Job Discussion Forums

[Scarlet_UK]

Hi there,
Firstly please forgive me if this is in the wrong place.
Well, a bit of background information.. I am currently teaching in Korea but my contract finishes at the end of this year. I want to start my PGCE in September 2010 and I plan on staying in the UK throughout January 2010 for (hopefully!) PGCE interviews and volunteering at a school there, but after that I will be free until September.
During this time I would love to teach elsewhere. I got my BA degree last year and a Trinity Cert TESOL. The only other country I have worked in is Poland, so I am really open to anywhere, but the problem is that unfortunately I would be unable to fulfill a one-year contract because of time constraints so I am looking for somewhere suitable to only work for 5/6 months.
I'm not so bothered about pay; I have been saving hard in Korea so as long as I am able to survive on the wage elsewhere it's not too much of an issue. Just finding a job would be great!.. My dream would be to work in Hungary or Thailand (quite different I know but both very appealing for various reasons), but honestly absolutely any part of the world sounds exciting to me. Therefore I'm wondering if anyone has suggests on countries/schools/websites etc which are good for short term contracts, and all and any advice to impart.
Thank you!

[naturegirl321]

You might be able to find a six month position, try www.eslbase.com, tefl.com or here at Dave's.

[parrothead]

I reckon a six month position is doable. You could also try summer jobs or work at several institutes to make ends meet. Alternatively, you could string together enough privates to get by.

[Scarlet_UK]

Thank you for your replies guys; are there any countries you could specifically recommend for short term contracts though?

[naturegirl321]

China, Japan, Korea, the UK, Italy, Spain, Mexico

[Scarlet_UK]

Hmmm. Thanks again naturegirl, you've been very helpful to me with regards to ESL, but none of those choices sound too appealing! Here in Korea some friends have recently tried to find 6 months contracts and there haven't actually seemed to be many about. Don't like China, spent the last 21 years of my life in the UK, and don't speak Italian or Spanish (only French and German) so would feel silly teaching in the last two places when so many others could be in my place! Not had much luck at all finding short term contracts on the websites so far but I'll look again closer to the time.

[naturegirl321]

Hungary and Thailand, hm? I' don't think that they have many summer camps. here's what you COULD do. Apply to jobs there and tell them that you only want to work 6 months. Some may be flexible and offer you a shorter contract. It's sure worth a try.

[Glenski]

Japan is really not the place to go for short-term contracts. Takes very special circumstances. The OP mentions PGCE and the UK, so I assume they are British, which might make them eligible for a working holiday visa. That alone is special enough for some PT work immediately upon entering the country, and that might (but not necessarily) be short-term. Want a FT job for the work visa, though, and you're not going to find a heckuva lot of short-term contracts.

[Scarlet_UK]

Yeah, only Westgate sprang to mind. That's okay though, I enjoyed Japan on vacation and met many ESL teachers there but I'm not so keen. Maybe after living in London followed by Seoul I wouldn't mind downscaling slightly.
Thanks for the tip about applying but asking for shorter contracts, I will have to try that! But if anyone ever does see any shorter term contracts in, for example, Thailand in the future (I've seen a few but with pretty much immediate start dates and I won't be heading off for a few months yet) do let me know