Job Discussion Forums

mehrlin26 · Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 52 Location: South Korea

I've been thinking about getting out of teaching ESL once I have enough money saved up in a year or two. I was wondering if anybody around here has any experience with that.

Just for context, I tried quitting ESL about ten years ago. I seemed to be making a go of it in another industry. Then a combination of money problems, personal problems, and the great collapse of 2007-2008 scuttled that attempt. Since 2012, I've been back teaching ESL but I can't say it's been getting any easier.

Just wondering, if you or anybody you know has tried to jump ship, where did they end up landing?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I tried, and failed. After a ten-year hiatus went scuttling back to TEFLing and the security of a monthly Saudi paycheque. Now I have retired I often think, "WTF was all that about ?"

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

I work with disabled ESL students in K-12 classrooms. The disabilities range from deafness, ADHD, severe behavioural problems (ODD), and everything else under the sun. It isn't like ESL teaching, but a lot of the skills carry over. I do a lot more report writing and very little lesson planning.

mehrlin26 · Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 52 Location: South Korea

Jeez, Scot47 that's depressing. What other work did you try to jump to?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I thought I could make money writing. In fact I survived with the help of family and friends while doing jobs that are not appropriate for a gentleman !

My big chance to get back to TEFLing came when Saddam invaded Kuwait. No one wanted to go the Middle East. I put my hand up and said, "I can do that !" and so it went.

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

I left EFL *for good* nearly two years ago after about eight years of working in teaching and education abroad. It's been pretty difficult; I'm over $150k in the red in opportunity cost and cost of additional training for breaking into a new field. Plus I have moved constantly in order to accept internships and jobs wherever they're offered. I have been successful in making the transition, but still am not fully settled in my new field.

Barring vast amounts of luck and/or charisma, it would appear to take 2-4 years of concentrated effort to break into a new field from TEFL. I began fully focusing on my career transition around December, 2012 while I was still teaching. During that last year of TEFL I began studying my MA, full time, in my new field, which was quite the challenge.

In the heat of the moment · Joined: 22 May 2015 Posts: 393 Location: Italy

Why try to get into another industry now? Is there another which offers;

1. Exotic places to live in!
2. The chance to work with engaged, intellectually curious young people!!
3. A life free from the hassles of the modern day, industrialised cities!!!
4. An escape from the drudgery of the commute!!!!
5. A job where you receive a great salary, competitive benefits and meet people from all over the world!!!!!
6. World-class teacher development programs!!!!!!
7. A workplace with a sense of adventure and community!!!!!!!
8. A great opportunity to learn a new language!!!!!!!!
9. A fantastic way to live overseas and get paid to travel the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Xie Lin · Joined: 21 Oct 2011 Posts: 731