Job Discussion Forums

[ttxor1]

[simon44]

Why limit yourself to teaching EFL/ESL? IMHO, you will always be competing with a million (maybe slight exaggeration here) other similar teachers for a mediocre job.

[Otterman Ollie]

Simon,,, in a small way I can relate to what you just wrote, been doing this for close to 20 years but had nothing but a trusting right arm loaded up with suitcases when I started. Cannot and wouldnot think of working back in the U.K esp in this line of work, thankless and very poorly paid, life is much sweeter and the cost of living cheaper on the Turkish Aegean. Tell the OP he needs to leave the country and get a life elsewhere, anywhere except Russia, love the vodka and the women, hate the weather and the food!

[Hod]

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

[Hod]

I agree that people tend to use the internet to vent negativity, but my point is that very few (two?) ex-teachers regularly post on this forum. There are untold numbers of former TEFLers out there faring better or worse than during their teaching days. Who knows? The fact that they don't post on here leads to the unnatural concentration I mentioned.

[lucifer911]

the reason for this is simple. Forums give people a safe place to vent usually without risk of any repercussions at all. Notice people do not post their real names here so its obvious people can post whatever they want and it would not have a negative impact on day to day life. I take negativity with a grain of salt.. unless I am receiving a similar opinion from a wide range of sources outside this forum.

[revilo]

So is anyone willing to say that things will get better if you don't have a backup career?

[spiral78]

Sure. Recipe for success:

Find a place you genuinely like, and where EFL offers at least a few upper-level opportunities, beyond the entry/newbie level.

Upgrade your qualifications, develop local contacts and a good local reputation.

Better jobs will eventually come your way, and in most places, pay and benefits will ultimately be enough to live reasonably well.

[Teacher in Rome]

It also depends on your level of comfort with risk. A back-up plan is a good idea (at least for me) because then you know that if it all goes horribly wrong you've got a Plan B. But how radical should that plan be? For example, I think it's highly unlikely that I could just walk into an alternative career (say back in the UK) after having taught for so long. My back-up plan would be something like contacting Spiral and begging for a job - or flying to Asia where I know I could pick up work from day one.

I think at a certain point you have to have faith that you'll be able to make it - and then you can start putting all your energy into making it happen, through getting quals and experience, building contacts, learning all you can, etc.

[PC Parrot]

[timothypfox]

Most of us in the business do not have a substantial second income source. I've met some people that scrape extra private students outside of their main job, or write novels and make a little bit of money selling their e-books on Amazon. Both are income supplements only though. The majority of us don't have investments or passive income or a pension, or a tech career that is still bringing in income or is available to fall back on.

So, let me end this with something more balanced. I think that if someone really wants to commit themselves to an ESL career, go ahead and do it. Because you will often (not always) work away from your home country, the ups and downs (both) in you life may be (or may seem) more extreme.

A good way to test out the ESL career is with an undergraduate degree (in any subject) and TEFL certificate that has supervised teaching hours. You can start out in your own country working at a language school or volunteer to teach university students or volunteer to help university students. Then try your first job overseas.

Comb through forums here to get your questions answered about the place you will go, and be prepared to have some money saved to set yourself up in your new country as many schools don't pay to set you up any more. Learn about the country and many spend some time learning some basic language skills. And, give yourself a rough timeline of how long you will stay and what you will do after.

Remember you can always teach a year or 2 and then do something else with your life. If you find yourself hitting a glass ceiling in your career, you can get a MA in TESOL from many reputable universities though distance education. A very strong way to give yourself more career flexibility (and this is what I did), was return home after a couple years in an entry level ESL job and get an MA and public school teaching certification in TESOL. I then put in about 5 years teaching in NYC while really taking my time looking through job ads and soliciting overseas schools for positions until something opened up that looked good.

