Job Discussion Forums

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I was reflecting on how I came to be in this position...

I was graduating college and kept running into brick walls when it came to finding a job. As luck would have it (or not!) I came across an ad for NOVA Japan (anyone remember them?)..."Teach English in Japan!" I clicked on it and the rest is history. Been working outside the U.S. since 2003. No regrets, though.

Is this pretty much how everyone gets into teaching EFL? I wonder.

[JN]

Years ago I wanted to take a German course at the local night school (in Germany), but they had none for my level. They, however, asked me to teach a couple of English courses. That's how I got started and I've taught off and on over the years and eventually got qualified.

[spiral78]

I had a good job in the States, but just got fed up with everything, essentially. I targeted a region, went there and got qualified, and have built upon that ever since. 15+ years now and absolutely no regrets.

[RoscoeTX]

Had previously visited Moscow as a tourist while studying abroad. After graduation, I was twiddling my thumbs in the States and decided to study Russian language at Moscow State University through some summer program. Really enjoyed my time here and found a job after the course had finished.

Oh, and just to be honest, part of it had to do with a girl I had met on my tourist trip to Moscow. Sure, you've heard it a thousand times...and this bear fell for the honey trap! Ended up only meeting this girl once while in Moscow and rebounded super quickly, which is not hard to do here.

Long story short, coming to Russia was the best decision of my life!

[Sashadroogie]

It is the only ideologically sound option. Why slave away in Piggieland, when you can live a truly free life in the Glorious Motherland?!

[johnslat]

Dear Jizzo T. Clown,

Like so much else in (my) life, it came about in what seems to me, anyway to be an accidental (but serendipitous) fashion.


In 1978, I'd just gotten my MA in English Education at the University of South Florida, but jobs in the areas were non-existent. While attending graduate school, I ended up with three Iranian brother (who showed up one at a time)
as roommates. They suggested I go to Iran to teach, and I figured, "Well, why not?"

So I applied to and was hired by what was then called "Pahlavi University" in Shiraz, Iran. If you remember your history, you might already realize that my timing was not the best. I arrived in Shiraz in AUgust of '78; the "Islamic Revolution" took place in January of '79.

So, now when people ask me what Iran was like then, I can honestly tell them, "It was revolting." But, in fact, I loved it, and bitten by the EFL bug, when I was finally able to get out, I soon went overseas again.

I ended up spending about 22 years abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia (19 years) and I, too, have no regrets at all. I'm still teaching, ESL at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico, not because I have to (for financial reasons) but only because I love doing it.

I think I've been a very lucky guy; if it was all accidental, then I've had some fortunate accidents.

Regards,
John

[Shroob]

Handing in my dissertation at university when I saw a poster on the wall, 'Teach English Abroad', started Googling it, volunteered for a while, did a CELTA and took it from there. In September I'll be studying for an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL in the same university where I first saw the poster!

[santi84]

I decided at age 13 I volunteered in high school and university but found myself in policing randomly (a long odd story!). After 8 years of drunks and belligerents, I returned to university and finished my degree/certification. I moved to Montreal shortly thereafter.

Belligerents still exist in this career though At least they are mostly harmless!

[sicklyman]

I grew up overseas so when I hit a career dead end in my mid-20s a friend suggested I enroll in a local Trinity TESOL course because she thought it would suit me. I'd never even heard that you could teach english overseas. But I was broke and the course was £350 (that dates me).

She and her husband said they'd pay the £300 if I'd pay the £50. Best deal I ever made. A DELTA and a Master's later, I haven't looked back.

[Denim-Maniac]

I did one of the oft-maligned 'voluntourism' programs for three months, and found a paid position in the same place not long after. Been bouncing around between EFL jobs since then (7 years now).

[timothypfox]

I hope you publish the results here! A very interesting question. I clicked OTHER above.

After a 6 year pursuit of an extremely difficult career to be a professional dancer, I returned to school to do a second BA in anthropology. Employment prospects were (probably still are) very dim in Canada unless you are bilingual, so I decided I would either do a MA degree in Dance Ethnology or go teach English overseas to see a bit of the world and other cultures. I then read a newspaper ad back in 1997, responded to it, and went to an interview in Toronto that lasted a week with the then GEOS Corporation of Japan and got the job.

[rtm]

I clicked the "College Career Center" choice.

