Job Discussion Forums

yavannah · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 26 Location: OH, USA

Hi. I just finished my CELTA about 3 weeks ago and I'm finding that it may be more difficult than I thought to get an ESL job in my country of choice (the UAE.) I was told by the CELTA tutors that it is possible to get a job with a CELTA in the U.S. I have that and a bachelor's in English. I was trying to figure out if it was possible to find anything in the U.S. with those qualifications. I was really hoping I might be able to find something short-term, so I could keep looking for work overseas. All my research has been geared to finding work abroad, so I really don't know much of anything about ESL in this country. So far most of the jobs I've seen offered either require a master's or a k-12 education certificate. Any info/advice would be much appreciated. Smile

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

yavannah · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 26 Location: OH, USA

Okay, thanks. It looks like for the better overseas jobs that's what one has to do as well. Just out of curiosity, does anyone consider DELTA in this country or does it pretty much have to be a master's? Oh, and yes, I am American.

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

ls650 is right.

CELTA DELTA and other such certificates will get you into a minor language center that offers part-time work with no benefits at $12-$15/hr. The students that go to those centers pay $300-$500 a month easily (each - maybe more now). Do the math. You'll get less than 10% of the take and it won't be enough to live on. That's why most of the teachers at those centers are college students themselves.

Oh, and Kaplan isn't any different. They put a little more money into infrastructure, but their practices are the same as the small schools.

If you want to teach in public schools, a Master's is not (yet) required, but a teaching certificate (on the West Coast it's called a 'credential') is and involves an average of 2 years of study, although one-year intensive - and expensive - programs exist. The teaching certificate in the US does little to prepare you for the classroom, as it's primarily designed to indoctrinate the teachers to socially engineer the children they will be "teaching".

I have worked in public and private schools (as a teacher) on both the east and west coasts, for what it's worth, and yes, I do hold a valid (and worthless) certificate.