Job Discussion Forums

[geekpie]

Quick question. I'm in the middle of my degree now. I'm realistically aiming for upper second class honours, however I'm of course aware of the fact that a grade isn't ever a sure thing, so how does getting say, a lower second class degree or even a third affect your chances of employment from experience? There have been news articles here in the UK for instance, stating that most employers do not consider applicants with anything less than an upper second to be worthy of further consideration.

[wangdaning]

So everyone else is out of work?

In China, where I am, they don't check/care (in general) about your level. Having the degree is enough.

[nickpellatt]

My degree doesnt even have a classification, and its enough to land me work. Often, the degree meets regulations for legal employment and visa. The rest of the package is what really counts. By this I mean experience, attitude and appearance, and related EFL qualifications.

For example, I believe a graduating student with a lower second class degree, but 12 months of teaching experience working with a charity to empower immigrants with English language skills, would be a heck of a lot more employable than a student with a first class honours degree and no experience. Same would apply with a lower class degree+Celta Vs first class degree.

If you are serious about EFL the long student holidays you enjoy would allow you to fit a CELTA/Trinity in somewhere, and the relatively few hours you have to study should make it possible to find some volunteer work in the sector.

Another thing to note, if you are considering China, many regions will insist on 2 years post degree work experience is required to qualify for a legal working visa.

[Isla Guapa]

US universities don't classify degrees the way British universities do, though if you do very well you may graduate *beep* laude, magna *beep* laude or even summa *beep* laude. I don't recall potential overseas employers interested in these details of my US *beep* laude degree, so I don't imagine they would be familiar with the various kinds of British degrees, a degree is a degree after all! IMHO if the OP ends up looking for work abroad after graduation, he shouldn't be concerned if he has ended up with less than upper second class honors, whatever that means.

[TeresaLopez]

I graduated with Honors and to the best of my knowledge it has never done a thing for me. I did, however, attend a fairly selective university, and I think THAT opened more doors for me than the other bit. I can�t recall anyone ever even mentioning it (graduating with Honors) or asking me hat it meant or, well, anything at all.

[Glenski]

Degree is a degree. If it's equal to or equivalent to what the employer wants (BA, MA, PhD), that's good enough. If an employer has a situation where he absolutely needs to differentiate between candidates who are otherwise exactly, precisely the same it might matter, but the odds of that are small.

[Isla Guapa]

I agree with Glenski. If overseas employers were going to differentiate applicants based on the "quality" of their degrees, they'd have to be conversant with the various degree-ranking systems current in the US, the UK, Canada, etc., etc.

[tttompatz]

[holoholo girl]

I'm American w/a MA in TESOL & my employer definitely wasn't concerned with my grades, let alone that I had a MA (I received all the highest marks BTW). All that was required was a BA, & a TESOL certificate. My MA TESOL with no previous full-time teaching experience means that I needed to start at the bottom & work up... and that's what I'm doing. Hope this helps

[Guerciotti]

[spiral78]

Some employers won't recognise an MA without teaching experience to back it up. It's not particularly fair, what holoholo girl describes, but it is true in some places.

relevant MA + experience SHOULD be recognised - if not, I simply woudn't take the job!

[Prof.Gringo]

There are many places where you don't even need a degree

[johntpartee]

[holoholo girl]

My thoughts on this subject so far (and I'm basing my thoughts on my workplace)

I think that when you work run an organization that doesn't offer teachers many benefits and low pay, you realize, as EL Dept administrators, that you will not get extremely qualified teachers so only expect teachers to stay around for a year or two- until they get enough experience to move on to somewhere else more desirable. Sure my boss is happy I have a MA TESOL, but it doesn't change things.

I fall into this category as I have my degree, but had no F/T experience teaching (until August), so I'm in this gray area where I have no choice but to accept my conditions. I'm just thankful I have some American savings to pay my student loans down, b/c I am basically paying to gain experience. My only benefit is that b/c I do have my MA, my boss knows I'm serious about this endeavor so tends to give me upper-intermediate classes (not young learners) b/c she knows I want to work at a university after I gain experience. I am wondering how long it will take to find a position where I can generate a suitable income for my (basic) needs.

I work for a well known organization throughout the Middle East & Maghreb countries, so it is not considered one of the 'typical' chain language schools- I think...

Perhaps this post should be on a different thread, but I considered it appropriate to have here.

[naturegirl321]

Class doesn't affect it, it goes
no degree
BA
MA
PhD

That's it!

SOME, very few places care about class, name of uni, etc, but for the most part, they couldn't be bothered.