Job Discussion Forums

[Jozef]

Hello

It may sound a bit momotonous to return to the same subject again,
but I still haven't got a clue about this very urgent question.

It's about age,

Is one considered too old by most employers, if one is 44 years of age and considering to start a new career as an English teacher?

This means, regarding the fact, that I do not consider myself to be too old at all, and I am still as vital and flexible as I was for about 15 years ago.

What frightends me most, is being selected away from the electronic application system beforehand, because of my calendar age, before even having a chance of meeting someone face-to-face, and prove that age doesn't mean that much after all.

With best regards

Jozef

[ejw]

Hi

I had a friend who was helping a recruiter in Taiwan and according to the Taiwanese there was an age limit because of insurance. It was 45 or so, I believe, and set by the Taiwanese government. Not sure if that is true, but....

EJW

[desultude]

I was hired for my first, and current, job two years ago at age 54- in South Korea at a university. I have an M.A. in Political Science, and experience teaching that at the university level in the U.S. There are other people here my age and older.

Viet Nam and China also (and maybe moreso) hire older teachers.

[BloodyIrish]

i know an american teaching in eastern hungary (forget the town) in a school. hes 69 or 70 years old. dont think he has a background in teaching either. so no, 44 is not too old here anyway.

[Signor]

There are many teachers older than you in the Middle East also (I'm one)

[Moore]

I have met many older teachers, and haven�t heard of any discrimination, though that said, is does seem to be full of younger people. The only worry for I would have in your position is the money you get, compared to what you may be used to at your age: English teaching is NOT well paid, it�s something you do in order to put yourself in a different continent/country/culture and to do a job that�s actually semi-useful compared to most jobs - a VERY good salary would be around 1500 pounds a month (2250 dollars/euros), but mostly you�ll be very fortunate to receive 1500 dollars/euros a month. This is ok if you don�t have a mortgage/alimoney/kids to pay for, but if you do then you may find you have problems with cash.
Like I said, I have met many an older teacher, often an early retiree supplementing their pension / offsetting travel costs, and they seem, if anything, to be slightly favoured by the better employers (a maturity, stability thing I suppose).
Like many sectors, appearance can be a factor, and schools, subconsciously or not, favour better looking/presented people so smart clothes/hair etc. will give you a definite advantage over scruffy herberts like myself.