Job Discussion Forums

[jibbs]

I've noticed a strong preference for the CELTA in Vietnam so far. Or TEFL or TESOL. Had a few places not show much interest despite B.Ed and 5 years experience in Asia. Just to let you know, that certificate is good to have! Obvious to most of you anyway i'm sure.

[Rice Paddy Daddy]

that sounds very strange but then again cambridge is very aggressive in marketing in the ESL field.

they would love to control the market and are well on their way.

[patchwork]

I'm getting Trinity cert and Vietnam is high on my list to visit and work in.

I hope I won't have troubles!

[jibbs]

Actually now I realize it is not hard to get work without a TEFL certification. It just helps to have it. Makes you more marketable and gives you bargaining power to ask for that extra buck or more per hour, I think. Looks good on the resume.

[OzBurn]

Preference for a CELTA, or preference for skills, training, and experience? I would be very surprised if anyone in Vietnam besides one or two schools cared specifically about a CELTA. That would go against literally everything I have seen and heard about in two months here. I work for a school that pays me considerably more than other staff members who have a CELTA (one of whom has worked for them for three years), and I have no certification of any kind. Many teachers here don't even have a college degree, and others have certifications from American programs, master's degrees, PGCE's, etc. Beware CELTA pimps. Often they are just trying to get you to sign up for a CELTA course and separate you from a month's income. Any excuse will do to convince you to pay that amount of money. Other people use the lack of a CELTA to try to get you to accept a lower salary or to give an excuse for why they don't want to hire a given individual with whose teaching skills or resume they are unimpressed.

[AsiaTraveller]

OzBurn,

What do you consider the most important factor in the hiring of an English teacher in Vietnam?

If it is not certification (or academic degree), what do school directors look for in a candidate for a teaching position?

[sigmoid]

[OzBurn]

I've only been here two months, and it's easier to see that a CELTA is not important for the most part than it is to say what is important. My impressions, however -- and that's all they are -- are that the following things matter most, in roughly this order:

1. self-presentation in the interview
2. teaching experience
3. teaching skills, as demonstrated in a "demo" class or during a probationary period. One thing that is important is the ability to control a class of children or teenagers. Although I find the students here quite docile, I know that many less-experienced staff at my school bitch continually about their disciplinary problems.
4. educational background -- e.g., college degree (esp. good to have a degree in English), graduate study, certification, etc.

Of course, if items 1 and 3 are extremely poor, nothing else can help. Maybe.

I have met people here who have only a high school degree and are teaching at large corporate schools. They make less money, but even there, I'm not sure it is because of their lack of a college degree. (The one I actually saw teach wasn't all that good at his job.)

So, what does it take, just to get a job? Aside from status as a native speaker of English, it takes a decent self-presentation (nice shirt, good tie, shined shoes, pressed slacks, or woman's equivalent) with a ready smile and an articulate, impressive manner, including clear speech. From what I have seen, nothing else.

I should add that native speaker status doesn't seem necessary, either, so long as you have white European features. I have met Nordic people who are teaching English here.

[tedkarma]

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