Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

I have just come from a web site where people post their ads in hopes of finding teaching jobs. Most posters are native English speakers. What I found distressing was the appalling English used. I found examples of the most basic English errors, not just some esoteric mistakes.

Granted, this was a web site, not a hard copy resume or ad, but in my opinion, that's no excuse. Typos happen, but this was a site exclusively devoted to teacher resumes and such. I understand that in discussion forums, people are lax in their spelling and grammar, and I accept that. However on that site, those people were advertising themselves as candidates available for teaching English. And, many of them proudly proclaimed themselves as recent college graduates, recent graduates of various TESOL programs, and experienced teachers.

I am posting some of these, all without names, just to show you what errors people are making. Why? The main reason is so others will not make the same mistakes.

Here are a few examples.

1. (extra words added)
I have taught English in Poland, Tanzania, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia at
to a variety of different age groups and levels.

I am can start 7 April.

I have lived and worked in the Nice, France

(missing word)
I know that I am qualified to fulfill my duties as TESOL teacher.

I am hard working, dependable and highly responsible individual

2. (misspelling and capitalization)
If you require and lessons i would love to hear from you.

...wanting work in PortugaL

I work well as a team member as well as induvidually...

I have worked well in the hospitaility industry

I am 35, motivated and have excelent spoken English.

With my 11 years experience as a acientific editor... [Oops!]

I' love to work in Latin America...

I have been teaching kindergarden...

...preferably a Univeristy position...

...my husband works for an internatonal NGO...

Please forward me full contract details regarding any vacancys...

3. (inappropriate pronoun)
My background in Chinese martial arts has given me an insight into Chinese customs and religions. I would be honoured to be a part of it.

4. (inconsistent or poor punctuation)
I also have a N.Z Certification in Science (Associate Degree Equivalent) in Laboratory Science. This was obtained through A.A.V.A (Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards), a NZ government provider.

I have also done some tutoring, for high school english.

I am a teacher with 8 months experience teaching English to Hispanic students, in Chile and Spain.

5. (lack of capitalization and/or poor punctuation)

Hi Im british age 34 of mixed origin with ba degree in 3d design and teaching experience in the uk looking for a teaching position with an open minded school in busan south korea from 1st march 2003.

i'm looking for a job in hainan for 6 months , i am currently in chengdu where i have been working at English First for the last 7 and 1/2 months. before that i was in qingdao for 9 months .. i have a BA degree and am 40 years old.. i have an interest in art and music . i had a recent visit to hainan .. to the north and the south and was very impressed by the people and the land . [This person also typed his name in lower case except for his middle initial, such as "robert D smith".]

I am an Australian qualified teacher with over 8 years experience in Australia, japan and Thailand...I am currently seeking position in malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or Shanghai. [Note also the missing "a" before the word position.]

I taught english and trained staff in East Timor for 2 years.

ｴm now CELTA qualified.....ｴve got the experience and expertise

My experience includes a short-stint teaching college students at Peking University

I am a certified ESL teacher from the International TESOL Training Center a leading Canadian Institution.

Should you have any questions whatsoever please do not hesitate to contact me.

6. (wrong preposition, unless this is some British variant)
...looking to move in Europe... [Should be "to Europe".]

I may be contacted at {email addy} or on {phone no.}... [The word at is ok, but do British people use on for phone numbers? North Americans use at.]

7. (garbled characters in the text)
Please find my r駸um・attached below [Should be resume.]

observing children痴 and adult classes

with the Aprenda Ingl駸 School in Progreso, M騙ico,

Helping people learn comes easily to me because I知 a very patient person

8. (lengthy and/or complex sentences without commas)
My name is {deleted} and I just finished teaching at a local community college here in Florida and am looking for full-time work overseas.

[I found a huge number of examples of this type of error but have only listed one.]

9. (unusual statement)
I am 42 years old and well groomed.

i did some voluntary teaching for six months last year... [Shouldn't that be "volunteer"?]

...hold a full clean international driving license. [I assume that clean means without traffic violations, but just what does full mean?]

Experienced Couple with a Masters in TESOL [This is strange only because the ad described just one person!]

I can provide references if you request them and attach a short CV. [I'm sure the employer won't attach a CV.]

Whether it is through my employment at the Ford Motor Company, working with many employees who have immigrated to Canada or interacting with members of my family, a great portion of which still lives in Europe and often speaks little or no English. [This is the whole sentence, an obvious major error and an interesting clause, which was actually meant to add on to the main body of the sentence.]

I have had the fortunate opportunity to travel before and have overcome the difficult stages of culture shock, thus should be relieving you of any fears that you may have pertaining to that.

ｴm now CELTA qualified, looking to move in Europe and exactly the teacher corporate clients need to help them do business in English. [huh? "I am" + an adjective, a gerund, and a noun all in the same sentence!]

[scot47]

This "profession" attracts the misfits and the semiliterate. The geographically challenged often seem to gravitate to EFL. Perhaps they cannot read an atlas, so have to actually visit the countries involved, just to see where they are.

[Robert Russell]

It was very kind of you to research this. Thank you!

[Glenski]

From scot:

[Stephen]

[scot47]

Do not assume that a degree indicates the ability to write or even spell.
Some cannot even use a spell-checker. In a way I am rather pleased because I must have an advantage here.

[lajzar]

[bnix]

You made a very good point,Glenski.However,I am a bit surprised that you are so surprised at the poor grammar and spelling.I am not defending it.I agree with you,but since you have been in this business for awhile,I am surprised that you are surprised.Scot 47 makes an excellent point in his post,also."Semi-literate"....flotsam and jetsam.

I would also caution people to be very careful about the people they give their resumes to...including personal information,email addresses,etc.etc.There are a lot of unscrupulous recruiters out there.I once had a housemate who decided to make the "fast buck" by going into recruiting.This guy received detailed C.V.s from a number of people from the US and UK.He did not respect their confidentiality.He sold some of the names and email addresses to other recruiters,and sometimes would pull out a resume or two and read them aloud for his own amusement.

Take care of yourselves out there.Be careful of divulging personal information to other people ,including some so-called "recruiters".The murky TESOL waters are full of sharks.