Job Discussion Forums

[TwinCentre]

Someone outside of TEFL asked me this the other day....what is the most common issue newbies enquire about in TEFL?

Teaching without a degree?

Teaching without CELTA/TESOL?

Americans trying to teach in the EU?

Is TEFL a valid Career?

Just some common themes, can anyone help....just out of curiosity?

[spiral78]

The easy travelling the world teaching and making pretty decent money myth persists and is still pretty popular....

Those persistent queries regarding 'where are the recruiters for Europe' are a reflection of this, I think.

Overall, I think the most common misconception is simply the degree to which native speakers are in demand worldwide. Newbs tend to think the world's still their oyster, when in fact the job markets everywhere are far more discerning than they used to be.

[smithrn1983]

Personally, I get asked about being an American and working in the EU, but that's probably because I am an American and I did work in the EU.

In general, though, I think the most common question is which certification to get. There are so many companies handing out tefl certs, it's hard to know which ones are worth the paper they're written on, and for a newbie it can be quite confusing.

I think if you took several teachers straight off the CELTA, Trinity, SIT, and some of the better generic courses, and observed all of their lessons, you probably wouldn't be able to tell who did which course.

[spiral78]

I think if you took several teachers straight off the CELTA, Trinity, SIT, and some of the better generic courses, and observed all of their lessons, you probably wouldn't be able to tell who did which course


From personal experience, I can agree with this. The distinction comes about when a newbie has no training - or only an online course. That's far more apparent in practice.

[Steinmann]

[spiral78]

Not if you're willing to work on getting qualified and experienced. There are still good opps out there, but it's not so easy as it used to be.

Think of starting off with a decent qual (CELTA or equivalent) and if you find you want to stay in the business, you'll probably need to plan for a DELTA and/or related MA in order to make a decent career of it.

I think that's fair enough....

[Guy Courchesne]

I get asked most frequently about work permits and how to land a job in Latin America (where schools rarely respond to email).

Echo Spiral up there btw on the career path...

[denise]

How can I get the best possible job with the fewest requirements? (Or variations thereof.)

d

[naturegirl321]

Probably how to get jobs, where to get certified, if certs and/or degrees are necessary, how much money to bring, which are good schools, which are bad schools.

All those are common questions that come up on the boards.

Oh, and Oxford Tefl seems to come up a lot as well.

[Glenski]

Most answers so far are pretty much dead on. Newbies seem to ask most often things like:

Where can I make the most money?
Where can I teach without a degree? (and how?)
What kind of certs are needed?

The sad thing is, even though there is a sticky in the Newbies section (or was, last time I looked) that tells newbies to provide certain background info, most do not, and we end up asking the same old background questions all over again.

Another problem newbies often provide is not telling the forum where they are interested in working, even if it includes more than one country.

Help us to help you, newcomers. Give us something to go on, read the FAQs if they are there, and at least try to do a search for answers to your questions. Chances are, in the 20 years that this forum has been active, you will find them.

And, don't bite our hands when we reply with the above questions or instructions, too.

Lastly, don't expect miracles or get upset if you don't fit the proper requirements for a job or visa. Many do get cranky about our responses along those lines, and they seem to expect loopholes where none exist.