Job Discussion Forums

davechile · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 87 Location: San Francisco, CA

For those who took the CELTA and have it on your CV, How many of you think you got the job because you had the CELTA?
Life is alot about perception.
Isn't it true the Schools around the world perceive you as a well trained teacher with a CELTA.
You may not be, but that isn't my question. Having a CELTA is getting the Job, not keeping it.
Personality, "cowboys" is your personality..that will come out in your practice of teaching.

The Education is truly in the class room. Please, keep your replies civil or this thread will get shut down like the last one.

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject:

In my experience, it's not so much that CELTA gets you the job- it's that not having a CELTA or equivalent reputable cert gets your resume into the trash.

I actually have the Trinity Cert- usually recognised as equivalent, and in fact very similar. It's not that I think it's gotten me any jobs, it's that I wouldn't have been considered for them without it.

Now, as a person who both hires and trains teachers, it's not that I hire them because they have these kinds of certs- I get lots of applications, with certs, from those I don't hire. But it's kind of a minimum standard around here...

(I've heard this isn't the case in many parts of Asia- never been.)

Best,
Justin

MELEE · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:35 pm Post subject:

I also don't hire a lot of people who do have CELTAs. Razz

But the difference is I CAN'T hire anyone who doesn't have some formal training that included observed teaching practice.

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

I think CELTA's good, as Justin points out, for getting the job - not only for giving one a clue how to DO the job.

As the name-brand, it's got some advantage over the generic certs, though in Europe (in my experience) generics are quite acceptable, so long as they included actual teaching practice.

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Look at it another way: BEd (Hons) students take four years to complete their teacher-training, PGCE students nine months. As TheLongWayHome says, CELTA gets you started; the rest is up to you.

sandyhoney2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 189

I know I got in the door of my current place of employment because of my CELTA. I also have other qualifications and two years of experience which probably helped to cement the deal.

I have actually done them both - a no-name TESOL certificate and the CELTA and I can tell you that there is no comparison. One simply does not get a Pass in the CELTA without reaching a certain standard. They will fail you - but not without first trying to do everything they can to help you reach their standards.

That said, there were teachers in my class who were already in the field that wanted CELTA for the name-brand recognition only and were fully prepared to do the song and dance while they were in the course, but who promised to go back to their "own" ways once they got the piece of paper.

The CELTA brand is marketable, I suppose. It makes the schools appear more professional if they can guarantee that all their teachers have one.

harry the hobbit · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:24 am Post subject: instant teachers

Gotta be some kinda low grade school that can boast that all its teachers have a 4 week certificate. Makes you wonder what the competition is like. Ha Ha Ha Razz

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

harry the hobbit · Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:43 pm Post subject:

Of course the students don't know-otherwise there would be a lot of out of pocket TEFLers and mill owners.

fraup · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:32 am Post subject:

I feel the CELTA was extremely valuable to me. Here's why:

Before getting the CELTA, I'd taught business at the college level for 8 years (I have an MBA and about 10 years' business experience). Although it was clear when I did my practice teaching for my CELTA that I'd had a lot of teaching experience, the trick was to wean myself away from the "stand and deliver" lecture style and develop more "student talk time".

My B.A. was in English and German, with honors in English, and I hate to admit it but I learned something new every day from my CELTA tutors. (Had the English language changed in the past 30 years?) I got a "Pass B", which probably could have been a "Pass A" had I been willing to pull a few all-nighters instead of seeing some of Budapest.

The CELTA is more recognized/valuable outside the U.S. In the States, you usually need a master's degree in linguistics/ESL/TESOL "or something comparable", such as a foreign language.

coffeedrinker · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 149

For all those who think the celta is not worth much, I'd be curious to hear how/where you rate other 4-week intensive courses...because there are a bunch, and I'd bet more people actually have those than have a celta. Is name recognition so that you someone with another 4-week course is "better" specifically because it's not a celta?

I do notice that when people decide to speak about how some course doesn't measure up, it frequently takes on the title of celta - why the celta and not four week courses in general?

I don't think a celta above any other four week course got me a job...I think there are lots more jobs than people to fill them, and I think those who make that effort to get that first basic qualification do get recognition over newbies who don't. I don't think language schools would want to make the delta the minimum because that would change the dynamic of the market so much...and how would people be qualified to take the delta if they'd never taught before?

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

The CELTA is a GREAT course for professional (and personal) development as TEFL'er.

However, if one is teaching in Asia, a CELTA is not needed. It's a "Name-Brand" certificate that deals with content that other "No-Name" certificate courses also deal with at a fraction of the cost of the CELTA.

Bottom line: Not needed to obtain an EFL job in Asia.

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Perhaps not in East Asia, but in the Gulf it's a basic requirement.