Job Discussion Forums

[lm_shanny]

Seeking opinions pleases!

Im currently in the final year of my B.A in Ireland finishing in May. Im planning on coming to Thailand in October as ill have to hang around to get my hands on the degree. The SEE tefl course in Chiang Mai will finish 12th November. Ive heard that school term generally runs from November and this is the best time to pick up a job, is the 12th a little too late to have the maximum chance of acquiring a job? I would try to get there earlier if it would be beneficial to my chances of getting a job.

Thanks in advance for any help i may recieve!!

p.s-How would you rate my chances of getting a job as a 22 year old Irish male with a B.A in Economics and Geography and the Tefl Cert or are my just kidding myself?

[Pauleddy]

Be careful!

I only know about Uni terms, but the second semester does not start in Nov. It starts around 1st Oct. The first semester starts about May 25-June 1st.

I had always understood that the school terms start a bit before, and that the 2nd school term starts in Sept. I wait to be corrected.

You need to decide which sector you want (school, lang academy etc.) and mindful of which will take you on as a new TEFL grad. A "hungry for staff" state school in booniesville may take you. A posh private high school with posh salary won't take u unless you a a "real" teacher with bags of experience. Read all of the posts here about downsides, visas and all.

Google stickman bangkok and go to the Teaching in Thailand section. Useful.

You will probably get a job somewhere, but yr options are more limited as a new tefl-er and, anyway, there are fewer jobs now.

Good luck

Eddy

[MaiPenRai]

Language schools are almost always hiring, but at the bottom of the ladder, these jobs rarely pay well, have guaranteed hours, and/or have little job security (no visa sponsership and/or no work permit. i.e. you will be working illegally with no legal recourse if you get screwed).

Government or public schools begin the second semester near the end of October or early Nov. Not all schools have the same start/finish dates, but the majority will follow the Nov-March and May-Sept schedule with October and April being term breaks.

Eddy has filled you in on Uni schedules, but at your age with no experience, it will be tough getting a job at a Uni (maybe a Rajabat which is like a tech school or community college). Again most bottom of the ladder Uni jobs dont pay well (less than public schools in fact in many cases)

If you really want a job, you could always take a TEFL cert. with a course provider that has a guaranteed job on completion. These are usually at less desirable schools and/or outside of major cities.

At 22, with a B.A and TEFL cert, you will be able to find work, but you will probably have to spend some time in the trenches until you can begin competing for the better jobs. Try ajarn.com for job openings in Thailand. You will most likely not have the option of being picky about locations, salary or work environment.

Expect to make between 30,000-40,000 baht/month. If you are lucky and in the right place at the right time, you may land in the 40-45,000 range. It's possible to make more by doing private classes or taking part-time evening and/or weekend classes at a language school, but then you are working 6-7 days a week and maybe 10-12 hours a day. I don't know about others, but I didn't come to Thailand to work those kind of hours and still not make a lot of money.

I would suggest that you start applying for jobs during your TEFL couse and may find that a school is willing to wait a week or so for you to finish your course. Also you will probably be able to pick at the scraps from jobs that were not filled and/or jobs at schools that didn't plan and advertised late for teachers (it happens more than you would think here). You will probably see a few "urgent/start now" type jobs in November.

Good luck.