Job Discussion Forums

[davea]

I'm leaving for the Peace Corps at the end of May (Cameroon!), and was thinking it could be fun and a great experience to teach English abroad for the first five months of the year. Does anybody know if there are any schools or programs or recruiters who do this? I know the timing may not be opportune, though I know not all schools go to the end of June (like they do where I'm from in the US), so I figured it could possibly work out.

As far as qualifications, I'm afraid I'm not terribly qualified - and for that matter, not necessarily looking for something prestigious or that pays awesome (hah). I have my bachelors in Romance Languages and about four years of teaching arts education (music and acting), so no TEFL experience directly. Am I just barking up the wrong tree or is something possible here?

Thanks!! =)

**edit** I have no real preference for where I would like to go. That being said, I've seen a lot of Europe and speak Spanish and French with near fluency. I also have EU citizenship (dual, American-born).

[nomad soul]

This topic has been discussed in:
"Temporary Teaching Jobs?" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=1087013)
"Are there any short term jobs out there?" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=1008771)
"Best place for short term contracts" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=902096)
"short(ish) term job in Thailand" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=1002176)

Finding short-term teaching work is challenging---timing is an issue and/or employers are expecting a longer commitment. Your lack of experience might be an issue as well.

Frankly, you're heading off to the Peace Corps in spring anyway, so why not just volunteer teach at one of your local non-profit refugee/ESL literacy organizations? It will give you some experience before you head abroad.

[davea]

Thank you! I did do some searching and browsing before making the topic, for some reason none of these showed up for me.

As per the why not volunteer at home thing, honestly I'm just restless here. My date got pushed way back, so I have about seven months now in Connecticut that I never planned to have. It would be really great to do something exciting full-time as opposed to sticking around and just working and volunteering and trying to manage everything back here.

Anywho, thanks =)

[nomad soul]

[MdSmith]

I'm no expert but i know that sometimes people quit during Christmas time (e.g. don't go back to the job) and so there may be vacancies for Jan-May but no guarantees of course. You would probably have to depart at short notice though so keep your eye out late Dec and early Jan...