Job Discussion Forums

[mesomorph]

Hey there, hope I got the right forum for this,

Some background on me:

I have an MA Honours in English, and a PGDE Secondary in English (allows me to teach kids from 5-18 English in Scottish Schools)

I do not have a TEFL qualification

I have an interview in January in a French institute for a TEFL position

I will be focused on conversational English when I get the job (if I get it!)

My question

What questions am I likely to be asked at my interview?

Any further advice is also greatly appreciated as you judge it relevant

[Glenski]

Questions:

Why this institute?
Why this country/city?

How would you handle quiet students?

Are you planning to get TEFL certified or a higher degree?

Do you have a driver's license?

Are you willing to work overtime?

Are you willing to teach older students? (ie, adults)

What is your teaching style?

(And, in the most indirect way...) Why should we hire you without a TEFL certificate and experience?

[Guy Courchesne]

http://www.innovative-english.com/what_to_expect.htm

Not applicable everywhere, but a good start.

[MELEE]

I'd ask you something like this.

You're qualified to teach English to English speaking youth, how do you imagine teaching English as a foreign language would be different from teaching English as a first language?

Depending on your answer that might be the only question.

[denise]

I've actually got a question for you: why are you aiming so low? You didn't give very much information about the school itself, but teaching conversation is generally considered "easy," (as in, there are places that will hire unqualified/inexperienced native speakers just to teach conversation, because the ol' line of thinking is that "anyone who speaks the language can teach it") and with your qualifications you could look elsewhere--depending on how much experience you've got. You could look into international schools or universities.

d

[soapdodger]

Rather more important than questions this institute is going to ask you are questions you should ask them. Here are a few:

Will I get holiday pay?
Will I get sick pay?
Will I get health insurance?
Will I have an option to join a pension plan?
Will I recieve a bonus for working unsocial hours?
Is there a union which protects the interests of employees which I can join?
Will I be guaranteed a minimum number of hours which will ensure a livable income?
Is there a complaints procedure, and is it fairly administered?
Can I expect regular pay reviews, and is there some kind of career structure?
How would you describe your staff turnover?

If you are still interested after you have heard the answers to these questions, which are perfectly reasonable to ask in the ordinary workaday world, but are guaranteed to make any hardened EFL vet reading them laugh, try some of these, which are more focussed on the educational side and should reveal any complete and utter cowboys . ( Although I have to agree with Denise that most schools employing natives for conversation are only interested in something that can breathe and talk, and hence checking their academic/pedagogical credibility is a non-starter)

What do you know about the Eclectic Approach to language acquisition and how do you apply it?
What other approaches would you encourage or discourage?
What is your policy in relation to teacher support in the case of difficult or disruptive students?
What facilities and materials do you make available to teachers and to students?
What contribution does the school make to teacher development?

But honestly, what your question is really asking is "How can I bovine excrement my way into an EFL job?" . Answer: easy, hundreds of thousands have done it. The person interviewing you is likely to be as smart as a carrot, and you'll pass the test if you seem to fulfill the one important category: exploitable.

Finally, a question for you: are you out of your mind? You are in a position to take up employment in the Scottish education system, which unless it has changed since I went to school there from age 5-16 is the best in the UK. Have a look at that first set of questions and have a think. Which is going to offer all those? Which isn't. It's your life, you decide.

[fluffyhamster]

[soapdodger]

And several million other people since its inception, who would likely agree, to say nothing of anyone in the UK involved in education, rather than EFL. Oh dear, Fluffyhamster, I do seem to have rattled your cage.