Job Discussion Forums

[Preston866]

Hello! I am new to the idea of TEFL and am trying to decide if it's right for me. My main question is will I be able to get a job teaching english with a tefl certficate alone? I do not have a college degree. Thanks for your help!

[Martin P]

Yes, but it may make it harder. If you also lack an EU passport, that makes it harder yet. To increase your chances of finding a job, get a CELTA or Trinity cert with a well-known school.

(answers of course in the context of the Poland forum)

[Alex Shulgin]

[kid eh]

[dragulescu]

[kid eh]

Damn.

Here's info on getting a work visa:
http://www.infoobywatel.gov.pl/english/index.html

[joshsweigart]

Work visas are really hard to get (I am currently reapplying for one). I am not an EU member. The reason for the difficulty in getting the visa is not necessarily that you can't--its that the application process crushes your will to live. I got my first one from the school that I originally worked for, it just went under. All that you really need from your school is a paper saying that you will work there--the rest is up to you. You can spend weeks making trips to the embassy, trying to obtain mieszkania cards (this has become easier since the induction into the EU) and looking for the proper credit report. After all of this you have to wait and wait. If you do come, I recommend getting a big visa stamp in your passport from the Polish Embassy in your country--this should save you from having to cross the border every few months.

Of course, you can probably find schools that are willing to hire you without papers. The best schools, though, are the Uni's--they provide the most support with paperwork (to employ you everything has to be official).

[Alex Shulgin]

^ Three points about that post:

1) No credit report is needed for a residency permit or for a work permit.
2) You are not allowed to spent more than 182 days out of any 365 day period in Poland without a residency permit. Border runs can only be done for six months and after that you risk just being told that you can't come back into Poland (has happened to more than a few people I know).
3) If you work for a university and are teaching the official language of your country, you do not need a work permit.

[gregoryfromcali]

I would strongly recommened that anyone gets their degree before coming to Poland. It isn't very likely a school will take you seriously without a degree. Therefore if you find a school that does take you then it would be safe to assume that it isn't such a great school.

I realize it's probably not what you wanted to hear but you should know that in Poland everyone goes to a university unless they want to spend their life in a shop, as a waiter or cutting hair. So it is fair to assume that you will have a lot of competition trying to get a job without a degree.

Your other option is that you could try to work in a small town. But then the best way to find about those jobs is through a recruiter and they'll want to see a degree.

You can always go to China. There not so strict about that. Although you'll read a lot of advertisements asking that you have a degree you can always say that you are taking a year off to see China. Outside of Beijing and Shanghai there is a great demand for teachers.

As far as the non-EU citizens issue. There is work for us too. The main thing is coming in September and dropping you resume (CV) off at every school. For a few months all I did was walk around Cracow, taking my resume to one of the 72 schools and asking to speak to the director. (Because believe it or not a lot of schools through their resumes away every few weeks.) Eventually everything worked out, but it did take awhile, luckily it is easy to get by on just a little bit of cash as long as you find an apartment and do your own cooking.

Also you can always take on private students.

Gregory