Job Discussion Forums

[elwood]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and had some questions. Currently I'm a US citizen working in Argentina as an ESL teacher with a TEFL certificate and a bachelors degree. When I return to the states, I would like to find ESL work, but I don't have a masters in ESL. Am I naive to think that the jobs in the states will be like South America, where I can work in an institute no problem with my qualifications or lack there of, and make enough money to get by?Probably. It seems that most institutes in the states are gonna laugh at someone with only a bachelors, a TEFL certificate and 1 year of experience, am I right? Any thoughts would be great. Take care and I look forward to your replies.

[rusmeister]

That's true of any serious institution. Your quals as described won't count for much. You could try community colleges - I'd ask Henry - he's our local expert on them here.

Tiny 'Language Schools' offering part-time stuff would accept your quals.

Some public schools - the most desperate ones - sometimes can hire you provided you enlist right away in a full-time teacher cert program.

Basically a Master's degree or public school teaching certificate are the most generally recognized qualifications. (Although a Master's on its own won't get you into public schools.)

That said, I have all those quals and left public schools. For good reasons that were not merely personal.

[denise]

An MA is sort of the standard, although I have seen job ads that don't require them. And it can be difficult to earn enough to get by, as many jobs are hourly, per contact hour, so no paid prep time, no vacation, no job security (your hours depend upon enrollment), etc., and I have seen some that offer as low as $10-$12 per hour (keeping in mind that even a full-time schedule, if you're lucky enough to get one, won't be more than 20ish hours per week). How insulting!!!!

d