Job Discussion Forums

[wailing_imam]

Hi,

I am UK citizen, Singapore PR currently teaching EAP at an Australian uni in Singapore.

I have 10 years teaching exp, Trinity DipTESOL and am doing my MA TESOL at the moment.

I am interested in finding work in NZ at a repuatable tertiary institution.

Possible both from the point of view of visas and job availability?

[JosephP]

Have a squiz at the New Zealand Immigration point calculator to see if you qualify for New Zealand permanent residency...

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/pointsindicator/

Being on a work permit would leave you a bit exposed. If you were made redundant you'd be in a real bind with no access to benefits and having to face the possibility of having to leave the country. With PR you could go milk cows or drive a logging truck (maybe) without the hassle of trying to secure sponsorship for a new work permit.

As for getting work in a uni or polytech, start applying. The first term starts sometime in mid-February to early March so you had best get cracking. Auckland will probably be the region with the most opportunity for ESL sort of work (a fair amount of private tertiary school work may be available if you like flogging 'business' courses). The South Island is a tough nut to crack. Since the Christchurch earthquakes, the education sector in the Canterbury region has been seriously struggling.

Oh yeah, good luck. New Zealand, although it certainly has really crappy expensive housing and a few social problems, it is a stunningly beautiful place. Wrap up warm for winter!

[wailing_imam]

Super. Thanks for the advice

[mmcmorrow]

Just reiterating the advice of the last poster to have a look at migration (under the skilled migrant category) if you wish to live and work in NZ. Unless it's changed recently, I think you get up to sixty points for experience and up to 30 points for qualifications. With a Master's and your working record, you should get most of these. Then you need something like 20 - 30 extra points to reach the required level (the exact level varies from time to time). Speaking a community language (pretty much any) will get you five points. You'll also get 5-15 points for age, as long as you're still in your 30's. If you happen to have any hairdressing certificates, you could be right in! Anyway, there's plenty of info on the nz immigration website. The migration process takes from six months to a year or so to complete - depending on complications (e.g. regarding authentication of qualifications, family issues and living abroad - you need to provide a police check form from every country in which you've resided in the last 10 years. For the UK, that takes about a month; for other countries, it's extremely variable - for your sake, I hope you haven't lived in Brazil or Italy, for instance ...).

I don't think you'd get any offer from a tertiary institution without already having permanent residence status in New Zealand. I can't see any of them sponsoring you for a work visa in the current climate, since there are locally available EAP teachers - as well as returnee Kiwis).

With PR in the bag, you can start applying for posts (probably working in a language school in the interim - there's little point in applying from overseas, I think). Essentially, there are two kinds of EAP-related posts within Tertiary Institutions. NZ's 8 Universities (and some of the polytechs) have a small number of credit-bearing EAP courses for non-English-speaking-background (NESB) students. Generally, these are taught by the same academics who also teach courses in applied linguistics or education too and hold PhDs (though they might also use hourly-paid, MA qualified, 'tutors' to deliver some of the teaching, assessment etc. Given the small size of the NZ sector - and the relatively high number of qualified candidates, these posts are quite competitive. I know a recent PhD graduate from Auckland Uni who did very well on her course (publishing together with Rod Ellis in a couple of major international journals), but she has ended up going to Singapore to teach at a Uni there (i.e. tracing the opposite path to you!).

The other EAP courses are taught in the language centres associated with Unis - these include EAP courses and various Foundation courses. Increasingly, as in other countries, these centres are being spun off from the Unis and run on a more commercialised basis. Working there is not really that different from working in a language school. Contracted staff generally hold MAs and/or Diploma qualifications. You can send your CV directly to the centres - the websites of the larger institutions also tend to have a 'vacancies' section. And to get a list of all the tertiary institutions in NZ, you can go to the NZQA website. I put some more info of this type in my other postings about working in NZ.

Another type of Uni post that quite a few ex-TEFL teachers go for is in Learning Support / Development. That's what I do at Massey University - and most of my colleagues come from an EFL background. In my case, I saw the post advertised (initially, it was a six-month contract) in my local freesheet after I'd arrived in Auckland. Our national association is ATLAANZ.

BTW, might be worth taking a trip out here to have a look around before taking the migration plunge?

Best of luck,

Martin McMorrow, Massey University (Albany Campus), New Zealand

[NilSatis82]

Hi,

I was wondering about pre-sessional/pathway EAP courses in NZ. Does EAP demand increase much in the summer months before the academic year starts, like it does in the UK? What about seasonal demand generally in the rest of the sector - is it highest in the NZ summer months or the European/northern hemisphere summer months.

I'm asking as I'm thinking of coming to NZ in about mid-November time to look for work. By then, I will have finished my MA TESOL course and have also got a Diploma, a few years teaching experience in Europe and a couple of pre-sessionals under my belt. If I come, it will be on a 24 month working holiday visa so I would only be looking for temporary positions, which ideally would be enough to live off and save up a bit to do some travelling.

Any thoughts on my prospects? I realise that demand for teachers has been pretty low over the last few years, so I am hoping that if I go at the right time, it might be easier to find work.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[mmcmorrow]

I haven't taught EAP in a uni English language centre, so I don't have any direct information on this. However, I don't think there are many pre-sessional courses in NZ.

Few of the international students at the uni where I work come through the university's own language centre at all. Most of them come in with IELTS 6.0 (undergrad) or 6.5 (postgrad), which they obtained after study elsewhere, either in their own countries or in one of the dozens of private colleges in NZ.

The uni language centre does run a number of programmes, including one year (two semester) or half year (one semester) courses combining academic English with foundational courses in various subjects. Quite a few of the students in these courses are from Saudi Arabia - and these tend to be here on a fairly long-term basis, often studying English for one or two years before entering university. So, I guess that relatively few of these students would be candidates for a short pre-sessional course.

That's about all I know about pre-Uni EAP. You might want to contact the various uni language centres and other schools and colleges in Auckland which offer academic courses (focusing almost entirely on IELTS preparation, unfortunately). The one at Massey is called PACE - I'm happy to pass on your CV if you want.

Martin McMorrow, Centre for Teaching and Learning, Massey University, Albany, NZ

[NilSatis82]

OK, that's useful information to know. Thanks very much for sharing it