Job Discussion Forums

[danny80]

I've been reading the other posts and have found some good info. I don't have a bachelors degree, and getting one is not going to happen anytime soon. I'm planning on getting a TEFL/TESOL certificate probably in February, and would like to move down to Mexico sometime late March early April. I'll have enough money to get by for a couple of months while I look for employment.

My questions is can you get a job in Mexico with only a TEFL certificate?

I would guess a job at a university is out of the question, which is fine with me. Is a private language school a possibility?

[Professor]

Try one of the low paying, cheap language schools.

Harmon Hall: may pay you between 70 to 80 pesos and hour. Two week training without pay. No way to know how many hours you'll get.

Wall Street Institute: DO NOT work for them. They have had financial problems and don't pay ontime.

Interlingua: 41 pesos an hour. 3 or 4 week training course which they claim to pay you 1,500 pesos for. What they don't tell you is that they take it back from your check once you start working for them. Translation...4 weeks training without pay.

Quit Learning: A COMPLETE JOKE. You'll have to be a religious nut to work there, plus they discriminate against foreigners.

Berlitz: 75 pesos an hour if you're lucky. Not sure about the training.

Hamer Sharp: Small organization with #$%^ for pay. Stay away from them.

Make sure you bring a nice chunck of change and save some of it to make sure you can get back home. Serious, keep enough for the flight back. Good luck in Mexico...you'll need it.

[Prof.Gringo]

[Professor]

[Professor]

www.ihmexico.com

[Prof.Gringo]

[Samantha]

Yes you can get a job with only a TEFL or TESOL certificate. Ignore the crap posted here and decide for yourself.

[Phil_K]

Just to say too that a language school that doesn't pay medical cover, Christmas bonus, profit share, etc is NOT breaking the law as long as you are not on the payroll. Most of these schools require receipts from you, therefore you are effectively self-employed.

This policy is understandable as the majority of the schools are not too fussy about their teacher selection and find that many teachers don't sty too long. Also, as they are unable to offer fulltime hours, they are Ok with you working in other places at the same time. The work involved with setting up these benefits is not worth it under these circumstances. This is a fair policy, and one I use myself.

[Professor]

[Professor]

[Prof.Gringo]

[Professor]

[Professor]

[gregd75]

I am certain that you'd be able to get a job with a TEFL / TESOL certificate and without a degree. I really don't think you should worry about not having a degree.

My advice would be to look around very carefully for the RIGHT certification course. Someone mentioned a cheap online course- well, if you have experience teaching (other subjects), or maybe coaching at work or the likes, then I'd suggest an online course would be fine. If, however, you have limited teaching experience, then a course such as a CELTA course which provides you with real classroom teaching would be a huge benefit.

It also depends on how serious you are about teaching- do you want to teach in Mexico because you want to travel? Because you are in love with a Mexican and he/she brings you here and you've got nothing else that you can do? Do you see yourself teaching in the long term?

Bear in mind that the minimum wage here is something in the region of $50 a day. I'm not saying this because I think you should be paid $50 a day, but it can provide perspective when you see posts mentioning low wages. This brings us to an important consideration.. where you plan to teach. I think there are ups and downs of each city and region, but regardless of what is written here, you should find a place that you're most comfortable with- big city vs small town, desert weather vs tropical weather, industrial place vs touristy place etc etc

My final piece of advice concerns your resum� - please spend serious time writing your resum�. Make sure its tailored to employers looking to hire teachers. Emphasise: teaching experiences- it doesn't matter if you just helped the local Sunday school at church- some experience is better than NO experience! management skills maybe you planned a local event, or helped on the student newspaper etc - it shows you have skills to organise professionalism for example you were given extra responsibilities at work or school...

I say all this because recruiters are looking for candidates with specific attributes. I guess each recruiter looks for different attributes, but try to imagine what you'd look like as a successful teacher. Try to think about the qualities and then look back over your experiences and achievements and emphasise these skills in your resum�

Its a very very competetive job market out there at the moment.

BUT.... Mexico is a superb country to come live, teach and experience so I wish you lots of GOOD LUCK!

[Prof.Gringo]