Job Discussion Forums

[shuize]

In some ways I do think teaching English can be a cop out. But that's just my personal opinion.

As others have noted, a year overseas is not likely to hurt you. However, there is a risk and it increases every year you stay without adding any skills to your resume beyond "English teacher."

[thrifty]

[Like a Rolling Stone]

[thrifty]

I TEFL.

Thirteen years.

[SeasonedVet]

seastarr wrote:

[prof]

One of the biggest limitations of Japan is what you are allowed to do in the classroom.

Are you allowed to be creative, to 'teach!'

Or are you simply there to follow Their system and/or do Their marketing?

[seastarr]

If you look at my original post, I didn't make any comment about TEFL. I dont know why anyone would have quoted me as saying that.

[luckyloser700]

[Henry_Cowell]

I've given thrifty private tutoring in using the quote function. He never learned it. He refuses to proofread his posts and fix his mistakes. He'll probably complain that he was too drunk to care.

[thrifty]

You are a crap teacher, Henry Cowell.

[Henry_Cowell]

I still have the PM in which I gave you step-by-step instructions. You did fine just after the tutoring. Then you slipped -- as you have so many times in your life.

[thrifty]

What do you expect from a mere TEFLer?

[Crab]

You're going to get lots of different opinions on this, based on personal experiences.

Here is my prescription for ensuring that your TEFL career, regardless of how long you do it, is not a dead end.

1. As some other posters have pointed out, add to your experiences and skills beyond English language teaching. I worked at the university-level and for me, this included published research, textbook writing, work with my university's student recruitment office, and work identifying and building study abroad relationships for students.

You could just as easily substitute Japanese study, website design, writing, or expertise in Japanese lacquer for the stuff I did. The important thing is that you pick up demonstrable skills/experience/expertise in areas beyond TEFL and apply them to a field in which you'd be happy working.

2. Plan ahead as much as possible. One positive thing about working under contract is you know exactly when your current job is finished.

I made the decision to go home 15 months before I left. I spent those 15 months laying the groundwork for a job in Canada. This included the obvious: determining where I wanted to live, what job I wanted to do, researching the possibilities, updating my resume, etc. In the end, I decided that I wanted to work for a university in a Canada in a TEFL-related or international student recruitment role.

I was ultimately successful in getting a job as director of a School of English at a small Canadian university. Beyond my related experience, networking was the key. My duties in organizing study abroad opportunities at my Japanese university had provided me with contacts in the field in which I wanted to work. Contacts who had expereience working with me and knew what they could expect.

I approached the ones for whom I was interested in working 6 months before I left Japan and was fortunate to be told by one of them that an opportunity was available. I completed the hiring process from Japan and had no lay off between jobs.

3. Work hard. Sounds silly, but your ability to show that you are willing to work and be productive is especially important when you are working in a foreign culture in a field with a reputation for being a "junket" to non-TEFLers. It's also important because checking Japanese references is difficult for employers back home.

It's one thing to work hard, but it's another thing to show it. To address this, I put together a portfolio of my time in Japan that I brought to interview. It included all of my academic articles, my degrees, my textbook, student evaluations, teaching awards, a very nice thank you letter from the President of my Japanese university, official abstracts of presentations I'd given at JALT and elsewhere, letters of reference and a few other bits and pieces that I can't recall at the moment.

I also used this portfolio (updated of course) to land my current job at another university.

4. Define goals and objectives. Don't drift. Think about your career post-Japan and how you can get there.

I feel bad for the people who end up bitter and saying things like this:

[joesnoopy16]

My advice to the younger generation: If you really want to do something, go ahead and do it. The longer you wait and the more settled you become in a career, the more difficult it becomes to try things outside of that career environment, i.e. getting time off, finances, family obligations, etc. As for hurting your future writing/journalism career: Are you crazy? Anything you can do to broaden your experience and outlook will be of benefit. The most interesting people are those with a variety of experiences. As for not being commited to teaching. You may want to think about that one. If you don't give your students 100% you are being unfair to them. Teaching just for the experience cheats them in order to satisfy your own wants. But, if you can give them an honest effort, even for just a year, then I would say go for it.

[Like a Rolling Stone]