Job Discussion Forums

[noonesyella]

im an australian returning home after working in bangkok for 18 months. i have the text and talk cert but no degree. i know celta is recognised but will my cert be worth nothing although i have some experience. could i pick up work in private language schools. im sure there are plenty on the gold coast/brisbane/cairns. casual hours would not be a problem as long as the wage was livable. i just wanna tick over until i go abroad again.
any advice would be appreciated. ta

[Chester]

this is a post i put on the indonesia section, much of which relates to doing the ESL thing in AUS:

this is a really good topic. because so many peole dont really think about what happens next... if you are young enough, you can write ESL off as a paid holiday. or if you like it and want to make it a career, you can go home and do a diploma in education, plus a tesol cert if you dont aleady have it, then persue a real career in esl.

if you are more mature, then you have also to consider the ramifications to your CV when you want to have a real job when you go home. doing stuff like teaching english in a 3rd world country really doesnt "cut-it" i am afraid.

the longer you stay the worse it gets as far as your eligilibility for real employment goes.

some people i have known, in numerous countries, have become lost because they hoped to score something outside of teaching, but its a pipe dream.

there is also the prospect of taking your teaching skills back to your homeland and doing it there. and the pay is craph. also the other people doing the same thing are crusty sour women who think urinal cake is a sexy cologne, or expat women with attitude ie hate men or women with the ability to get a better job with better pay.

i have personal experiences and reasons for doing the teaching english in asia thing. largely it was from losing job / business and girlfriend and feeling sorry for myself and wanting to find a diferent path, and maybe teaching would be the answer and living in other countries would help me forget / hide from regrets i had in my life.

another spin on maybe teaching esl in the west. my wife has her business, that actually is not doing anything at the moment, so she has been going to english class to build her cultural skills, as we are in australia - hey all australians need cultural lessons! - and she decided to apply for a job, which she got. her english teacher in australia repremanded her for missing a class to go for the interview. how stupid is that?. irony is the job pays far more than the teachers salary, also less hours.

my job in australia is in sales and its been tough to adapt to office shyte and meeting KPI's. but i like civilisation. dont like being a nobody who is treated like somebody, just because i am a white guy in a third world country.

if you want to, you can get a better job. you have to have the guts.

if esl is for you, great.

[lozwich]

I'm not sure about your CELTA question, but maybe the Neas website could help you there (do a google on NEAS Australia).

I do know that work is a bit thin on the ground in Queensland at the moment. Two people I know have been laid off because of not enough work. I think it should pick up again around June/July as the students from Asia start to take their summer intensive programs.

Good luck!

[scot47]

Back home (whether on OZ or YOOKAY), potential employers assume that if you put down an EFL job on your cv you were actually doing time for drug smuggling or non-consensual sodomy.

Better just to stick to EFL-ing. Life is not so compliocated then.

[Chester]

noonesyella.
what did you do before ESL?

[erinyes]

If you get a Cert IV you can teach with OS experience. You will probably get work, but you WILL need the Australian Certificate IV in TESOL to be qualified.

Where will you be moving to? I can recommend you a course.