Job Discussion Forums

[SamanthaF]

Hello everyone!

I need some serious help.
First, I�d like to tell you about my situation and then pose my questions.

I�m a recent college graduate; I have a B.S. in Psychology with a Sociology minor. I�m currently working a �9-5� in a university doing administrative work with international students. Back before I graduated, I was really interested in teaching English overseas. I thought that I could possibly work with EF English first because when I was 16 I took a tour throughout Europe with them and found that they also had English schools. That was my fist introduction to teaching English overseas and I�ve now come to know there are hundreds of companies and private institutions to work with.

I am a U.S. citizen, with both parents from foreign countries. My mother is from Mexico and my father is from Jordan. I speak/understand conversational Spanish, and almost no Arabic. Both of my parents were learning English when I was growing up, so very broken English was really the only language spoken in our home. As a result of both of my �alien� parents, haha, I am really quite good with ESL speakers and understanding their meaning when communicating. I�ve helped both of my parents (coming from different languages/grammar structures) improve their English. I am by no means a miracle worker, but I would say that I have a talent working with ESL speakers. I have no formal training, and have never taken any type of TEFL certification.

Now, I live with a roommate/best friend and my cousin on my mother�s side. My roommate and I earned our Bachelor degrees together. She was someone who I spoke to about teaching English for a long time and she became really interested. We knew that we would need Bachelor degrees to be more desirable employees, so we focused on graduating. She has no certification.

My cousin is fully Mexican. She is fluent in Spanish and is also a first-generation American who was raised around broken English. She does not have a college degree and no certification.

So, recently we have all been discussing going as a group overseas to teach English. We were thinking Asia because of the lower qualifications.

What country/countries would be a good fit?
We�re aware we�d do quite well in South America, but the financial aspect is concerning.

Would my cousin be able to find a job because she does not have a Bachelor�s degree?

We have approximately a year before our lease is up and we are free to leave. In that time, should we seek certification?

What are some reputable companies we should research to work for?

I am 22, my roommate is 24, and my cousin is 22. Would our ages hinder our employment?

I�m new to this website, and plan on extensively reading other people�s posts for more information. I just thought this post would at least point me in the proper direction for further research.
I�m pretty aware that it will be quite difficult to find a teaching situation to accommodate all of us, but it is our little pipe dream. Any advice would be welcomed, and thanks for your time!

[nomad soul]

[SamanthaF]

My cousin has an American passport. We all do.

Actually, and I'm not sure this is important, but I have dual citizenship (don't ask me how or why) with Jordan. Is that important? It doesn't state that on any of my American documents like passport.

[nomad soul]

You have a Jordanian passport because of your dad. However, stick to using your US passport since it confirms nationality from an English-speaking country.

As for teaching opportunities in which all three of you qualify for, you'd be looking at where you can (legally) teach without a degree due to your cousin's lack of academic credentials. There are threads in this forum about where to teach sans a BA (usually Asia), but be aware these jobs are shrinking as more employers and/or country visa regulations are starting to require a degree. Don't expect to earn much, but maybe the three of you can find ways to pool your resources.

Although others on this forum may disagree, I suggest you all get a valid TEFL cert even if one is not needed for the position. CELTA is seen as the international standard; however, there are some acceptable, generic TEFL cert programs that provide the desired 120 hours of in-class training and include supervised practice teaching with real students. You can certainly consider getting your CELTA/TEFL cert training in your target country.

[tttompatz]

With US passports and degrees you can work legally in all of Asia.

Your "friend" who does not have a US passport nor a degree cannot "legally" work (with proper visa, work/residence permits, etc) in East Asia because of her passport and, more importantly, her lack of a degree.
West Asia / Eastern Europe is another kettle of fish.

There are LOTS of dodgy agencies who will tell you otherwise; that all you need to do is take "their" TEFL course and you can teach everywhere. It is NOT true. Caveat Emptor. If you look at some TEFL course providers website and it looks more like a travel brochure then stay away.

.

[SamanthaF]

Thank you for your responses.

My cousin does not have a degree, but DOES have a U.S. passport.

What countries/ agencies should we be looking into to see if they'd take all of us?

Is it even feasible to plan on going as a group and teaching at the same school/area?

This is what I've been considering....http://www.englishfirst.com/trt/job-offer-teacher-indonesia.html

Any more advice/thoughts/opinions?

[tttompatz]

[SamanthaF]

Ok, so if my cousin were to do her plan B, move to our Grandfather's home in Mexico and live there while my best friend and I went overseas, what would our chances of being hired be?

We both have Bachelor's degrees and no certification. Would EF be a good company to work for? Are there any other companies/programs we should consider?

Thanks!

[nomad soul]

[tttompatz]

[SamanthaF]

Thank y'all for your responses.

I know what I need to look into now.

Thanks again!