Job Discussion Forums

rinn625 · Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 2

Here's my worries and I hope some teachers that have been in the same situation and knew some one in the same situation can enlighten me on this matters. For months, I've sent hundreds, maybe thousands of resume to schools/ recruiters in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand BUT not a single positive response (excluding the scammers, of course).

1. I'm non-native (Chinese feature) that been exposed to English since young, passport holder from non English speaking country (Asia)
2. I'm not degree holder, not even diploma but am holder of TESOL certification by Global TESOL college
3. I'm over age 25yrs

My ultimate goal is to teach/work/live in Korea, maybe even R.I.P there too (but that is another different story)...

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

I don't want to sound trite, but why exactly would a language school want to hire an inexperienced, unqualified, non-native speaker?
No, seriously. I'm interested in your response.

rinn625 · Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 2

I have the desire to teach English overseas and learn about new cultures, hence I've become TESOL certified. If a language school do NOT want to hire an inexperienced, unqualified, non-native speaker then why did Global TESOL advertise extensively about TESOL certification in my home country??? Just to rip us off our money?!? Add on, when we 1st enrolled, there was NO prior criteria to fulfill, eg. native speaker? degree holder?

So who's fault is it now? Mine? Global TESOL?

Look, I posted this topic to ask for help/advice not bashing. I've been through too many rejections that I finally decided to seek help/advice here in Dave's cafe.

eslstudies · Joined: 17 Dec 2006 Posts: 1061 Location: East of Aden

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Having no university degree, and having only a TESOL certificate is not being qualified. It is bare bones credentials for only a few countries at best. You wasted time, energy, and postage on mailing resumes to places like Korea (who want degree holders). Have you done any research on this beforehand, or just shotgunned resumes based on a desire to live and work in a certain place?

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

OP: To be blunt, while your English seems reasonably good for a non-native speaker, your posts have some significant errors in grammar and usage.
Realistically, I think that very few schools in other countries will hire you when they can hire a local person to do teach lower levels of English, or a native speaker to teach higher levels.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

I agree with what is written above. If your resume and cover letters are written like your posts, you are not demonstrating your mastery of the English language to potential employers. If the person reading your application is a native speaker, I can guarantee your resume is going straight into the garbage can.

mlomker · Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 378

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

I am no expert on your situation, but I would think that China is by far your best chance. There is a huge shortage of teachers there and the Chinese don't have the locals who can do the job.
Not having a degree is a real drawback, but my advice would be to pay someone to write your cv and cover letter in fluent English. Others are right when they said that your written English is a drawback too.
But don't worry so much about it as most TEFL work in my experience is about teaching low level students conversational skills. Depending on your ability in this area and your accent you could be fine.

Sending a cv from abroad is a waste of time for many native speakers so don't be too disheartened if it fails for you too. I'm not sure, you'll have to check the immigration laws, but I would go to China (or where ever) and try from there.

There are many phillipinos teaching in Thailand for example so all is not lost.

Good luck.

eslstudies · Joined: 17 Dec 2006 Posts: 1061 Location: East of Aden

Dragonlady · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:12 am Post subject:

deleted

out of date

Sgt Killjoy · Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 438

For the OP, Thailand could be an option, but they won't give proper paperwork without a degree and with the current environment, you may find yourself deported.

Korea? I've heard it done by Filipinos, but they weren't on entirely legit visas and they had degrees.

I think you are SOOL. You may have the option of Central or South America, but you will spend a heck of a lot of money getting there and you will work peanuts, maybe even less than you could earn in the Philippines.

Maybe you should go back and complete a degree?

cbc10 · Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Toronto

Following along the lines of the OP's concern....I am a Candian born Chinese so I've grown up with English all my life and just as competent in English as any other native English speaking person. I've recently become really interested in teaching English in China but now that I've been doing some research, I've come across individuals talking about how non-native English speaking teachers are not preferred, which really puts a damper on things! I do have a Bachelor's degree and currently doing a graduate certificate though, but now I'm not sure that this would be enough for me to be considered. Does anyone know specifically what schools in China would actually consider hiring non-native speaking teachers? Should I still try??

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

cbc10, are you a non-native speaker? You say you were born in Canada!

There are people on the forum with more information about China specifically than I have, but I am sure you can consider yourself a native English speaker, even if you speak Chinese at home with your parents. I assume that you've been a fully functioning Canadian all of your life, right?

You probably do need some specific training in teaching English as a foreign language, though.

A basic entry-level course is 100+ hours on site with at least 6 hours of supervised teaching practice of real students, with feedback from experienced teacher trainers.

I mention the details because there are a couple of well-advertised courses in Canada that do not meet the basic standards, or don't include teaching practice.

Good luck!

tedkarma · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:08 am Post subject:

With an MATESOL from a Western country - you could probably land quite a few decent jobs - most easily in the Middle East. Asia tends to want "white faces" and some countries (like Korea) will even have a list of countries from which your passport must originate.

It's a good dream - but to overcome the prejudices of the marketplace you will need some serious education.