Job Discussion Forums

[mcloo7]

Hello, this is my first post and Ive been thinking about TEFL for a couple months. I don't have any specific career goals at the moment and am thinking that TEFL could be a good thing to do while getting a chance to travel and gain experiences etc. I am wondering if the fact that you taught English abroad is impressive to potential employers and/or post grad school administration. I would think it would be because it shows alot of courage, self-reliance, and initiative. I'm not particularly thinking about applying for any specific jobs or grad schools at the time, I'm just wondering if TEFL opens up doors for things in the future and looks good on resumes. And I don't mean just the eduaction field, I mean any field really. Thank you.

[Glenski]

[denise]

I agree with Glenski. It all depends on what field you want to go into when you return home and what sort of teaching you do while you're abroad. You don't mention your current qualifications/work experience, but I'm going to guess you've got a BA in an unrelated field and no teaching experience. That would qualify you only for entry-level work (maybe not even that, without a TEFL certificate--you should look into getting one if you're serious about this). Entry-level work could just be leading conversations, teaching children, etc.--what skills can you gain from those? Possibly public speaking, discipline/management, etc.

If your job allows you to do more--design your own materials, possibly get into editing/translating, give presentations at in-house workshops, use or design on-line materials, etc.--you can mention those skills. Whether or not they will be useful to you, however, depends a lot on what field you're going into.

I've read threads here from people in IT/computer-related fields who say that spending a year or so abroad can actually HURT you because you come back behind the times, not aware of or using the latest technologies. In such cases (and in any fields that change rapidly), coming back and talking about how much you learned about yourself and the world, the great people skills that you learned, etc., probably won't help.

d

[spiral78]

I also agree with Glenski. If you can somehow demonstrate that you've learned or practiced something abroad that's directly beneficial to a potential employer, fine. But that's definitely not a given!

[Justin Trullinger]

Similar to others, I'm of the opinion that there are very few things that are impressive to employers and grad school deciders in "any field." It depends a heck of a lot on your field.

If teaching is your field, then yes, GOOD EFL will look good on a grad school app. But Glenski's comments are right on- not all EFL work is ideal for all other teaching work.

One thing that tends to help on grad school apps in a lot of fields, though by no means all, is getting a language. If you have a second language, that's a small bonus whether applying to law school or business school.

You have to work at it though- just "picking it up" takes longer than you're planning to spend.


Best,
Justin

[mcloo7]

Thanks for the replies. Denise got my qualifications pretty right on. I have a BA in English with no relevant work experience to teaching. I would get a cert before I would embark on this. Any recomendations? Also, I'm talking about mainly the humanities field when I ask about potential future employers and grad school. Psychology, social work etc. I would thing travel experience would be good for these things because its life experience that a lot of average Americans don't have.

[Chancellor]

[Glenski]

[Justin Trullinger]

The problem with "life experience most people don't have" is that it may be hard to see the relevance.

Get a language, though- Spanish would be a big help in social work in a lot of areas right now...



Best,
Justin

[mcloo7]

I'm not interested in TEFL for long-term, I haven't even tried it once yet. I think forgeign travel naturally makes a person more wise and gives them a better worldview. Some of you may have examples of people who have spent time abroad and do not fit this bill, but I'm talking about the average. I remember for college applications teachers always telling students to talk about any foregin travel experience. If I was an employer and I had a good candidate who spent some time abroad, I would be impressed.

As for an example of how foriegn travel could be relevant to social work or psychology I don't see how you could not see the relevance. It puts you more in touch with reality, gets you out of the scope of your narrow worldview, gives you more empathy for other people, other cultures etc. All making you a wiser, more well-rounded person. Wouldnt that be a therapist you'd want to see? Not that I necessarily want to be a therapist, it's just an example. Foriegn travel is also known to be good for creativity, which is good for everything.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

extensive foreign travel along with some other more substantial job experience is something I see as impressive on a resume. Unfortunately not all employers back in our home countries see it this way. To share the same view as us, they actually have to have experienced it i think, otherwise all this foreign travel on our resumes is meaningless to them.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

If the job experience is related, then it's something employers will pay attention to. If it isn't, then they won't.

And if the job experience is teaching English in conversation schools, then unless you're working in as a teacher, or maybe an international student officer, then that won't really count as 'substantial job experience'. It's like saying, 'Hi, I just spend the last fifteen years stocking shelves full-time at home depot. Now I'd like a job as a systems analyst, please. No. I have no computer training. But come on maaan, I have ***FIFTEEN YEARS*** experience in full-time work.'

[jdl]

mcloo7,
Why not try the survey functon on this forum to get an idea of how many esl teachers have gained employment in their 'home' countries as a result of their 'foreign' experience? You may want to include other factors such as quality of references, continuity and longevity of work service with one employer, work experience in credible institutions, worker contribution to the employing institution etc.

You may find that the quality of the experience is of more importance to potential 'home side' employers than the quantity or variety. In other words, travel alone may not make the traveller.

As an employer in education 'home side', I have recruited personnel specifically with foreign/cross cultural experience for exactly some of the reasons you have identified. I was especially diligent in this recruitment area having worked in the foreign esl world myself and knowing first hand the rather negative publicity/reputation/image, warranted or not but definitely in need of address that long term esl instructors share as a group.

Assuming you have teaching as a carreer path and are looking to foreign esl teaching as a sojourn for resume purposes, make it a short (1-3 years) and fruitful one. If you are looking to esl as a career, take is seriously and get the academic qualifications that a career demands. If you just want the experience, give it a go for a year; but, do not expect prospective employers to be too terribly impressed with your 'gap year' type experiences unless they are focused and rooted in a career plan 'home side'.

[Chancellor]

[mcloo7]

knowing first hand the rather negative publicity/reputation/image, warranted or not but definitely in need of address that long term esl instructors share as a group.


What is the negative reputation? Is it being known as drifters, vagabonds, etc?