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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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 Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Chancellor wrote: |
| ssjup81 wrote: |
| Chancellor wrote: |
| ssjup81 wrote: |
| Yeah, I did. Wish it were closer to me, though. Anyway, I was talking about that too. I meant it in a general sense. I need a job. I have bills that need to be paid...like my maxed out credit card bill and my student loans. The loans are being deferred. The credit card bill just isn't being paid at all, which sucks since I always had such a nice credit score (700s). |
www.usajobs.gov |
I've been going there for a long time (I've been out of full time work since 2007 when the recession hit). I still do but it's discouraging. Going by my expertise, though, I don't qualify for the majority of the jobs. I might know how to do the work because of the educational background, but I lack the experience implementing it. |
Sometimes you can substitute experience for education. Of course, you might also have to set your sights on lower paying jobs. You might also consider expanding your search a bit to consider jobs that you might otherwise have considered beneath you.
Welcome to 1970s America redux. |
I've been doing that forever, jobs "beneath me" and applying to them. I don't care about pay, as long as I'm making something. I have always had a tough time finding a job! Ever since I was young. I've never had a long-term job. Work always either ran out, or I only was able to land temp work. I've never had a full-time job with benefits or perks or anything like that. I even applied to Wal-Mart, and they rejected me saying I was "overly qualified". I just don't get it. |
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jterry
Joined: 27 Aug 2009
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you, Chancellor and coledavis, for the thoughtful responses and information.
I could almost swear that I saw something earlier on the TEFL Institute website about how their program has been approved by the University of Chicago and some other universities. I went back to the site looking for that information or any other mention about whether the program is "accredited" and I seem to have trouble pulling that up again. I suppose I could speak to a representative/advisor from the TEFL Institute, but I'm not sure if she would still give me the most honest information, due to obvious business reasons.
In the past weeks, I have spoke to one such person on the phone, who did happen to assure me that their professors are of university-level quality.
I've also been looking for job boards in places I would like to teach to see if particular certificates are required to land jobs there.
I am assuming this is the best way to approach this sort of time/money investment? |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| jterry wrote: |
Thank you, Chancellor and coledavis, for the thoughtful responses and information.
I could almost swear that I saw something earlier on the TEFL Institute website about how their program has been approved by the University of Chicago and some other universities. I went back to the site looking for that information or any other mention about whether the program is "accredited" and I seem to have trouble pulling that up again. I suppose I could speak to a representative/advisor from the TEFL Institute, but I'm not sure if she would still give me the most honest information, due to obvious business reasons.
In the past weeks, I have spoke to one such person on the phone, who did happen to assure me that their professors are of university-level quality.
I've also been looking for job boards in places I would like to teach to see if particular certificates are required to land jobs there.
I am assuming this is the best way to approach this sort of time/money investment? |
No, contact someone at the University of Chicago to see if the University recognizes/approves the TEFL Institute course. Don't take the word of a course provider when it comes to who accredits or approves of them or whatever: always go to the source.
For example, one of the reasons I chose the course that I took was that it was recognized by the government of Canada (the government issues its own certification certificate if you also have a four-year degree from a Canadian university or a degree that has been evaluated by a government-recognized degree evaluation service like the one at the Univeristy of Toronto). I also chose it because it had both an online component (because there was no way my employer was going to let me take four weeks off from work, and only an idiot or someone who likes being in precarious situations would quit a 75K/year job just to take a course without any guarantee of a job afterward) and an on-site supervised teaching practice with real ESL students (there was not only 10 hours of supervised teaching practice but, before that, 10 hours of observing ESL teachers). If you're interested, the course information can be found at www.ontesol.ca. |
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Cubic09
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 66
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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Many of the posters here have asserted the benefits of obtaining an ESL qualification in the country in which you wish to teach. The OP has indicated a particular interest in teaching in Japan.
In my humble opinion, this route involves a great deal of risk and expense...what really are the benefits of this? Many of the posters assert that studying in the teaching country enables you to get a feel for the teaching methods and job opportunities in the country concerned.
But what if there are few job opportunities there? Many of these threads describe the dearth of opportunities in Japan at present, so to up sticks and move there, and having to pay for an airfare and living costs on the off-chance that you will find full-time work seems like an exercise in futility. Why would you give up gainful employment in your home country to 'take a punt' in a country you have never been to before?
I would be interested to hear of the experiences of the posters who do assert the advantages of this approach, and whether they have done this themselves with any success. Of more interest would be hearing from those who have adopted that approach recently, in today's flooded ESL market...particularly in Japan. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Cubic09 wrote: |
Many of the posters here have asserted the benefits of obtaining an ESL qualification in the country in which you wish to teach. The OP has indicated a particular interest in teaching in Japan.
In my humble opinion, this route involves a great deal of risk and expense...what really are the benefits of this? |
Benefits of getting certification in the country where you work, or benefits of certification overall?
As for the former, the main benefit is that you don't have to relocate for such training. Saves money.
As for the latter, it depends on one's long-term goals.
| Quote: |
| But what if there are few job opportunities there? Many of these threads describe the dearth of opportunities in Japan at present, so to up sticks and move there, and having to pay for an airfare and living costs on the off-chance that you will find full-time work seems like an exercise in futility. Why would you give up gainful employment in your home country to 'take a punt' in a country you have never been to before? |
Whether there is a dearth of job opportunities or not, the person has to decide for themselves whether certification will be useful in the long run, IMO. As for your last question above, that's a personal choice, don't you think?
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| I would be interested to hear of the experiences of the posters who do assert the advantages of this approach, and whether they have done this themselves with any success. Of more interest would be hearing from those who have adopted that approach recently, in today's flooded ESL market...particularly in Japan. |
I got a TESL certification over 10 years ago just before I came to Japan. My major was not related to teaching, and despite having pretty good knowledge of English, I felt the cert would help me. I would have to say it had many weaknesses (even though it involved 8 courses over several months, some twice a week in night classes and some in week-long intensive training), but overall it was useful. |
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Cubic09
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 66
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
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| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:22 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| Whether there is a dearth of job opportunities or not, the person has to decide for themselves whether certification will be useful in the long run, IMO. As for your last question above, that's a personal choice, don't you think? |
I'm not questioning the benefit of an ESL certification, but the benefit of getting that certification in the country in which you wish to teach. The benefits seem dubious at best; the risks multiple. Glenski, your often repeated refrain has been that the Japanese market is flooded right now, which would suggest that the OP would have trouble finding work.
Is that a personal choice? Sure it is, but one that should be taken as an informed decision, just like any other. |
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Cubic09
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 66
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
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| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:24 am Post subject: |
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