Job Discussion Forums

[moosickboy1]

Does anyone know which US cities are the best for ESL jobs?

I'm currently teaching in Prague but I'm thinking about coming back the US next year. I'd like to continue working in ESL if possible.

[bonanzabucks]

I cannot speak for other cities, but I had an interview with this Korean-owned
ESL school here in Queens (NYC). I was looking to do some part-time work as I have another full-time job. Anyways, they asked me what I was looking for in terms of salary. I said I was looking to do this on the weekends and I assumed they'd pay between $12-$15/hr. The lady told me that the starting wage was $25/hr, which soon goes up to $30/hr. They were looking for someone FT, but the hours were supposedly flexible.

Don't know how others pay, though, but I was told it was a lot less than that.

[Vanica]

You can get a fast track to public school certification in New Orleans (TeachNOLA) and Memphis.

[fraup]

A lot of ESL jobs are at community colleges, which don't always advertise online except on their own websites. I'm in Kansas City, which has a lot of jobs, but when I was looking in 2005 I found nothing, and then in June 2006 suddenly there were a number of positions. Also, my dept. gets inquiries from other places around here, and these openings are then forwarded to all the instructors.

I'd pick about 5-10 possible cities and see what colleges/universities are in the area, and then check their employment needs. Also do a craigslist.com search under education jobs.

[ramble right]

Seattle is particularly popular for South Korean English students, and both Boeing and Microsoft are major companies that bring in decent numbers of foreign nationals year round. This makes for a solid private-student base.

Aside from that, however, Seattle's job market in general is tough for anyone, including teachers, that don't have years of experience and high credentials. A majority of Seattle's private or non-profit English language schools require teachers to have an MA in TESOL and a minimum of 5 years experience, whereas similar schools in, say, Los Angeles, do not.

There are of course many ESL programs that service the immigrant community, but finding good pay with these is highly unlikely. For newbies, these programs are a great way to obtain classroom experience at an entry level, but this is likely the case for any major US city.

[Noelle]

San Diego
San Diego

and
SAN DIEGO.

Great place for teaching and living... just beware the traffic and cost of living. Not as bad as L.A. though. A bit safer too.

[mishmumkin]

[MGreen]

I taught at Seattle Central Community College several years ago and if you can get into the system, it's not a bad gig. I made $48,000 (sans benefits), granted thats poverty level in Seattle.

Most of the Korean students study at Shoreline Community College.

The competition in Seattle is pretty tough, the ESL market is flooded with people who've taught a few years in Asia and university grads from the MA TESOL programs (University of Washington, Seattle Uni...)

Mishmumkin, if you haven't done it already, I'd join WAESOL (WA State TESOL). The Bill/Melinda Gates Foundation does some VESL/ABE.

[mishmumkin]

Thanks for the tip, MGreen. I'm joining them tonight!

[smadrie]

San Francisco is a very diverse area. There are lots of English learners with lots of backgrounds.

[comenius]

I can personally vouch for San Francisco and New York.

As you probably know, lots and lots of schools in the US have special programs set up for students to fly in for a semester to study. They're very popular for as much of the tourist/social/adventure aspect as much as the educational one.

Put yourself in the mind of a foreign tourist wanting to go on an extended educational holiday to the US and ask, "where would I want to go?" That will help you come up with a short list of the top spots.

Another method is to think of the cities with large immigrant populations. This group may overlap with the first to some degree, but will catch some other cities as well.

Of course when considering immigrant populations in different cities, you may want to consider which can best afford instruction. While there is certainly a demand from all immigrant groups to learn English, I assumed you need to earn money and eat and pay rent, and thus would not be able to just volunteer without a salary.

[Tiger Beer]

From what I can gather, it seems New York is about the best. Online searches always brings them to the top as well in choices and pay it seems.

