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Best place for over, 50 year olds, to find a job?

 
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52skidoo



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 32
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:47 pm    Post subject: Best place for over, 50 year olds, to find a job? Reply with quote

Using average credentials of a BA, a TEFL and 25 years of TEFL experience, where would you say the best opportunities are for finding work for someone over 50 years old? Thank you for your ideas and opinions.
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nomad soul



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

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would say your age isn't much of an issue for most countries and teaching situations (unless your target is teaching energetic youngsters). Lots of teachers in their 50s find work; it's those in their 60s that seem to hit some roadblocks. Pick a country you're interested in and apply for those positions that match your qualifications. If you're concerned about appearing old or dated on your CV/resume, you might be able to indicate just the past 10 or 15 years of your teaching experience, especially if that time was with different employers.
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voltaire



Joined: 03 Dec 2006
Posts: 179
Location: 'The secret of being boring is to say everything.'

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow.. .I could have written either one of the above posts. Nomad Soul is right Skidoo. And fifty-something isn't that old. You will know from being in Taiwan that many Asian cultures appreciate an elder as a teacher, even expect it. The same holds true for the Middle East, and I think even Americans, such as I am, are comfortable, maybe even more comfortable with an old fart rather than a young stud instructing them.

It will be up to those reviewing C.V.s to read carefully enough to glean your age, and if in their august judgment your age is a problem, then they should not respond to your inquiry.

And yes, what sort of fifty year-old wants to teach energetic youngsters, as admirable as such little critters are? Let the rookies pay their dues wiping noses and possibly bums, and we seniors can get on with the teaching.
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7969



Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're not nearly into your 60s then China is an option. But once you're pushing 59 and over then it's unlikely anyone will hire you (there are always exceptions however).
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was about your age when I went to Russia as a comparative newbie. So I think your chances would be quite good there. On the whole, however, I think you should look at where you would like to teach and then see how realistic it is. (I guess western Europe would be more problematic, but I think that this is so in general.)
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52skidoo



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 32
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all your post. When I was in my 20s, 30s, to mid 40s, it seemed like every job I applied for I got an immediate positive answer and I traveled quite a bit. For the past 5 years I have just been teaching private classes and doing well, not interested in even applying for buxiban jobs. But then I became restless and wanted to travel and see the world again instead of staying in one place so long (10 years in Taiwan). So I started applying for jobs again. This year I sat down and made a daily effort to apply for over 100 jobs in various places. I got a lot of offers from China but some said it would be better to return to America and get a z visa and that they couldn't guarantee a real visa, others said come on over we can work it out somehow, but I didn't want to take the chance and going back to America to get a z visa is not possible due to financial considerations. I got one interview in Taiwan, but it seems here tha there are so many young people applying for the same job that it didn't pan out. I got one offer in Mandalay, with an international school, I was in the first week of training and there was a death in the family back in Taiwan, so I chose to come back to my "second home" country and take care of my family. Korea seems to want people coming out of the states. I have been applying for middle east jobs for years with only a few interested schools but it never panned out. No answers from Thailand this year at all. No answers from Vietnam this year either. Of course Europe , most places require an EU passport. I got one serious offer to work in Jakarta out of about 20 applications but the job only payed about 850 USD. Now I am back to applying for anything and everything here or abroad, schools, private tutoring classes on TEALIT. Com and nothing seems available. I have tried the strategy of changing my resume and it helped a little, got more responses, but still no job. So I have taken to writing short stories, applying for jobs and puttering around the house. Again, thanks for your ideas and support .
I wrote to a company that guaranteed jobs in six months if you payed them 20 dollars and they turned me down without even knowing my credentials and passed me off to some other company that could guarantee me a job in Chile, for a 100 dollar fee. I would love to go to Chili but it's so expensive for the flight.
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How sure are you about these people who want money up front? This sort of set-up is usually a scam.
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nomad soul



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

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

52skidoo wrote:
For the past 5 years I have just been teaching private classes and doing well, not interested in even applying for buxiban jobs.

I got a lot of offers from China but some said it would be better to return to America and get a z visa and that they couldn't guarantee a real visa, others said come on over we can work it out somehow, but I didn't want to take the chance and going back to America to get a z visa is not possible due to financial considerations.

I got one interview in Taiwan, but it seems here tha there are so many young people applying for the same job that it didn't pan out.