However, I guess it wasn't the "career center" but rather my undergrad university's "international center" that gave me info about teaching abroad. I had studied abroad for a year of undergrad, so I was on their mailing lists. I studied applied linguistics in undergrad, and in my last year, I started to get worried about finding a job, as there's definitely not a set career path for a BA in applied linguistics. Anyway, I read an email from the university's international center saying that there would be a representative from the nearby Consulate of Japan coming to give info about the JET Program. As someone who was soon to be unemployed otherwise, a job that included flights (business class at the time!), a subsidized apartment, and a decent mostly tax-free salary sounded pretty nice. I applied, was accepted, and ended up working a few jobs in Japan. That all started about 14 years ago.

[Sadebugo]

Back in '94, not quite pre-internet but before it was practical for job searches, I was working in my first career and going nowhere. I knew I wanted to work and travel but had no idea how to go about doing this. One day, I was talking on the phone with one of my graduate school classmates explaining my dilemma. A few weeks later, he sent me an "international job" guide with various listings in many different fields. The one that caught my eye was an EFL teaching position in Korea. I passed over it a few times assuming you had to be a certified teacher to qualify--at the time, I wasn't even aware of the EFL profession. Yet, it didn't mention this qualification so I gave them a call. The hiring person told me to apply and the rest is history. Eighteen years later I am still teaching (for DOD) with an MATEFL and have no regrets. I often discuss with my friend about how his impulse to send me the job listing changed my life. It's interesting to think about how one's entire future can be affected by one seemingly meaningless act.

[johnslat]

Dear Sadebugo,

I had a similar experience, although it's not ESL/EFL related. But as teachers it may be good to remember/understand how we can often make a big difference in people's lives but often never know that we did.

I was lucky; I found out:

I joined a website, New Mexico Veterans, and received a message, which really stunned me, from a new member. Here it is.

"John,
I was at Chu Lai from March 1966 through April 1967. A was a GCA and Tower controller also (see photo of Chu Lai GCA trailers). After a couple of months in the trailers I got full-time duty in the tower and loved the work. I became addicted to flying. When I got home I learned to fly and have been flying since then. I have a plane at Baltimore-Washington International airport.

In any case, I was Googling "Chu Lai and MATCU 67" and you're name came up. That's how I found you. My guess is that our time at MATCU 67 overlapped briefly but, in that time you did something for me that affected my life forever. We were involved in a discussion about literature (I remember that you had spent about two years as an English major at BC or BU before you enlisted). You shared your copy of "A Stone, A Leaf, A Door" by Thomas Wolfe with me. I read it and something "clicked" for me. I started reading vociferously. I read everything that Wolfe had written before I left Chu Lai. I was a high school drop out before enlisting and, to make a long story short, I returned home and went to college. I emulated Wolfe's writing style in my English classes and went from bottom of my class in high school to top of my undergraduate class in college. I went on to Yale and Penn for grad school and a successful career as an architect. So John, thanks for that small act of kindness, concern and attention many years ago. YOU made a big difference in one Marine's life!

Ron"

Forty-seven years later, I find out that something I did made such a difference. Oh, I fully realize that I was only an incidental instrument and that it was Thomas Wolfe who inspired him to such amazing success, but, heck - as a teacher, (which I've been for thirty-five years now) the greatest thrill I know about is opening a door, introducing someone to something that "clicks."

You just never know (but now, I do).

Regards,
John

[Sadebugo]

John,

That's an very inspiring story! Thank you for sharing it with all of us. I don't think I've had anything so dramatic happen. However, in my first EFL job in Korea working in a language institute, I taught a 12-year old female student who asked me for my address so she could write to me after I left. After a few years, she stopped writing but I later ran into her by chance. I had just taken a position at a Korean University and was walking around campus. All of a sudden, I heard someone running behind me yelling my name. It was that student and I recognized her immediately as she must have recognized me. Later, she came to my office and we talked. It was so surreal having a discussion with someone I had previously known only as a child. Anyway, she eventually told me how I had inspired her to study English and choose it as her major. It felt good to think I had made even a small difference in someone else's life.

Even today, I meet former students from Saudi who come to my current school in their military capacity. That's always a nice surprise. I always give my students my e-mail address before they leave my class and ask them to keep in touch. After all, I believe one of the primary joys of teaching is hearing about my students' future successes. That makes it all worthwhile.

Sadebugo