Job Discussion Forums

Alihad · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 1

Hi there,
I have been working in EFL on and off since I got the certificate in 1988. I have now got the Diploma and have been working as Senior Teacher in a school for the last 3 years, teaching 3 hours and day and doing 3 hours of general admin for the DOS too. Now the Director of Studies has left - he got a new job - and I have applied for his job. I am not sure whether I really want it... I am worried that I might miss the teaching too much but, on the other hand, it would look good on my CV. Alternatively, maybe it is time to move to another school - I have been in this school for 4 years now after working abroad (Germany, Thailand, Spain) at various schools. If I don't get the job, an external candidate probably will and I will be like their ADOS. If I get the job, then one of the existing teachers would become Senior Teacher and I could boss them around. As you can probably tell, I am rather confused as to what to do - has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice/opinions gratefully received!

Bayden · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 988

Frizzie Lizzie · Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:58 pm Post subject:

I'd go for the DOS position for the reason you mentioned: it will look good on your CV. Besides, it's not such a bad thing to be at the same school for a longer period of time. See it as an advantage: you know the place, the people, and it will probably be easier to manage.
After a year or two, you'll be confident enough to go for a similar position at a different school.
Good luck!

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I would think it also would depend on the job duties you would have as well who your new direct boss would be. One place I worked, I considered applying for an academic director job, and turned it down as I couldn't stand the boss I would have been working more with in that new post (teaching was okay as I didn't have too much contact with my boss..the same one, as my classes were at another location than the main branch he worked at) .

Chris_Crossley · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:51 am Post subject: A change is as good as a rest...

With your experience, I would have thought that, by now, especially since you claim you possess the Diploma, you would know exactly what to do. (Then again, I am posting this message 25 days after you posted yours, so you may have solved that little dilemma by now.)

Familiarity breeds contempt (and children) as they say (well, George Bernard Shaw allegedly said it first). After spending so long at a school, the danger of being so familiar with a school that you are also comfortable with is that you won't want to leave, and not wanting to leave can be a big minus.

Some people might then say that there is no point in getting a higher qualification like the Diploma until and unless you had any intention of leaving and going somewhere else to try out your new skills and meet new people.

I do not have the Diploma but I am studying for a master's degree in education, and I have every intention of looking for a new job after I get it (all being well, of course) at the end of next year, with a view to starting it in the fall of the year after next (2008). I am not remotely dissatisfied with my current job, but that does not mean that I am going to stay in it for more than another couple of years.

It is always best to move on to pastures new, especially if one has a new qualification to flaunt before people's faces. Staying at the same school all the time is not healthy for either yourself or your CV. Some of the teachers at my old high school did not leave until they retired after more than 30 years there! What did they know about the so-called "outside world"? We TEFLers may learn and experience something about the outside world, but we should at least know when to move on before we get absolutely settled.

A change is as good as a rest, they say (but I confess I do not know who said it first...)

Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

Change is only good if you think it's good. For some, it's not as great. I'm sort of getting to that point.
There is nothing wrong with staying in the same place for a while. Do different jobs. It's true, if you have a year or two of DoS on your CV, you will feel more confident about taking that job elsewhere. And though pay isn't everything, it is certainly something.

If I were in your position, OP, I'd go for the DoS job, unless you really can't stand the idea of working for the head of the school. If they hire an outsider over YOU who they know and who now has the Diploma (which should well qualify you for the job), get offended and resign. Go somewhere else and MAYBE look for a different DoS job. Qualified DoSes are in demand. You're not experienced as one yet, but you are certainly qualified. So maybe give THAT a go.
I mean, if TEFL is what you DO (i.e. you don't have a different career on the side to pick back up later on), then improve the CV! Take a step up the ladder! Why not? If you don't like it, go back to a regular teaching role. No harm, no foul.