Job Discussion Forums

[WhirlwindTobias]

Hey everyone.

First of all I want to apologise if anyone ends up repeating themselves. I've done a fair amount of reading on this forum, learnt much but I work better when I have personal feedback rather than processing a boat load of information all at once (especially when it's conflicting).

This is a long post, but bear with me.

I'm 28 years old, and as a result of having no direction I've been working menially and spending any extra savings (I'm not very frugal when it comes to spending) on mountaineering trips. Lately I've had a wave of ambition on account of approaching 30, and planned on working more hours, saving up some money and then travelling for a long period of time (maybe even working during). I also wanted to pick up pace on my extra-curricular activities, one of these being learning Polish.

As part of my mountaineering pursuits and interest in Polish, I chose to vacation in Zakopane, The Tatra's and Krakow for 2 weeks in October just passed. Thanks to my experience and my newfound friends, I came back a different person. A person with direction. That direction is, as you may guess, Poland.

Now, obviously I have to find employment there. My first options based on an Employment Agent I have as a personal contact were something in HR, Accounting or Sales (as an English speaker, anyway). However I went back there for a second time this Jan, and I met a few English speaking Internationals (and some people married to one) and the general consensus was I should teach English, especially given my "attributes". My attributes being that I have a high level of speaking even for a native, my accent is incredibly clear, and I'm incredibly thorough. In fact I've been told many times in the past I should be a teacher.

So now we come to why I'm here. My current situation:

-No class teaching experience
-No TEFL qualifications
-Not much in way of savings (Not enough for a £1200 TEFL course anyway)
-No idea where to begin (So many options)

I've heard of instances where individuals teach English in Poland without any qualifications, the fact that they were native speakers and could write lesson plans, carry themselves professionally etc was enough. Obviously I'm not expecting the same situation, but it would be pretty awesome to not drop £1200 before getting anywhere.

For the moment I am going to sort out my working situation because at the very least I would like to save up a decent amount of money before moving over, just to tide me by in an emergency.

I'm also starting to teach english on a "formal" basis (Getting clients and offering free lessons for experience), currently over Skype.

What I would like from you guys is feedback.

-Whether these formal lessons are a good idea or if I should be investing my time differently.
-How common it is for native english speakers to get work without a qualification, if at all.
-What kind of course I should be looking at for the future.
-Do I even have a chance in today's market (Hey dragonpiwo haha).
-What are the best resources for job searching, information etc (apart from this place)
-Anything else you have to say. I value all opinions.

Please don't try to convince me on going to Asia instead (I see this a lot here). I have my heart set on Poland and I love the cultures from that part of Europe. Not to mention I have friends in Poland, including a potential girlfriend (Do not comment on this, I am going there for myself first). The integration will also help me with my language goals.

I'm getting really tired of England and I would like to be living in Poland before we roll onto 2016.

Thanks for all your responses,


-Tobias

[nomad soul]

You really need to post this on the Poland forum since that's your target country: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewforum.php?f=19

[santi84]

My advice is somewhat broad as I have never taught in Poland. As you are approaching 30 and admit to a history of working menially without direction, I think you would really be doing a disservice to yourself and of course, your students, without getting bare minimum qualifications. I get that you clearly have your heart set on living life in Poland (and I don't blame you as it is a beautiful place), but remember that your students are investing time and money into your "skills". It's about them, not you. I'm not saying you need to get an MA or anything, it's clear that you work to live and that's fine, but is it really too much to ask for a basic four week course?

I know some native speakers with zero qualifications think they give great lessons but truth be told, they are usually not very good at what they do. Teaching is both an art and a skill - training is highly valuable, and feedback from qualified teachers is critical to improving yourself. If you wish to sustain yourself on private lessons, you'll really want to continuously improve as a teacher.

A lot of people on this planet have great accents and have a high-level of speaking. That doesn't mean they can teach the language well. People who say "you should be a teacher" probably haven't had to sit there and explain to someone the difference between past perfect and present perfect - and then explain and re-explain when someone isn't getting it.

[nomad soul]

Your "qualifications" put you at a huge disadvantage given that you have:

No degree
No CELTA
No TEFL experience
Not much in savings

.

[3701 W.119th]

A friend from my CELTA group is now teaching in Poland. Really enjoys it.

CELTA is the bare minimum you need for a job there, without any experience.

[WhirlwindTobias]

[nomad soul]