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EFL agencies for London?
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Surrey100



Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 28
Location: UK

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 5:27 pm    Post subject: EFL agencies for London? Reply with quote

I want to work in LOndon for a while before going abroad. I have a BA degree and TESOL certificate. Are there any recruitment agencies for London supplying english teachers to the hoards of langauge schools in London? I haven't found any yet (all are for abroad) and I doubt english teachers look up and phone every school iin LOndon before getting a job. If you know of any agencies please could you list them. Also what good websites are there for London jobs. Thanks Very Happy
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stillnosheep



Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe

PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

London schools don't seem to use agencies. They do however sometimes adbvertise in EFL News/EFL Gazette or whatever the papers are called. Also the occasional job ad in the media section of the Monday Guardian.

Try making a websearch for London EFL schools to get their sites and email addresses followed by emailing your CV and a letter of interest to those that you are interested in asking whether they have any vacancies, if they will keep your CV on file for the future etc.
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Surrey100



Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 28
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stillnosheep wrote:
London schools don't seem to use agencies.


Seems totally insane having to ring up / email every school in London. For my previous profession I just signed up with several recruitment consultancies, they did the looking and that was it. Does anybody browsing through this post know of any comprehensive list anywhere on the web that lists all EFL schools in London?
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SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From what I can gather EFL in London is rarely a profession; more temporary work before people move on elsewhere....
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dmb



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397

PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Also the occasional job ad in the media section of the Monday Guardian.
I think it's a Tuesday. Also the online guardian's TEFL section ın the Education section
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Mark Loyd



Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 517

PostPosted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not insane at all. TEFL is so low pay that the so called schools will not pay agency fees. Why should they when they get TEFLers doorknocking all day long.
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stillnosheep



Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe

PostPosted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dmb wrote:
I think it's a Tuesday. Also the online guardian's TEFL section is ın the Education section

Absolutely correct. In the paper Monday is Media jobs; Tuesday is Education (including EFL).

If you are in the UK go to your local library and look up the job ads in the trade papers (and the Tuesday Guardian). If you are in London go to your local EFL bookshop and do the same (and ask for advice). You may wonder why you cannot just check into an agency; the reason is that the local schools don't use them.
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SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Outside London you'll tend to find that colleges often advertise in _local_ papers. This includes FE colleges, and is a reflection that the jobs are poorly paid (private schools) or only offering limited hours (the FE colleges). No point in them advertising nationally as nobody is going to move for such a job. You do see nationally advertised jobs in The Guardian (for example) but they tend to be serious, full-time, long-term commitment type posts.
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London10



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 3:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mark Loyd wrote:
TEFL is so low pay that the so called schools will not pay agency fees.


I would just like to say I find it disgraceful how low paid EFL teachers are in London. When you think of the skills involved in teaching plus you need certification (even if virtually fail proof) then at then end of it we get paid less then the secretaries in the school, who don't even have A-Levels, or the same as a shelf stacker in Sainsbury�s who left school with 2 GCSE's. Stupidly I had no idea of the wages in EFL in London when I changed jobs and did my TESOL course so took nearly a �5'000 wage cut when I became an efl teacher. Doesn't matter too much though as I never wanted to work or live permanently in UK and wages are quite good overseas where I wish to work relative to local salaries so I'll actually have quite a good life.
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SandyM



Joined: 05 Feb 2005
Posts: 114
Location: Here, there, and everywhere...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear London10, you're right about many things there, namely the extraordinarily low pay (and status) accorded to the despised EFL teacher in the UK. However, you won't really be doing yourself any favours by going abroad, as you'll only be well-off in the countries that are not so popular with TEFLers, and even then, it's only on terms relative with the locals.

Foe example, Spain is stuffed full of Teflers, as are certain other Mediterranean destinations, so the employers just offer the minimum (excess of supply leads to a fall in price - simple economics!). And while you might be earning apparent shedloads in Lithuania, it's all relative - you might be earning five times the local salary for a teacher, but it's still not a big deal, and leaves little left for saving (think: mortgage? pension?).

If you do decide to get properly qualified (Diploma or MA, PGCE), then you'll need to head for the Gulf or Japan to make a proper living. Even so, when you get back to the UK (and we all return at some point), you're back at square1 again.

The moral is: enjoy your stay abroad, but as soon as you get back to the UK, find yourself a proper job/career!
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SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not sure we're actually despised but whether it's supply and demand or just the acceptance of poor pay by the teachers I don't know. I know that in my own case I put a bit of effort into my teaching but I'm able to take a take-it-or-leave-it attitude in terms of pay or hours.

The alternative to finding a decent career after you finish with TEFL is to take the opposite trajectory. I was in corporate IT (rather unsuccessfully) and escaped after establishing my place in the property market.

I enjoy teaching but don't think I could put in 25 contact hours a week, especially in the bureaucracy that is FE.
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London10



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks SandiM for the advice. I am only pursuing being an EFL teacher because I made teh decision that I shan't return to teh UK and one can have a relatively good life in some countires if one permanently settles there - plus I enjoy teaching of course. (S.KOrea, CHina, Vietnam to name a few). If I did decide later to work in / return to the UK I would do a PGCE and teach in a secondary school. By the way, what is an FE?
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SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FE - Further Education. Post-compulsory education, often with a vocational bias, and in the context of this list, often dealing with basic skills ("Skills for Life") which includes ESOL.
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Russell Hadd



Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 181

PostPosted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SandyM wrote:
when you get back to the UK (and we all return at some point), you're back at square1 again.

The moral is: enjoy your stay abroad, but as soon as you get back to the UK, find yourself a proper job/career!


It depends - there are positions in HE too which aren't too bad. Most of the work is temporary and in the Summer but there are people who come home for the Summer and eventually find long term contracts or permanent work. Anyone who is on Senior Lecturer grade will be on over �30,000.

Unfortunately, for those in England and Wales the new Framework Agreement may mean that EFL & EAP teachers will no longer be able to progress on to SL and some people may be faced with the prospect of being downgraded. Having said that there have been plenty of positions advertised recently (e.g. Staffs & York) which have offered L or SL. The situation in Scotland is different but opportunities certainly arise in Glasgow.
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ash



Joined: 11 Jul 2004
Posts: 125
Location: Oz

PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is, from what I hear, so much demand for ESL in UK schools, but none of the agencies I've approached recognise it as a subject area. It's crazy. It's not lucrative & hence not high on political agendas either in terms of curriculum. I'm beginning to believe it is a very dodgy industry attracting lots of bogus practitioners.

I'm now attending interviews for UK secondary school supply & contract work, and offering English and music as teaching areas (though I haven't studied these areas of curriculum as part of my formal teacher training, only undergrad) because ESL and Indonesian aren't 'relevant'. I get it that Indonesian isn't in demand, but ESL???

Russell, tell us where these ads are (if not in the publications already discussed). And what is 'L or SL'? Tell us more about positions in York...
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