I got one offer in Mandalay, with an international school, I was in the first week of training and there was a death in the family back in Taiwan, so I chose to come back to my "second home" country and take care of my family.

Korea seems to want people coming out of the states.

I have been applying for middle east jobs for years with only a few interested schools but it never panned out.

No answers from Thailand this year at all. No answers from Vietnam this year either.

I got one serious offer to work in Jkarta out of about 20 applications but the job only payed about 850 USD.

Now I am back to applying for anything and everything here or abroad, schools, private tutoring classes on TEALIT.Com and nothing seems available.

I wrote to a company that guaranteed jobs in six months if you payed them 20 dollars and they turned me down without even knowing my credentials and passed me off to some other company that could guarantee me a job in Chile, for a 100 dollar fee. I would love to go to Chili but it's so expensive for the flight.

I have tried the strategy of changing my resume and it helped a little, got more responses, but still no job.

There seems to be a pattern here. You seem to be reluctant to return to the US for visa purposes and therefore, you're limiting your pool of possible teaching gigs. Also, if you've been teaching private lessons, as opposed to general classroom teaching, that's very likely turning off some potential employers. But I suspect it's something with your cover letter and resume/CV---your teaching experience and how you present it and your skills---that's keeping you from getting nibbles from employers.
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52skidoo



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 32
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks cole, even seasoned teachers fall for scams occasionally. I checked them out thoroughly, and probably won't go with anything like recruiters, etc.
Thanks nomad, I am reluctant to return to the states, I have no more family there and no money. I saved and scraped for a year to get to Mandalay but there was a death in the family so I chose to return.
I think you are right about the resume/CV. Being out of circulation doesn't help. Will keep trying. Thanks for the ideas and support. Sooner or later there might be someone who fits with what I need and what they need. It's just frustrating after years of being accepted immediately for anything I applied for and getting it that makes this hiatus unbearable. That sense of freedom and adventure, and being able to turn my life around, get a new start under foreign skies, the novelty of change which leads to excitement seems to be giving me a pass these days, hah!
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tttompatz



Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seriously... If you have a degree, TEFL cert and an American passport then you qualify for just about every entry level EFL job in Asia.

China and Korea typically recruit from abroad.
You can get a "Z" visa in Hiong Kong without the need to return to the US.
You can get an E2 in any country that has a Korean consulate. Korea and Japan are a bit of a tight market at this time but jobs are there if you persevere.

For most of the rest of SE Asia jobs are a boots on the ground sort of thing and you won't find much on the internet other than leads and no-body is going to pay the airfare for an entry level job.

At that point (when you are "in-country") it is about the timing. Busiest times for recruitment, although it does vary a bit from country to country, are in the spring (Jan - May) for starts in mainstream schools and the largest uptake in private academies (like buxibans).

In almost all cases you are going to re-start near the bottom of the ladder at the entry level again (25 years "out of the country", "not in the classroom" experience won't get you far) BUT if you are any good in the classroom you will quickly find opportunities for extra income or that advancement into better positions will fall into your lap.

Pick a country and hit the ground running.
Timing, resume and cover letter (the thing that gets their attention) only get you to the door. What you do after that is up to you.

.
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52skidoo



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 32
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks tttom,
Good info. Last year during Chinese new year I went to Chiang Mai, Thailand thinking I might find a job while taking my vacation. Itching the problem was I got there too early. Lots of schools were closed or half operating. I had two interviews that I thought went very well. I probably would have landed a job in The big mango but I have worked there before. Loved it, but just too hot most of the year. About getting a Z visa in HK, I did tons of research, and it seems different if you are coming out of Taiwan. Schools said they might or might not do it for you just depends on how the guy felt that day, and that the only legal way to do It out of Taiwan is to send my passport to China to the ministry of interiors to get an extended tourist visa then change it later by taking a trip to HK, one school said they would do that, but it wasn't my first choice and not such a great offer. Thanks for the info on the Korean consulate thing, no one has told me that yet. Ten years of my ESL experience was teaching at a university in the USA, so I have been out of my home country for 15 years, still that's quite a while. I feel in better spirits today because I got a job teaching high school on Saturday mornings this semester, and I got an email reply for a private class, three times a week. Still, I would like to get out of Taiwan and I don't mind starting at the bottom again and I don't mind paying the flight to SE Asia, doesn't cost a whole lot out of Taipei.nthanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.
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