Job Discussion Forums

[aero]

This is my first post, but have already spent hours here -- I've learned so much already from many of you, and I'm grateful for finding this website. I just wanted to lay out my own situation and see what any of you that wish to comment would recommend, as I'm going to be making some important decisions very soon...

First of all -- I'm a 38 y.o. male, married, and child-free (and intend to stay that way), and debt free. I have UK and USA dual citizenship. I'm from Seattle USA, but we've lived in Aberdeen, Scotland for 3.5 years, and I've just received my EU passport . We both are passionate about travel, and intend to move to mainland Europe within the year (Spain, France, and Slovenia are the current front-runners). I've often considered TESOL as a career, and have wanted to get a CELTA or Trinity TESOL certificate, but as of yet this hasn't happened...

I have a B. Sc. in Aeronautical Studies, and I'm a Certified Flight Instructor -- but I got distracted by other opportunities and never pursued flying and don't really care to at this point... However, I've recently identified an opportunity for teaching English to international pilots and air traffic controllers (as they all have to have a higher level of English as of March 2008), so this seems to be the ideal time to finally take the plunge!

Teachers already involved in Aviation English have advised me to get a CELTA/Trinity certificate and teach 6-12 months, and I'll be in a great position to teach English to pilots and air traffic controllers. So, my plan is to take a CELTA course in Europe (through English First) starting in July, and then apply for jobs that begin in September/October. My wife will remain in Aberdeen, and I'll plan on moving back after 6-12 months, and explore Aviation English and my next job opportunities.

Here are the chief choices/quesions I'm currently grappling with -- please feel free to comment with your own thoughts/recommendations:

1) Where should I teach for 6-12 months? I'd prefer teaching in Europe, so I can have less distance from my wife, but also to be able to explore those countries we're considering moving to. However, my main prerequisite is to have some money left over (500-700 Euro per month) after my living expenses to contribute to our mortgage in Scotland. After reading many posts here, I'm afraid very few places (e.g. Korea) allow for that amount of savings? Where would you go if you were me?

2) I have spent 10+ years in the corporate world (I have the prematurely grey hairs to prove it), most of them at Microsoft HQ in Redmond (obviously, I escaped ). I presume this experience will increase my value for teaching Business English... But all of the job descriptions I've seen aren't for Business English, and how I might go about applying for Business English jobs (other than walking into businesses)?

3) As I'll ulimately be teaching adults in aviation, I'd strongly prefer to teach adults this coming year. I would rather not teach children anyhow, to be honest. Is this negotiable with employers? Or, considering I've got no TESOL experience, must I be less choosy and accept that I might be teaching children?

Thanks in advance for your replies -- I'm feeling equal parts excitement and trepidation at the moment!

Kind regards,

Aero

[tedkarma]

I'll take a shot at this as you haven't had a response yet.

I would get a TEFL Cert or CELTA or some such - before you head out.

Then - focus your job seach on colleges and universities with technical, engineering, and/or aviation programs. That will eliminate the teaching children "problem" - and help you get started in your chosen area. You WILL be of interest to them.

Go right to those schools - cold call with resume/CV in hand (a much easier thing to do in TEFL than in sales or business). Go to the tech/engineering/aviation department directly - don't go to the English department - they won't know your value.

The tech departments WILL be interested in you. I usually think about a 10% rate. One in ten of your visits will probably find a place with the contacts you need to land a job. Maybe not there - but they will know someone who knows someone . . . This is very much like the "informational interviews" you would do back home.

You are VERY right to focus on what you know. It will place you in demand (after a little experience). Don't get off track from that - I think teaching kids would actually damage your chances - just by not staying focused.

I have a friend who - due to a tech/design education and experience - makes far more than the rest of us - just proofreading papers and thesises (sp?) for engineering students at a higher level engineering university.

To save decent money - head either to Korea or Japan (better net savings in Korea IMO/IME).

[aero]

tedkarma,

Thank you for your post -- that's extremely helpful information and advice. Greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Aero.

[Justin Trullinger]

Dear Aero,
The demand for teaching English for aviation is real and immediate. (And thanks to ICAO, overwhelming to a lot of countries where there isn't much in place by way of good English education.)

Depending on where you want to teach, I'm not sure it's necessary for you to spend 6-12 months on business English. I can only speak for South America at this point, but there are a heck of a lot of air traffic controllers down here, and institutes are struggling to catch up to the demand. Even a recently qualified teacher, if he or she had a good background in aviation, would stand a good chance of stepping into work with one of the institutes handling these training programs.

I don't know if this is true in other places, but I suspect it may be. There simply aren't all that many EFL teachers who know one end of an airplane from the other, or what kind of things one says from the control tower. I would honestly think that if you look around hard, the odds of finding something in aviation sooner rather than later are good.

The 2008 deadline is looming...

best of luck,
Justin