Job Discussion Forums

[angela olive]

Hi Everyone,

My friends that live in Mexico City tell me that there are lots of teaching opportunities available to people that are simply native English speakers. I am an English Lit major with no B.A. yet. I did just complete an online TEFL course. Any thoughts on how employable I may be in Mexico?

Thanks,
Angela

[ls650]

You could probably get a job paying a few thousand pesos a month. Enough to survive but not enough to enjoy your life.
If you finish the BA, things would change considerably.

[Guy Courchesne]

Do you have any experience in the corporate world? That and the right attitude could see you teaching in companies, earning a bit better, though with an online certificate, I'm guessing you have no experience. Your other issue would be getting an FM3 work visa...not impossible to do without a degree, but trickier.

[jfurgers]

When I lived in DF in 1997, a school told me that they wouldn't hire me until I had a degree. This may have changed by now though. I now have a degree and a CTEFL with experience so when I move back to DF later this year I should be ok.
Get your bachelor degree first, then move to DF.

John

[angela olive]

Thanks for answering so fast. I did gain some experience in the corporate world when I worked for frito lay. Also, I have military experience and volunteer work tutoring English for refugees. Would you guys hire me

[Guy Courchesne]

[saraswati]

Getting an FM3 may be next to impossible in some areas. PlayadelSoul's mentioned that Migracion won't issue an FM3 without a TEFL cert and the same thing's happening in Oaxaca.

[angela olive]

I do have a TEFL cert. Would that be enough to get me a work visa?

[Guy Courchesne]

[angela olive]

Thanks for the info everyone. I am soon to be out of the navy and am headed to mexico in hopes of finding work. Now I have a little better idea of what to expect.

[snorklequeen]

Guy, i'm sincerely curious, being new to the TEFL business, what the right "attitude" is for working at companies in DF teaching Business English?

if i know what it is, perhaps i can learn to adopt it and get some work prior to getting a CELTA, at least part-time

Queenie

[Guy Courchesne]

I maybe used the word too lightly.

The company classes in DF, in my experience, are more demanding. I think a teacher has to be prepared to discuss or develop class themes around ideas they most likely don't have experience with, such as high finance, marketing, product cycles, etc, etc, etc (the list really is endless). That's not to say you have to know all there is to know about these subjects, but one has to be ready to handle them in a class activity. That means lots of research.

It also requires the teacher to put on the right attire. Sounds silly and perhaps obvious, but it means a lot here. Years ago, I backpacked and wrote my way across the British Columbia countryside, about the furthest (and perhaps farthest) away one can get from a suit and tie. I sometimes laugh at myself in the morning at the irony as I tie the tie. I think most teachers coming to DF would feel the same.

A lot of people come to Mexico, and many other countries, with the idea that teaching is like missionary work...here to help these poor people learn English. That works in some places, but is cause for a rude awakening in the company boardroom.

Last but certainly not least, the logistics of traveling from company to company and class to class can be draining.

[snorklequeen]

thanks for the detail, Guy!

i read you. very helpful

Queenie