Job Discussion Forums

[ocha]

I am 29 an considering teaching in Japan before starting grad school. What are the average ages of EFL teachers out there? Is 29 too old to start an EFL career for a year or two or even three? What do you think? I need some encouragement, since all of a sudden my friends keep reminding me how old I am and that I need to start settling down.

[PAULH]

[abufletcher]

29's not too late to start a career in EFL -- but it might be a little late to screw around teaching English overseas for a few years and then go back to "the real world" and try to start another career. On the other hand, it has been said that most people in the US today will go through three entirely separate careers in their working lifetimes.

Be aware that there are some age barriers out there and often this starts at 40. This doesn't so much apply to university level positions around the world but is a factor at the language school level. So if you're thinking of making EFL (not just "English teaching") a long-term carreer you'll need to start positioning yourself now for university-level positions later on (not necessarily in Japan). For example in terms of a beginning level CV, I'd say that 2-3 years teaching EFL (or even better ESP) at a Chinese university would be worth a lot more in term of landing a university job in the Gulf than the same number of years teaching at a Japanese eikaiwa. Korean "eikaiwa" count for very little professionally since virtually an living, breathing English-speaker can get a job there (and be mistreated).

You'll absolutely need a respectable MA in TESOL or Applied Linguistics to stay the course in the EFL field. You can either do one now before you start looking for a good job overseas (for example in the Arabian Gulf) or you can take a low-level job in a place like Japan or China (or Oman) and spend your free time doing a respected distance MA.

A word of warning: it's really easy to just float through 10 years of English teaching and at the end of it be no more employable than you were at the beginning. If you want to stay in the field you have to constantly think of ways to advance yourself professionally, for example attend conferences, read and/or do research, or just push to do a better job with each and every class.

[abufletcher]

BTW, here's my career path as an example (not necessarily to "follow" but just as one example):

Age 25. Teach some adult ed ESL classes (get married)

Age 26. Finish MA in Linguistics

Age 27. Take a junk company EFL job in Saudi for a year

Age 28. Land a better university job in Kuwait (3 more years, have first child, buy first ever new car)

Age 31. Move to a more competetive university job in Oman (Sultan Qaboos University, 7 years, have two more kids, travel the world, write my first EFL "publication")

MID-THIRTIES: Think about leaving EFL to do something else, in my case, professional travel photojournalism.

Age 38. Get real and realize I'm in EFL for the long haul! : )

Age 39. Take a job as a "professor of linguistics" (not EFL) at a university in Mexico.

Age 40. Realize that you can't support a family on a Mexican peso salary and start looking for real EFL jobs again.

Age 41. Luck out and land a tenured university position in Japan -- without even knowing it. Yes, it CAN happen.

Age 43. Start a Ph.D.

Age 49 Finish Ph.D. and start wondering where you go from here!!!

[callmesim]

Wow, what an interesting path you've taken!

[Glenski]

29 is not too young to get started, but what sort of career did you have in mind, and what are your qualifications?

You're going to have to start with JET Programme or some eikaiwa job unless you have a master's degree plus publications plus a good command of Japanese.

Realize, too, that the market for EFL in Japan is changing rapidly, and for the worse. People who aren't set like abufletcher with some sort of permanent FT job are going to have to live with 3-year contracts and/or part-time jobs strung together in order to make ends meet. Not fun. And, even for university jobs, the market is dwindling and becoming so competitive that you either face 30-100 applicants per opening, or you get dispatched to the uni from some eikaiwa or dispatch agency that doesn't care about your health insurance or salary.

[Gordon]

Abu, you got a big jump on many of us with a masters at 26. Smart thinking, doing it before you have kids. I'm sure you had it all planned out long ahead of time though.

I want to really emphasize your point about making a real effort to improve yourself and making yourself marketable. Publish, get a masters, present, do something that puts you ahead of the pack because this business is becoming more and more competitive.

[abufletcher]

[parrothead]

Ocha, I too hear these same criticisms from my friends and family. "You're getting older...", "...what about a family?", blah, blah, blah. Unless they've lived abroad and traveled the world, they will probably never understand. You're not living other people's lives, so do what shakes up your soul and fulfills your life. The memories and experiences of your two or three years in Japan will benefit whatever you do for the rest of your life.

[PAULH]

[macondo]

Hey, I'm 29 and in March will be leaving my tenured high school position to be an Assistant Language Teacher who knows where in Japan. I figure, I may be fast approaching 30, but I don't have kids and I'm not married. It's now or never. Living and working abroad is something I've always wanted to do. So go for it, dude!

I'm just wondering, maybe you vets out there can answer this: While I'm not sure I'll be doing this forever, a Masters in TESOL or Applied Linguistics was mentioned for university jobs. Where do you think a Masters in Teaching (Spanish), plus an undergrad minor in Linguistics with some undergrad/grad coursework and internship in TESOL would get me?

Don't mean to hijack the thread with my own questions... maybe the answers will be helpful to others.

[PAULH]

[Glenski]

[abufletcher]

[PAULH]

EDIT