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FoxandMe
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 62
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 Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:21 am Post subject: What to bring for an interview |
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Man, I'm a pain in the ass, but I'm going to keep posting questions.
So what should I bring, when I make my way to Mexico seeking employment as an EFL teacher? I'm thinking college degree, letters of reference, resume, and a cv... I know there's issues of apostilling and these things must be translated, but would these things be good and complete?
By the way, do you think that a B.A. in liberal arts applies directly to teaching English, as regards a potential employer and visa issuers?
Thanks again. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:37 am Post subject: Re: What to bring for an interview |
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| FoxandMe wrote: |
| what should I bring? I'm thinking college degree, letters of reference, resume, and a cv... I know there's issues of apostilling and these things must be translated, but would these things be good and complete? |
Both the Degree and your TEFL certificate should be apostilled/legalized. The resume and translation will be needed, but not legalized. And some immigration offices seem to want you to have a full-size paper birth certificate
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| do you think that a B.A. in liberal arts applies directly to teaching English, as regards a potential employer and visa issuers? |
In combination with a TEFL certificate or alone? |
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FoxandMe
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:08 pm Post subject: Re: What to bring for an interview |
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[/quote]In combination with a TEFL certificate or alone?[/quote]
Alone, with no TEFL certificate. |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: What to bring for an interview |
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| FoxandMe wrote: |
| By the way, do you think that a B.A. in liberal arts applies directly to teaching English, as regards a potential employer and visa issuers? |
No, I don't. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject: Re: What to bring for an interview |
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| FoxandMe wrote: |
| Alone, with no TEFL certificate. |
Well, I think you've probably answered your own question. The more papers you have, the better the jobs you'll have a chance at. A BA in an unrelated field will get you an entry-level job at a private school, earning perhaps 6000 to 8000 pesos per month. If you have a TEFL certificate also, you have a chance at the jobs that pay a little more.
How long do you want to teach in Mexico for? If you're doing this "for a lark" and don't plan to stay more than a year or two, then maybe you'll be happy with that bottom-rung job.
On the other hand, if you want a better-paying job in Mexico, it might well be worth a little short time pain for long term salary gain.
Last edited by ls650 on Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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LS650's got it bang on. You'll have to consider your length of stay as well. If you plan to stay under a year, then there won't be any jobs available to you besides entry-level.
Regarding an interview and job seeking with the BA alone, ask yourself the questions an interviewer might ask. How does your degree help you answer the questions?
This might help a bit...I wrote an article awhile back on the job interview. I think it's still floating in cyberspace.
http://www.eslemployment.com/esl-articles/latin-america-esl-job-interview.htm |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:54 pm Post subject: Re: What to bring for an interview |
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| ls650 wrote: |
How long do you want to teach in Mexico for? If you're doing this "for a lark" and don't plan to stay more than a year or two, then maybe you'll be happy with that bottom-rung job.
On the other hand, if you want a better-paying job in Mexico, it might well be worth a little short time pain for long term salary gain. |
FoxandMe, another factor you might want to consider a bit more is cost of living and other expenses involving a pet. Maybe you're already set with a decent amount of back-up money, so expenses while living and teaching in Mexico won't be of major concern to you. However, with your dog in tow, there may well be more extra expenses than you've anticipated. With the dog along, you'll be limiting your flexibility regarding travel and housing. If you take your dog with you when you want to see and do things on your free time, you'll be limiting yourself on where you go and how you get there. You'll need to be more selective in your choice of house/apartment and neighborhood when looking for a place to rent, not just pets-vs-no-pets rentals but safety of your pet while walking him and leaving him at home while you're at work. Pet food is expensive in this country. Vet bills can also add up fast. In many places (especially bottom-rung schools) if you are working enough hours to survive on, you won't have much time to devote to the care and well being of your pet. You could find yourself in teaching situations where some days you'd leave for work very early in the morning and not get back home again until late at night. Just some things you'll need to consider. |
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Cdaniels
Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 663
Location: Dunwich, Massachusetts
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:41 pm Post subject: What kind of dog? |
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I think you might have said Fox is a beagle, but I forget. Is he/she a small dog? Is it an older/younger dog? It sounds like your dog gets along with other dogs.
I miss my dog very much, and I'm thinking maybe I should get another. Its probably not very practical. I went through times when I borrowed money just to care of my pets.  Totally worth it, though.
On the other hand, I think a healthy pet would be a distinct advantage for someone adjusting alone to a new life abroad. Nothing keeps down stress and loneliness away like a loyal companion.
The fact that your alias includes your dogs' name makes me think you love him very much.
Wow. Maybe I need to choose between Mexico and adopting a new dog? (or starting a new pack, as I like to think of it)  |
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FoxandMe
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:33 pm Post subject: Re: What kind of dog? |
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Fox is a beagle, 30 lbs. I realize how having a dog complicates things, but he's mine and I do love him very much, and I simply have no choice but to bring him to Mexico if this is what I want to do. I am concerned that I won't be able to do as much travelling and that I'll be pretty restricted, but I'm hoping that things can be done. When I go next month by myself (I'll board him), I'm hoping to get an impression of what having him around would be like, along with a thousand other things.
At this time in my life, I'm not thinking about being in Mexico for more than a year or two. I'm not looking to become a career EFL teacher yet. I'm going to work with my old ESL book from when I tutored and draw up some sample lesson plans prior to interviewing. I guess that I wasn't aware of what kind of competition I'd be up against. By all means, I would like a decent paying job and it sounds like TEFL certification would help. Are there certain TEFL training programs in the US or Mexico that are reputable world-wide and could help with EFL jobs in other countries too? CELTA? Tha's not in the US, though, is it? |
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cwc
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 372
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:05 pm Post subject: What?!?! |
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Is650, did you really mean 6-8000 pesos a year? Did I read it wrong?
Foxandme, 5 hours after your very first post you were told that ITTO in Guadalajara was a good start. Please read the advice you ask for. There is an excellent apt for rent in my neighborhood (2,500 and dogs welcome) and SEVERAL ads in the paper daily for teachers. People come to my house looking for tutoring. Demand for teachers far outstrips supply. I limit myself to 3 tutoring sessions a night. There is no other private translator other than me. I have a small ad in the paper could give you work. We have an international airport that you could fly in to. It doesn�t get any better than that. Get off the couch. cwc |
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snorklequeen
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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cwc, where are you located?
Q |
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cwc
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 372
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:50 pm Post subject: BOOMTOWN |
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Cuidad del Carmen now but always dreaming of The Lone Star State. I lived at Magnolia Beach on Matagorda Bay. 59 y/o witha J.D. sounds good. Come on down.
Last edited by cwc on Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:59 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:51 pm Post subject: Re: What?!?! |
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| cwc wrote: |
| Is650, did you really mean 6-8000 pesos a year? Did I read it wrong? |
Whoops. Mistake corrected. |
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FoxandMe
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:15 am Post subject: |
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| Just to make sure I got this straight... it's about 10 pesos to the dollar, right? So 6000-8000 pesos per year would be 600-800 bucks? |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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