However, as good as $25-30/hour sounds, its not too hard to find other work for the same pay that is much easier than teaching English and very solid block hours. (I use to do powerpoint presentations through a temp agency in Manhattan making $25/hour). Much easier work than ESL, and overtime is nearly $40/hour and easy work to do!

[dvavrina]

Hello,

I have taught ESL in Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia just outside D.C.

Despite what you might think, there really aren't many ESL teaching opportunities in the D.C./Northern VA area at all, unless you teach ESL in a public school. Also, the pay rate for ESL teaching in the D.C. area is not very good (unless, again, you are teaching at a public school)--and none of the schools I know of pay for prep time (except possibly Arlington, VA's Clarendon Education Center REEP program--I can't remember whether they pay for prep time or not). The ESL student population in the D.C. area is very heavily dominated by Latinos. The only non-college-related private ESL school I know of where this is not the case is the International Language Institute in Washington, D.C. In the D.C. area, I taught at the International Language Institute in D.C. in 2005, Sanz School in Falls Church, VA in 2005 and 2006, and LADO International College on Saturdays in 2006 (LADO requires teachers to have a high school diploma and either a TEFL Certificate or 6 months of prior ESL teaching experience). None of these schools paid for prep time and the highest-paying school was Sanz School, which upped its pay from $14/hr in 2005 to $16/hr in 2006 (Sanz School asks for 1 year of teaching experience, but doesn�t check up on it, and is always losing teachers, so will hire you, anyway). Similarly, within 2006, LADO increased its pay rate from approximately $12/hr to $14/hr. I can't remember exactly what ILI paid me, but I remember that I felt I would really need an extra part-time job in addition to my full-time job there in order to really make things meet economically. I believe that ILI's pay worked out to about $14/hr for 25 in-class teaching hours/week. The teachers and students at ILI were EXTREMELY extraverted and high energy--so, be prepared for that. Some of the other teachers were jerks; some of them were quite nice. The ILI teacher supervisor, Bonnie Dahnke, is great, and the course curriculums are very good. *Even though the pay rate was the highest, I would completely avoid teaching at Sanz School, which has always seemed to have dysfunctional administrators and students with major discipline problems. The pay isn't worth it, especially if you are going to find yourself looking for a job again one month later, due to the horrible students.* I haven't taught at Inlingua or International Media Academy in the area, but I have heard bad things about them (many of the LADO teachers I met had previously taught at Inlingua and hadn't liked it), so I would avoid them as well. The Arlington Education and Employment Program (REEP) has well-paying teaching positions at the Clarendon Education Center by the Clarendon subway stop, but you generally need a Master's degree in ESL teaching and a few years of experience abroad and at home (especially with adult immigrants) if you want to get a job teaching at the Center. Like most of the schools in the D.C. area, The Center caters to a very predominantly Latino student population. If you would like to find out more information about these schools, you can contact the schools themselves or you can e-mail me at [email protected].

However, I would definitely not move to the D.C. area to pursue teaching ESL, unless you are planning to do it at a public school--I know in Virginia that you need to have successfully passed at least 6 ESL teaching college courses before you can get certified to teach ESL in Virginia.

I now live in Boston, MA. I moved here at the very end of 2006. As you may know, Boston is like the college capital of the United States. There are many, many more ESL schools/programs in Boston, even though it is a much smaller city, and I think this may have to do with the fact that many international students move here with the plan of attending Harvard University or MIT or one of the other numerous colleges here after they take ESL classes to learn or brush up on their English. Unlike the ESL schools/programs in D.C., many of the ESL employers in the Boston area pay for some prep time. The pay rates are also much better, usually in the range of $18-$22/hr (although the cost of living is much higher in the Boston area, so this should be expected). Although I have done some ESL job-hunting and interviewing in Boston, I have not taught ESL here--I am now pursuing other things--but you can find a good (albeit somewhat out-of-date) list of Boston area ESL employers at http://www.geocities.com/athens/parthenon/4148/private.html or by doing a Google search for "Boston ESL presents." Another great source of ESL jobs in Boston is the University of Massachusetts--Boston's ABE (Adult Basic Education) e-mail distribution list, which regularly sends out e-mails about ESL teaching openings, which may not be advertised on Craig's List.

