Job Discussion Forums

[dekkard]

(I'm aware this is a broad question and apologies if this has recently been answered in another thread but I couldn't find it.)

I'm British and have the CELTA qualification. Almost 6 years experience teaching mostly adults ESL in Japan and China. I plan to do a PGCE in the UK in 2017.

Which European countries are currently good prospects in terms of jobs/demand for teachers, and reasonable pay (i.e. can break-even or even save a little!)

Also, can anyone recommend useful websites where EU jobs are advertised? I don't see many jobs here on this site.

[spiral78]

I've been teaching in Europe since 1998 and work with partner institutions across the region.

Europe is apples and oranges to Asia in terms of the EFL market. Even with your prior adult teaching experience, you are likely to find European adults far more demanding and critical - they will want tangible meat in return for their time and energy. Further bad news: European employers won't be particularly interested in your Asia experience as it's well-known to be a very different context in terms of student expectations, motivation, and teaching criteria.

University jobs are rare and usually require related MA+, so your most likely 'in' will be private language schools catering to businesspeople during their office hours and possibly some after school kiddie classes.

Jobs are rarely found from abroad in the European job market; this is why you don't see adverts.

There are generally plenty of teachers around ready to interview in person and it's just not necessary for a school to take a chance on someone sight-unseen. The better jobs (schedules/pay/etc) go to teachers with local rep and contacts, so expect to pay some dues to find these.

Also, this isn't the hiring period. Most contracts are Sept/Oct thru June, and as you may be aware, Europeans take summer holidays pretty seriously. Come over at the end of August, first of September, pick a city, and beat the pavements with your CV in hand. You'll find something.

In terms of pay, consider the economies. Southern Europe is quite a lot weaker economically than the north, so pay is clearly tighter. Luxembourg used to be a fairly reasonable destination in terms of pay, but it's tiny and the weather is London-style so not the most desirable necessarily. Belgium pays peanuts, Netherlands employs mostly qualified Dutch English teachers. Italy, Spain, France all do-able but don't expect to find anything reasonable from abroad (you might but highly unlikely). Germany can be ok but it takes time to find the jobs. Central Europe is easy to get into at the right time of year but pay is marginal until you develop local contacts.

What countries interest you? We can give better/more specific advice with more info.

[dekkard]

Thank you for commenting - very useful.

I'll finish my contract here in China in June so the timing you mention suits me.

In terms of countries, I'm still thinking about it but the company/school's reputation, working hours and teaching materials are more important than location really so I'm open-minded.

Also, in terms of contract start/end dates, do the dates you mention (Sept to June) apply to all types of language school?

[spiral78]

Yes, Sept - June is true for most language schools. There are some summer camp gigs that float July/August but these usually go to teachers who are locally known.


The private language schools where you are most likely to start out are generally quite similar. Working hours will correspond to their client's schedules. Typically, teachers start early (before the working day begins) and/OR finish late (after working hours) with a break in the afternoon (the dreaded split shift is fairly usual). Teaching materials will normally consist of a stack of popular publications which you'll have freedom to use as you like, so long as the clients are happy. Keep in mind that quite a lot of your classes are likely to be held in your student's offices so there is travel daily - you'll want to ask clear questions about how much and whether travel passes are paid for by your employer.

The exceptions are the 'method' schools like Berlitz and Callan, where prep is limited, but these are bottom feeder schools in terms of pay and reputation because qualifications are not needed to teach in them. Lots of turnover and does not look good on one's CV.

You might want to try to get in at a franchise school like International House or something along the lines of the BC, where there are sometimes transfer opportunities across countries, but the conditions in the first paragraph above are still the norm in these contexts.

I realize that none of this sounds wildly appealing, but Europe is a highly desired location for huge numbers of EFL teachers (many with stronger quals than yours) and it is thus an employers' market.

There are 'better' gigs around but they really do require local rep, contacts, and language skills to work into. Sticking around long-term can pay off, but I'm describing general entry-into-this-market contexts here.

[desertdawg]

A good job site is tefl.com. I got reasonable jobs in Italy and Germany. You can apply from home and have a job set up before you arrive.

Being on the ground without a job and long term accommodation would be scary for me. Although you would have the opportunity to check out employers and locations.

Good luck

[johncoan]

[dekkard]

Setting the parameters to 'last week' sounds like a good idea. I'll try that - thanks.