Job Discussion Forums

[weejay]

I'm 26 with a Trinity TESOL certificate and two years experience teaching English in Prague. I'm tired of living here now and have saved up enough to move to Asia to try teaching there and generally experience living in a different continent. I have enough to afford a ticket there and setup costs but not a lot more, so I'd prefer to get a job before I leave rather than find myself stranded somewhere without a job or a route home.
I would really like to work in Japan but keep coming up against one particular problem - I never finished my university degree. Why this should matter when I have the Trinity certificate and two years experience is a mystery to me, especially as the degree was in "film studies" and bears no relevance to the job. Is this a strict rule? Is there any way round this at all? Should I give up on Japan for now and apply elsewhere?
If the answer is the latter then where would you reccomend? I am interested in working in China but (understandably) can't find any information I can trust about jobs there. Thailand would be interesting too, though I imagine they are as swamped with ESL teachers as we are here in Prague. As for South Korea and Taiwan, they weren't at the top of my list but I've been quoted some astromonical (compared to the Czech Republic) salary figures and just want to know how much truth there is in this.
Also if you have any general advice for me I'd be more than interested.

[Glenski]

What's your nationality, weejay? If it's American, you are sadly out of luck in Japan. Despite your TESOL certificate and work experience, you are not qualified for a work visa in the eyes of immigration. You need either a bachelor's degree or one more year of work experience. Even most employers want to see a bachelor's degree just to prove to them that you have some measure of higher education.

Moreover, if you are still in Prague, don't expect anyone in Japan to hire you. How can they interview you? What is their assurance that you won't use them for visa sponsorship, then bail out at the airport here just to find other work? Many do that, you see, and that's one reason many places choose to advertise only for people who currently live here.

I can't offer advice about other places, mostly because I've never been anywhere else, but from what I've read here, you still need the degree to get the work visa. My advice is to somehow try to finish your degree, even if it's online, or to work for another year someplace.

[weejay]

Finishing the degree is not an option.
I am from the UK, I have a certificate of higher education.

[ls650]

You can work in Indonesia without a degree, but you'll likely be in chain-style language schools like EF.

It's not impossible to get something better: one of my former co-workers in Indo was offered a job teaching at a National school, and he had only two years of college, a TEFL certificate, and about three years experience.

[PAULH]