was 1) they were a bit flexible on the 100 page limit (I blew mine by about 20 pages) and 2) they take your info from anywhere, I even use to email them web pages and they'd take the text right out, format it and run the copies. All I had to do was research.

The only time I ever met anyone who mentioned that EBC wasn't CELTA or Trinity was when I was called in for the interview. It was some snooty English guy who said "EBC isn't recognised". I suppose as he was English and CELTA and Trinity are also English he was just being patriotic Don't get fooled by this recognition stuff. Reality is none of them are (except by themselves). Anyway, back to the story, it didn't seem to matter anyway cos he hired me and gave me 10 hours work.

If you want to be a career teacher, get a degree. 4 weeks certs. (CELTA, Trinity, EBC etc.) are a taster. Serious people move on to do MAs, others do it for a while and then change careers or continue from where they left off. I'm still not sure whether I really want to teach for the rest of my life. If I do I'll go back to school and get an MA TESOL, if not I'll rejoin the corporate rat-race. If it's the latter, does that mean I'm a back-packer (hope not, I'm 37). Either way, I have to thank EBC for training me up and helping me get work. They are seriously professional and get the job done.

Can't say anything about Canterbury as I never went there. Shame on you for bad-mouthing them as you didn't go there.

Working papers are a can of worms. A friend of mine who did EBCs course last October is due to get the results of his application in about another 4 months. I decided to leave the can un-opened as I don't plan on staying much more than about 18 months so it's not worth the trouble. With or without papers, legal or illegal, there's work here, it pays fairly well and it pays the same whether your legal or not.

I do have to agree on one thing though, Madrid is a great place.

Drop me an email if you want any advice.

Eric

[michelle ashley]

Something I forgot to mention. One of the academies I went to actually has a TEFL school as well and they train Trinity or CELTA and he was more than happy to offer me a job, an EBC graduate. I asked him why he was not hiring students from his TEFL school and the answer was, EBC graduates are well trained. Ask Jim who this guy is, he knows him because this guy even sent EBC an email saying that he was so glad about EBC because now he has a source of good TEFL teachers.

[Karl Borja]

Hi Pineapple Princess,

I am a recent EBC graduate, what month did you do the course? You see I don�t remember any of my classmates having that name Pineapple Princess so send me a private message or an email and I can let you know my experiences. I work 18 hours, between 3 academies, they pay me 13-15 euros an hour , not all will pay you the same, some will try to lower the rate but that�s business I guess! I went for the lower paying one as well because the classes are right next to my metro stop!

I�m surprised at your experience because at least in my case and that of my friends, we never encountered any of these comments ie: not recognized by academies. On the contrary in my experience I was well received because these schools have been hiring EBC graduates for a time now. Of course you have to interview for the jobs and I�m sure like myself you�ll be working in no time at all. Also you are aware that we are entitled to a lifetime job search help thru EBC, ask them. I made this very clear to them and Jim told me that we can always come in and if we need more help looking for a job they�ll let us have more contacts.

I�m going to be in Madrid for a long time, I hope, so just let me know if you need any info on academies, and who the good guys are, it is true though you have to choose who you work for.

karl

[Jenny Thomas]

Go for the interviews, they won�t come knocking on your door! I�m not going to rave about EBC but that�s because I�m not the raving type . For me I got my money�s worth and I knew even before leaving the States that I had to bring my own laptop, they sent me all these info before I arrived, didn�t you get the same info?

One more thing, I wouldn�t call the EBC course a backpackers course, after knowing and comparing notes with other teachers, they are really a professional bunch at EBC. Have you heard of the TEFL school in Madrid that doesn�t even give a manual and then asks their students to do a "teaching presentational skills" soon after. As my friend said, how will she teach something she hasn�t even learned? Although she added that as far as parties her school was superb! I hope things work out for you because Madrid is great, when do we see the sun? All the rain this past week!


hasta luego,

jenny

[frijolita]

Hello everyone,

I am also looking to do the EBC course but in October. Does anyone know what the job market is like in November in Madrid? Do you think I would have a better shot at finding something by doing the course in Sept and looking for a job in Oct? Any advice would be most welcomed. (I know all about the work visa stuff)

Cheers!

[shannon w]

Oct or November, I don�t think it really matters. There are lots of jobs in Madrid especially during the school year which runs from Sept - last week of June. Companies always hire so basing it from what I saw, it boils down to money or who you think will be a good, stable company. I work for 2 companies now, I used to work for 4 companies and now I earn between 13-16 euros an hour. I average 1000 - 1200 euros a month. Slower in the summer but then after working for 1 whole school year, I want to hit the beaches for a rest!

We Americans will always have this visa, non EU issue in our minds but you know what? almost all the language schools I interviewed with and worked for do not really care. It�s called supply and demand! Spain is one of the countries in the EU with a low level of English. I say this when you comapre them to the other EU members like Belgium, Holland or even Germany.

In Holland it is common to meet people speaking (fluently at that!) 4 or 5 languages, English being the language with the highest fluency second of course to their mother tongue, Dutch.

EBC has a lot of contacts in the language school sector and Nov is a good month to consider because in January right after "Reyes" (Three Kings, the 6th of January) big time hiring takes place. So you can finish your course, even go home or travel a bit during the Christmas Holidays and start the New Year working.

Good luck frijolita! (Cute name )

shannon

[frijolita]

Thanks so much Shannon! That was a very big help. I agree with you it seems like there is always a demand for teachers. I speak and write Spanish fluently so I am hoping that will help me out. It looks like October it is then.

Enjoy your summer! I wish I was at the beach!

Ciao!
Frijolita