Job Discussion Forums

[ellethecat]

i found this information quite useful. I myself am int toronto looking at global or a course by hansa. (price is a consideration for em.) but its good to know that global is popular.

[NRM]

Like the guy said ... CELTA is like Coka Cola ... it's very well known. That does not mean that other tefl certs are not as good (or even better).

I did the CTEFLA 16 years ago and I was happy with it. If I had the choice again I'd for the CTEFLA again - because it's SO well known. However, if money were a factor, or if I were teaching in a country which was not as bloody minded about BRITISH qualifications, I'd go for the VIA LINGUA or something.

Our school runs VIA LINGUA courses and we recruited 2 people immediately, 1 person part time (her choice) and another is doing her paperwork to come to Europe (from the US) next year to work with us.

The trainees were very happy with the course - and as a school, we are VERY happy about the quality of the new recruits!

[Chris_Crossley]

[Justin Trullinger]

I have the Trinity College (London) TESOL certificate, and I must say I'm pretty satisfied with my teaching abilities...

Bu seriously, for me, the course content of the Trinity cert is pretty much the same as the CELTA, and the organisation equally reputable. There really isn't much to choose between them. What I like about both is how well controlled they are- there really doesn't seem to be as much center to center variation as there can be with unknown certificates.

Justin

[Cdaniels]

This thread is aging a bit, and the topic seems to have been revisited a few times, but the OP mentioned "conditional employment" as part of the program. Isn't there a conflict of interest here? What's to keep a school from rushing a student through a program and dumping him/her into the first opening that comes along? I can understand CELTA vs Trinity vs anything else may not be an issue. I was looking into a combined training/teaching program myself recently, but decided it was too risky. For the relatively small extra amount, it seems worthwhile to get a big name cert, doesn't it? Would anyone like to rate their experience with combined cert+job programs?

[Guy Courchesne]

[Justin Trullinger]

Thanks Guy, from one who will soon have to send people into such placements for a living.

But what do you do if you get a participant who is frankly incompetent? I haven't run into this yet, and am hoping to avoid it through fairly stringent selection procedures, but it could happen. And many organisations have pretty open ended "job placement guarantees." I've often wondered what they do if they find themselves having to assist in the placement of someone they would rather not work with. Any suggestions?

Regards,
Justin

[Guy Courchesne]

If you read the fine print carefully, you'll see that job placement guarantees often amount to this...'if you get back 30 rejection letters from the list of schoos we gave you within one year, you'll be refunded the course fee." A lot of headaches in my book. Many course providers are more interested in high enrolment than in screening candidates. $$$

JT, if it's going to be your job, then get to know the DOSes out there...get to know them well. You'll get a good feel for what a school needs and from your experience teaching abroad and the program work you'll do, you'll get to know what program participants want. Matching those needs gets easier over time.

I'm not sure what the entrance reqs will be to the program you'll run, but if you can be selective and get a lot of information at the outset, you shouldn't be getting people into the program who can't handle it. In just over 4 years, I've had only two people who outright could not handle the course work and miserably failed the course. The first knew it, but she was traveling with a friend who did brilliantly in the course...went to Chile both of them. As she failed the course, we told her that we would have great difficulty placing her, which she accepted. Her friend we placed easily. However, she was still able to get a teaching job in Santiago from a list of schools we suggested she could contact, sans certificate.

[Chris_Crossley]

[Justin Trullinger]

Thanks Guy-
We'll be handling some recruitment on our own, and there, I can be as selective as I see fit- most of the applicants so far look good on paper, though.

What made me nervous is that some of our recruitment will be through organisations in other countries, and I won't have a lot of say. That said, what made me willing to enter into this situation is a knowledge of the local market. I know the local schools and institutes pretty well, and hope I'll be able to make a good teacher/job match in most cases. But I will admit to also knowing a few local schools who will hire ANYBODY, and I really mean anybody. These are the ones I'm counting on when things get really tough.

Regards,
JT

[Guy Courchesne]

Remember that ELF story I posted? That would be my worst nightmare for placement...

Would you ask for any kind of sample lesson design as part of the application process?

[Justin Trullinger]

Probably not specifically, as the initial application process is taking place before the TESOL course. But as we'll be doing the TESOL course in house, I imagine I'll have a chance (erm, requirement, actually) to observe them teaching before trying to send them out into the big world.

With regards to the child molester nightmare, we do have a clause that allows "conduct related" termination of all obligations. (Defined as anything breaching local law, professional conduct, or "moral turpitude.") Hope I never have to use it, but...

Regards,
Justin

[Guy Courchesne]

[Aramas]

[flax]

the cheapest CELTAs i've heard of are in Brazil:

$800 + $140 registration fee in Recife, Brazil.

There are other courses in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janiero but I haven't been in contact with their schools so I can't give a quoted price.