Beware of going overseas for 2 years and going back to your own country expecting good things. This is possible even a greater warning for those who worked hard to get an MA and think that opportunities will suddenly appear in your home country. You need to research, plan, and save money to return home just as much as you need to research, plan, and save when you first moved overseas to teach. The difference is you will know you own culture and may have a greater network of friends and family to support you when you return.

Now back to a talk about what opens up when you advance your credentials as an ESL teacher either through a distance learning course while teaching overseas or through advancing your credentials and experience in your home country and returning overseas.

In my case, I opted for a private Japanese school over an international school in Japan (Japan is the country I decided to work in - but there are many other great places) because the workload seemed better at the school I am working at than international schools nearby. The pay compensation and benefits and overall career outlook (where i could go next with this experience) are a bit less than with experience from an international school. But, I carefully thought through these issues and the trade-offs I was making for a better quality life.

See if there is a national pension plan if you plan to stay TESLing where you are long-term and particularly if you are getting older. Some countries like the UK allow you pay back into their pension system while working overseas. In Japan, I pay into the national pension system, so if I were to retire here I would get the same benefits as other Japanese citizens. These benefits naturally are a small sum compared to a working income, so you will naturally need to plan to live more modestly. If you have property, you might even consider growing a small garden. You'll be amazed how even a small garden can help you save on groceries.

I've heard many TESLers in Japan and in other countries buy a property and rent out apartment units, or run a small business from their property (anything from teaching extra classes, a cafe or a backpacker's youth hostel). This property owned side-business does not make a lot of money, but can provide an income supplement and reduce property taxes (or at least cover your property tax and property repair, maintenance or insurance expenses). In any event, even owning a home will often be less than paying a full rental fee at an advanced age. So, some see owning a home as part of retirement planning.

Marriage is definitely a way to give yourself more personal and possibly financially security in a country your are teaching in. Marriage will give you international roots abroad, and a family that can help you obtain permanent residency and even help sponsor (if only on paper as a guaranteer) you to purchase a home.

Be aware that international marriages can either be really stable and very enriching relationships, or the differences between both parties can grow into a chasm. I speak from experiences of having been married before unsuccessfully, but also seeing many international marriages that have been very happy and successful ones for years. I work with American colleagues who are married and have children now.

I am now 43 and as I said unmarried. But, like anywhere in world, divorce is becoming a part of life. I was very surprised to find women were still interested in me, and keep my fingers crossed - the lady I'm currently dating may eventually want to marry me - and I will have my second chance.

If you can find a way to become a permanent resident in the country you tesl in through marriage or another means (I managed to through my previous marriage), this may open up opportunities to own property or start a side business or more. At the moment, I am beginning to explore this possibility because I may have just enough working years to pay through most of a mortgage before I retire.

These are just a few thoughts (hopefully mostly positive) reflecting on my experiences about how to get the most out of a long-term TESL career. These are things which you can do despite urgings of naysayers who say it's hard or you can't. If you put in the time to get the credentials you need to advance your career, and work out a long term plan for your life - you can have a successful life as a TESLer.

[El Hobo]

>delete<

[SunShan]

[JRJohn]

Well, I have a BA and TESOL, equivalent to CELTA. I understand how you feel! I sometimes think that there is an awful lot of nonsense that gets attached to TEFL. There is lots of room for satire. Some years ago, I was feeling down, I was telling a friendly former summer school DOS about worries I was having. His reply was that EFL was "a vain profession, superficial profession, a profession where envy and office politics" had a large part to play.
I recently completed a job in Korea. I found that a lot of jobs in Seoul had North American teacher plastered all over them. This is a typical example of the nonsense I am talking about. However, they DO sometimes fawn over qualifications like Master's degrees, education degrees, and stuff like that. If you could get one of those qualifications it would help.
One woman who did the DELTA told me that it was only useful if she went into management. With experience, it is possible to do private classes in China and get extra money. That's worth it.
If you have experience, Oman or Saudi Arabia offer much better salaries, though you DO have to have 3-5 years experience to teach there, and you need to seriously check the schools.