Job Discussion Forums

[ugottahaveheart]

Hello,

I have been reading this forum for approximately two years but have not posted before. My children have finally left home, I am divorced and I have been waiting for this time in my life to follow my dreams. I would like to ask members of this board if 47 years of age is too old for a school to hire me to teach? I do not have very much debt and my belongings will be stored so that is not an issue. I am a bit worried that hiring managers will prefer younger teachers and would like to ask all here if they believe this is true?


I have a Master's in Business Administration with a undergraduate degree in psychology. I would like to teach business to adults but I think I will need to start by teaching wherever I can get hired since I have no experience. I think I will need at least one year of teaching experience before I can get an additional certification in business English.

There is a certification program here in Orlando called Oxford Seminars http://www.oxfordseminars.com/index.php and wondered if this would be a good place to get a certification. I think I have read here that there are two very good credentials that are recognized all over the world and I wondered if this school met the criteria in the same way or if I should bite the bullet and save for a trip to London in order to get that best certification possible?

I am willing to teach anywhere I must to get started but would prefer to be as close as possible to Geneva because I have a very dear friend there. I have thought about teaching in Morocco, Spain, Greece, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia or any of the Eastern European countries. I am not interested in going to Asia, but I will if I absolutely must in order to gain experience.

While I love cross-cultural interaction, tutored English voluntarily in graduate school 2004- 2006 and loved every minute of it, I don't want to lose my skills in business while I am away teaching and I would like to take some advanced accounting courses at the same time I am teaching. Is this possible? Has anyone here ever gone to school and taught at the same time?

I am sorry to ask you all so many questions but I really need honest advice and would greatly appreciate any and all input from experienced teachers.

Thank you all very much in advance.

Heart

[mozzar]

For someone who has been reading the forum for two years you're asking some questions that must have been answered at least half a dozen times a month since then.

[ugottahaveheart]

Yes, I do realized that I have read similar answers before, but since I have just moved and am surrounded by boxes, my brain seems to have frozen up quite a bit.

I do realize that I won't be able to work in Western Europe until and unless I get can get a job with a company that will sponsor me. If I am able to earn my master's in accounting combined with my MBA and teaching experience I think I may be able to get a work permit in the EU countries based on critical need.

However, to start, I must work in Eastern Europe or one of the countries like Bulgaria, Slovakia or perhaps Greece were I lucky.

I think I most wanted to know how others on the forum feel about my age and hiring practices?

Thank you very much for the information on the Oxford Seminar School. I will look for ways to obtain CELTA, Trinity or SIT.

It is a little bit overwhelming when I try to put all of this in order, but getting rid of house, household items and getting ready to go would likely cause anyone to be a bit discombobulated so please bear with me, I'll get my mind more focused as the order of the operations I must take in order to do this becomes clearer.

Thanks for your answer muzzar.

heart

[TeresaLopez]

I am in Mexico, so I am not sure if my answer applies the world over, but I am in a hiring positions, and I actually prefer older teachers. They tend to be more stable overall, and less likely to hit on students or try to teach class with a terrible hangover. There may be some people who won�t hire you based on your age, but there will be some others that will give you some preference for the same reason, so I suspect it all evens out. Are you considering Latin America at all? It�s a good place to get both training and a first job. With a year�s experience you�ll have a lot more options.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I agree with the above poster that CELTA, SIT, Trinity make the most sense if you're going to go through the work to get a cert.
Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Czech are probably the closest you'll get to Western Europe in the English teaching game (as an American, that is); actually, Morocco is possible as well.
Your age is not a factor!
Good luck.

[spiral78]

I do realize that I won't be able to work in Western Europe until and unless I get can get a job with a company that will sponsor me. If I am able to earn my master's in accounting combined with my MBA and teaching experience I think I may be able to get a work permit in the EU countries based on critical need.

As an accountant or a teacher? Teaching simply doesn't fall under 'critical need,' regardless of qualifications, unless you happen to have a specialist qual that some school specifically needs.

Consider getting certification in the country where you want to start teaching. This is quite feasible in Central/Eastern Europe - there are CELTA and other reputable programmes offered in many cities (Prague, for example, is a hotbed of training centres).

Training in-country offers you a great chance to get your feet wet in the country/culture while you still have a support system � they usually arrange for your housing during the course, airport pickup, and local orientation. Your practice teaching students will really be representative of those you�ll be working with when you start. You can be sure that your certification will be recognized by local employers, and a training centre can give you invaluable contacts and advice regarding reputable local employers.

[ugottahaveheart]

Thank you! spiral 78, I was hoping that you might take a few minutes of your time to answer me, as you do seem to shoot straight from the hip and tell everyone the truth as well as it can be seen. I think I read that you have obtained an EU work visa due to critical need Am I mistaken?

I love to teach, I love cross-cultural interaction and I love doing accounting and actuarial work. If I had my way, I would teach these subjects and business English, or become a trainer for a private firm doing business in the EU yet needing a person to teach business English to their employees.

With a CPA, MBA, Masters in Accounting and TEFL certification I think I would qualify under "critical need" for Accounting and would have acquired my "adaptability" points by teaching for a number of years in Eastern Europe. I have read that teaching in other locations does not "play' well with the European market.

I do realize that things are very different in both Eastern and Western Europe than in the US. I have quite a number of friends in Greece, Poland, Czech Republic and Switzerland so I've gotten a feel for the person to person relationship development that will be required.

A teaching salary would be quite sufficient for me as I am not a material person nor inclined to go out much and spend a lot of money, but I know I want to continue my education and will need to pay for courses toward my Accounting masters degree.

I wish I could find a way to combine these two more effectively and would love to believe that I could teach these courses, but after I spend a few years teaching and am approaching retirement age, I may want to stay in Europe and settle. It is possible to do this in Denmark or Brussels currently, so if I had to go back to simply working in accounting and teaching because I simply love to do so in my spare time I would probably be very happy.

I say these things because I am a very goal oriented person and know that it is likely that I will want to stay in one place sooner or later and that place may not include the US but may include the EU so I want to be prepared for all contingencies.

I have been looking at the Prague, Spanish and Greek schools. I would love to attend them, but find it hard to determine if they are offering the coveted Trinity, CELTA or SIT certifications.

I admit to being slightly intimidated by the thought of simply packing up and moving without a contract as a beginner. It can be a little overwhelming.

[ugottahaveheart]