Job Discussion Forums

[Chris_Crossley]

During my three years here in China, I have been occasionally asked to examine the resume of a would-be expat teacher. As with any application for a job, presentation is all important. It is true that applying to a school to teach EFL is not the same as applying to a top merchant bank, yet presentation counts a lot, depending upon who sees the resume.

Of course, we are not all mind readers. We cannot possibly guess what is in the mind of the person who looks at an applicant's resume. On the other hand, it is well to realise that a resume that is badly typed or badly spelled will do more to ensure that it is put in the waste bin and thus not given any further consideration. You are, after all, not the only one who wants the job, are you? There is always competition.

If one is serious about a career in teaching, then one must make sure that one's spelling is up to scratch. Can you imagine the impact on students and their parents (if the students are young learners) if they are, for example, given handouts in class, only to find that a lot of words have been misspelled?

Remember, lots of students nowadays do carry around electronic dictionaries, and misspellings of common words will not only confuse students, but they may also cause students to question whether or not one is a native speaker of English, since they undoubtedly expect their teacher's spelling to be absolutely perfect every time. (Not that this necessarily happens, though! )

Courses in teaching English as a foreign language, like the Trinity Certificate in TESOL, would undoubtedly have elements concerning writing and spelling, since they are usually open to non-native speakers of English as well as native speakers. Hence, they can not only give a would-be teacher the start needed to become an effective teacher (with experience itself being even more valuable, of course), they may also help introduce some good habits that they can pass on to their students, including the checking of the spelling of any words that they have doubts about.

It is understandable that one may be sure that one might not want to undertake a particular career for years and years before one has even started it, because, for a young 20-something, the age of 40 can still seem a lifetime away (but, for me, it is less than eight months away!!!). Yet who is to know? One may decide to teach EFL for a year and then end up doing it for many years.

I know that teaching is my career, but I also know that being in China gives me the flexibility I need to move from sector to sector, from age group to age group. I have taught both adults and children at a private school full-time and have taught children at a public primary school (including some kindergarten classes) full-time. Soon, I will start teaching Chinese graduates who want to go abroad (to the UK, principally) to study for a master's degree, so my job will be to make sure that their English-language and study skills must be up to the standard required for graduate school.

Hence, in my case, I can say that I do not want to remain in exactly the same kind of job teaching the same kind of people for years. I like the idea of being an "all-rounder", gaining experience of different kinds of teaching.

[Chad]

I really appreciate all the advice, and yet again thank a lot of you. What I don't appreciate is being flamed for my spelling skills.

Just want to remind you that I'm not an English Teacher, and this is not a resume. I'm a not-even 19 year old High school graduate.

I know a lot of you would appreciate if I were to use perfect English spelling and grammar. I do understand the importance of it, but its rather insulting to remind someone of some typos (which I do quite often where I'm at with the damn Argentine keyboard that I'm not quite familiar with). If I did take the time to proof read and spell check, I'm comfident I wouldn't have received the comments I got. Whether you think its just, it was not exactly polite and it was rather rude. Not to mention, totally off topic.

Now please, lets stop flaming, criticizing, and insulting the "baby".

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On another note:

[Amy-Marie]

Chad, first off I think its great that you have already sparked an interest in ESL. Secondly, if you are interested in Teaching as a career, (I am assuming you mean teaching in general not just teaching ESL), then you should consider taking a degree in a teachable subject i.e. math, science, English and so on. You could also consider taking your Bachelor of Education. Good Luck.

[Chad]

This is turing out to be a lot more difficult than when I started. i thought there might be easier answers, but now I have even more choices to make.

I suppose I have the answers I was looking for though, I'll keep in touch with any future plans. Thanks a lot!

[Chris_Crossley]

The URL address below refers to something I wrote just a few minutes ago.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?p=195941&highlight=#195941

I do hope it helps reinforce whatever you decide to do, Chad. Teaching ESL, if you truly want to make it a career, is something that ought not to be taken lightly, yet it can be very rewarding, as I have found out during my three years here in China in spite of the inevitable ups and downs that one can encounter in this "profession".