Job Discussion Forums

Susie A · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Melbourne, Australia

Hi there

I am a newbie, so, I must firstly apologise for posting this question in the Australia/NZ forum. I have posted a question in the Newbie forum and received great advice there but am now seeking some more Australia-specific info.

I am currently working in Human Resources but am considering a career change. ESL teaching is an area that really interests me. I am 27 yo, I have a Bach of Commerce and a Bach of Arts and I live in Melbourne, Australia.

My plan is to complete the CELTA later this year. I am also considering applying for the Grad. Dip. in Education next year.

My question is this: how hard would it be to find work in Australia in a private language school with only the CELTA and volunteer tutoring experience? If I wanted casual work while completing the Grad. Dip. in Education (a 1 yr course), do you think there is a good chance or finding it or is it wishful thinking on my part to think that this is a possibility?

Thank you to anyone who has any advice on this question.

Susie
Very Happy

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

Hi Susie,

I did the CELTA in Brisbane in July last year, and quite a few of my colleagues ended up getting work in Australia, some with prior teaching experience, some without. I think the only kind of job you are likely to get is a casual one, so that could be right for what you want! My friends initially started doing relief shifts, or trial days and then the time given to them eventually increased.

I don't know what the Melbourne job market is like, but there are lots of Japanese and Korean students in Brisbane, so there is often a fair amount of work going, in comparison to the rest of the country.

Good luck!
Lozwich.

KCA420 · Joined: 08 Apr 2004 Posts: 54

Susie A · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Melbourne, Australia

Hi KCA420

Thank you very much for your response.

This may be a really silly question but can you explain to me the benefits of a Grad. Cert. TESOL as opposed to a Grad. Dip. in Education? I know that the Grad Dip. in Education would enable me to teach in a secondary school in Australia but I don't know how highly it would be valued (compared to a Grad Cert TESOL) if I wanted to pursue ESL teaching as a career in Australia outside of the secondary school system.

Also, do you think that the Grad. Dip. in Education would be of any real benefit if I do want to teach overseas in terms of the types of jobs that would be available to me and the money I could earn?

Thank you.

Susie

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

KCA420 · Joined: 08 Apr 2004 Posts: 54

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

How likely is it that an experienced non-Australian with a bachelors and a TEFL Certificate can find work at a language school?
I'd love to work in Aus for a year but my understanding is that the ESL market is pretty slim right now... Crying or Very sad

KCA420 · Joined: 08 Apr 2004 Posts: 54

MyraG · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 4:35 am Post subject: working in aus

I was a language teacher in Cairns for 2 years/ part time casual. I am a local Cairnsite having done my degree and CELTA.
It helps if you have your baCHELOR OF eDUCATION, It helps if you are there at the right time when they are busy, unless they love you (owner and students ) you will not get permanent work. If you have done o/s time it helps, if you are a backpacker and want only short time that is good too. But it is a fickel industry, but boy do I love the country
Mainly it is getting called at an hours notice and then if you turn up and can rearrange your life they will keep you on till the split second they dont and they will spit you out.

Im in Chins now, I enjoy teaching more but boy I miss the country

deezy · Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:16 pm Post subject:

To work at a TAFE or uni teaching now you are required to have a Cert IV in Assessment and Workplace Training, EVEN if you have a degree, PhD, whatever. I know because my husband had to get the qual. in a rush, and there was a big hoo hah about it at RMIT as teachers/lecturers felt it was 'below' them (and rightly so in most cases). It's an easy course to take, I took it and it's mainly common sense and rather patronising to people who have taught the communicative way already. (Costs about $800). You can still get work without it in some TAFEs like out in Whoop Whoop or Upper Kumbucca, but it's virtually impossible to get anything.

I did my CELTA several years ago at Holmesglen and it was an excellent course. I am still in touch with my main trainer, Bessie, as she is doing a paper on "Is there Life after CELTA" and I am one of her 'subjects' so to speak. The last intake of students she had, she told me, had no intention of travelling but wanted to teach locally. Well..of the 15 of us who did the course several years ago, I am in touch with the ones who are teaching overseas, and that is 3 of us...the rest have not worked in ESL/EFL anywhere. Seems like a real waste of money and time to me.

On the positive note, you can get lots of community teaching, volunteer work, and that can get you into paid teaching eventually. A couple of private schools I applied to were very complimentary about my resume and said they would 'put me on their reserve list' but I didn't hear a dickybird. I ended up teaching Business Systems, Communication and documentation, HR Management etc., at a TAFE, which is not what I wanted to do but heck, it was a job...and it turned out that most of the people I was teaching were Chinese!!

If ONLY I could do what I'm doing here in China, in Melbourne! I miss so much about the Aussie way of life, not to mention my husband! Crying or Very sad

deezy