Job Discussion Forums

[knautica]

Hi there , can you please advise me about EFL job prospects and pay in Oz or NZ.

I have;

TESOL Cert,
TESOL Diploma,
HND Business Studies,
first degree (Open University UK),
masters degree (MA Education),
PGCE (post compulsory) = equivalent of PGDE.

I�m a director of studies of an EFL Dept. at a UK College of FE and facing possible redundancy. I�ve been teaching for 17 years.

Given my situation, what kind of jobs and salary might I expect Thanks very much for your help.

[Insubordination]

Great qualifications. You are employable. There's not point going into positions & pay because you would find it prohibitively difficult to get a work visa in Australia unless you found a company to sponsor you. It's a catch 22, as you can't legally work here in order to meet an employer willing to sponsor you . If $$ are important to you, I would look at working in an international school in Asia or elsewhere. Do you have any experience with primary/secondary teaching? If so, look into Brunei.

I have noticed that China and even Vietnam sometimes advertise for DoS positions with decent pay. Do a search for the Times Educational Supplement for some ideas on vacancies.

Can't speak for NZ. Perhaps someone else can answer that.

[mmcmorrow]

Here in New Zealand, the employment situation in English language teaching is broadly similar to the UK. A number of experienced teachers have emigrated here and found work, either in the public or private sector. Pay is less than in the UK - I don't have any authoritative figures, but I'd guess it's about 20 - 30% lower. I'm still earning less than I was in London six years ago. You can have a look at what's on offer at Seek, the most popular jobseeking website here.

For information on migrating to New Zealand, take a look at the NZ Immigration website. It's a relatively straightforward process. You can check online if to see if you are likely to qualify on points and then, if you want to go ahead, it should take six months or so, a few hundred pounds and a chest x-ray to get skilled migrant status. I came here through this route in 2005 - I didn't have a job lined up and found my current post in the local freesheet posted through my door, a few weeks after arriving. In the meantime, I'd done a little freelance TEFL teaching in the centre of Auckland. If you have Delta and an MA in ESOL, you'll be in a good position to get work in language schools here. Across the country, there are probably something like 100+ different private schools offering English language courses either exclusively or together with vocational or pre-University courses. Work in Uni language centres etc would also be available, but posts are not abundant right now (partly because the Government has cut funding for domestic students in foundation programmes, so the teachers who used to work on these programmes are being redeployed to any available teaching - eg ESOL classes).

If your PGCE is secondary, you'd also be able to look at teaching in a secondary school here - it might be possible to arrange an exchange etc too - I'm not sure about the procedure. If it's at tertiary level, I guess that avenue wouldn't be open to you here - and I don't think that a PGCE etc is a requirement to teach at tertiary level in NZ. You might find Australia offers more options in migrant education etc for a PGCE-holder, but there you'd run up against a stiffer immigration regime (to give just one example, when I migrated here, the upper age for qualification as a skilled migrant in NZ was 56; in Australia, it was 42).

I think you'd be unlikely to be sponsored by an employer and so I think emigration would be the only route for you to work here. It might seem a bit of a leap in the dark, but, ask yourself this question: what are the chances you'll end up somewhere worse than Hastings?!

Anyway, if you want a comprehensive overview, the NZQA website has a list of schools and colleges in NZ and a lot of other information. There's also some relevant stuff on the Ministry of Education site. The English teachers' association (TESOLANZ) is planning to put a bit more info about careers here on our website, but it's a bit skimpy at the moment. Anyway, good luck with your plans.

Martin McMorrow, Auckland