Job Discussion Forums

DShek · Joined: 04 Jan 2008 Posts: 1

Hi everyone,

I'm Dan. Native English speaker, fluent Russian, broken French. I just graduated with a BS in BIO and a minor in writing. I was looking work in my field and I stumbled on ESL by mistake. This looks like it could be fun for a year or two. I've just got a few questions.

The job postings/offers seem very inconsistent. Some are written professionally, they mention everything from housing to salary and hours. Others seem like they want me to step off the plane so they can mug me and steal my passport. How does one go about verifying the legitimacy of all these offers?

I'm American (I had no choice in the matter), and all the high paying offers seem to be in the middle east. Are these jobs high paying because demand is so great, or because few people survive till the contracts over? (A bit tongue in cheek, just a bit).

I'd only be functional if I moved to a Russian speaking country. How ostracized would I be if I went to say Japan? It seems like it could be a fun experience, but I have absolutely no Asian language skills.

Having no language teaching background (I did teach bio for 2 years as a TA) would I qualify for most of the jobs I find listed? Do I need any of these certs? More importantly, would I actually be qualified for anything even if I was hired. I take teaching seriously and I would feel very bad if I thought I wasn't helping my students because I lacked legitimate qualifications. A piece of paper doesn't mean very much to me, but actually being able to help someone learn does. So, would I be out of place in that regard, if I were accepted?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions soon.

Thanks in advance. [/i]

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

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

In china, a BS/BA is enough, usually. If you have the interest, there are still places with a heavy russian influence, many russian speakers

tedkarma · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:50 am Post subject:

A couple suggestions:

Get yourself trained - at least some basic training such as a CELTA or a TEFL Cert. - then you'll have a better idea of how to do your job and will actually DO a better job.

Don't apply to language schools (I am assuming your major is biology?). Do a little research yourself - and apply specifically to colleges and universities with science, biology and medical (or related) programs.

You have a specialty and a special interest that you shouldn't waste - and it can help you land much better jobs than regular language school jobs. You'll also probably enjoy your work much more if you are teaching people with interests similar to yours. You might have to dig a bit more to find these jobs but it will be well worth your time.

Example: I have an MBA in addition to my M.Ed. and I have always enjoyed and preferred teaching business people - just much more interesting to me. And the business world changes much more frequently gives me material and fresh ideas on a daily basis. Same with the science world, no? General English teachers struggle regularly to find material that really interests and motivates their students - most people who teach specialties (English for Special Purposes) don't have that problem.

Additionally - college and university positions often have much longer vacations, much shorter work weeks - and tend to offer a better overall quality of life in the work setting (just my opinion). Though often wages aren't all that much better in a college or uni setting - you usually have enough free time to work a little on the side to improve that situation if you wish to.