Job Discussion Forums

[misterwoe]

So I am an American with a BA in English and five years teaching in Greece under my belt. I am just now going for my Celta this July, and I am already applying for jobs in the ME.

Five years of teaching experience is nothing to sneeze at, but how many employers in the ME do you think might frown on all my experience being pre-certification?

Thanks for the help.

[nomad soul]

Here's the deal: Employers view the CELTA and similar TEFL certs as confirmation that you've received a certain level or standard of teacher training (AKA supervised and observed teaching practice with real students) prior to stepping into the classroom. Although you have a half dozen years of experience, there's no way to verify the quality of your teaching over that period of time. Plus, it doesn't help that the position never required a valid TEFL cert.

That's not to say you may not get some credit for those pre-TEFL cert years (depending on the employer and relevance of your experience); it just may not get you the level of salary you expect. Case in point: you vs. an applicant with the same qualifications, yet with experience gained after getting a CELTA. Should you both be paid the same? Moreover, why should an employer hire you over the other person, if at all? This is one of those apply-n-find-out situations because it will be obvious to the employer that your CELTA is brand-spanking new. By the way, you might want to wait until you've actually completed the CELTA before applying for jobs; otherwise, you're jumping the gun and impressing no one.

[scot47]

Dunno about UAE but in KSA it is normal practice to consider only the experience AFTER your last qualification. Crazy ? YES. Remedy ? None !