Both Washington, D.C. and Boston have good public transportation systems with subways and buses, but be sure to find a place close enough to the city and on a good bus line or near a subway station to ensure that your commuting is livable. You can check this out by typing a home address and work address into the Trip Planners of www.wmata.com for the D.C. metro area or www.mbta.com for the Boston area.

Again, I would avoid Washington, D.C. On the other hand, Boston offers a great number of jobs (and the ESL student population here is more Asian--like I heard San Francisco�s is--especially when it comes to the private ESL schools). If you check the Craig�s List job ads under �Education� for these 2 cities, you will see the immense difference. I'd have to tell you, though, that the cost of living is actually more expensive here in the Boston area than in the D.C. area, where you can easily live in the less-expensive VA or MD suburbs and commute to D.C. The D.C. area offers far many free, quality events/attractions, whereas in Boston there is a hefty price tag for almost everything. Also, Boston's weather is honestly the pits (very cold for much of the year and sweltering in the summer), a huge difference from the D.C. area, which has great weather most of the time.

If you want to teach ESL and don't have a car, though, Boston would be a good city to check out. I would ask about potential employers� teaching experience/credential requirements before moving to pursue a possible ESL teaching job.

-Dan
[email protected]

[Sadebugo]

San Antonio, TX!!!

Many colleges/universities with ESL programs due to its proximity to the border.

Also, DLI employs about 200 ESL teachers for the federal government at Lackland AFB.

Sadebugo
Djibouti, Horn of Africa
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/

[timothypfox]

I'd like to weigh in on my own employment experience in New York City.

I do not want to mince words so I'll get right to the point for those of you considering returning from overseas and continuing what seems to be a promising ESL career. Some quick advise for returnees from overseas - that US (and Canadian) jobs tend to be paid by the hour. Having more credentials and experience can give you a bigger starting salary - but sometimes the hourly pay is just a reflection of the industry trend in the city you are in.

I taught adult ESL in NYC at Manhattan Language Institute, GEOS Language Institute, and Aspect Inc. (now bought out by Kaplan). My salary at these places based on teaching overseas in Japan for 2 years and teaching ESL in Montreal for 2 years ranged from $18-21 per hour.

Note that for any of the language schools - vacations are elective and will be without pay. GEOS was the only one to help out with public transit costs. None provided dental or health insurance.

I was able to pay the rent in my apartment in live in expensive New York only by subsidizing my income with student loans while doing an MA in International Relations...

Other colleagues of mine, could make ends meet by working at one school in the day, and another at night. Some did weekend teaching as well. At one point, I even taught privates at coffee shops.

Colleagues of mine who had a MA or MS in Education or TESOL already fared better as they could get something more in the order of $25 or $30 per hour to be a sessional adjunct professional (with no guarantee of rehire) to teach at a community college or university for a semester. They also did about the same teaching at community centers.

Administrative jobs also exist at adult language schools that give a modest salary and some benefits - an MA and/or seniority in an adult language school would help you get one of these positions.

Essentially, ESL language schools have work - but because there are a lot of teachers here - the demand is less than the supply. They will retain senior teachers for steady hours - but you may have to work at more than one school to start.

For returnees for overseas, I strongly consider getting certified to teach public school if you plan to be in Manhattan or even the US or Canada for a while. There are alternate certification programs across the US that give you a job and pay for you to do a masters degree at the same time. It is backbreaking work - but it can be rewarding once you're done your masters.

I now work in a public school and am doing an alternate certification program called NYCteaching fellows. You can google this if you are really interested. It gave me a minimum starting salary of 42K a year with healthcare, paid dental, paid vacations, and great retirement income on the condition that I also do a subsidized MS in Education at the same time.