Job Discussion Forums

[PF]

I recently completed my TEFL certification and am now in the process of securing a teaching position overseas. I was hoping to get some feedback on my cover letter. Thank you.

To Whom it May Concern; (I will address this to a real person)

It is with great interest that I am seeking to secure the English teaching opportunity you have available. I am a native English speaker from America with two college degrees and a TEFL certificate. I have both a Bachelors of Arts Degree and an Associates Degree in Science. The TEFL course has prepared me well for a teaching position overseas. I am passionate, well organized and receptive to the students needs. My dedication, cultural awareness and professionalism will make me a strong asset to your teaching staff. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Regards,

[jwbhomer]

I wouldn't say "passionate" without some qualification, such as "passionate about teaching".

[Glenski]

Don't write anything like that cover letter.

Ever.

Customize it for each job ad you respond to. Open with where you found the job, and what it is. They may have several openings, you see. Give them a statement right from then to catch their attention. Yours is a very vanilla form letter, and how do you feel about receiving form letters? Address each point in the ad as best you can. Tell them something about your teaching philosophy, even if you have no experience. Tell them why you chose that country (keeping juvenile remarks out, of course; employers could care less if male applicants have girlfriends in the prospective country, or if they love the country because of the animation they watched as a child).

Tell the employer what you bring to the table. What can you do for them? Research the employer to see if there is more you can add.

Don't say you want to go there to learn the culture or language. You are going to be hired to work, not be paid to study. Do those things on your own time.

Don't put anything on the cover letter that they can read in the resume. Just expand on the details.

Always close with a thank you.

[MELEE]

What Glenski said.


There is a thread somewhere, I think it was on the General Discussion, focusing on bad cover letters.

I particularly want to second about writing a cover letter unique for each job. This is the electronic age, you don't have to use a typewritter and a photocopier to make up cover letters, so you should not send the same letter (or even resume) to 50 companies.

But make sure you edit it well. I get loads of letters that mention their interest in moving to some other country.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

If you feel like you need to have some sort of form so that you aren't staring at a blank page all the time, then a good thing to do is to write a cover letter that can be used after being tweaked for companies as well as a resume that also can be tweaked in the same manner.

The main difference is that neither of this kind that I'm talking about can even really be sent to employers because they are way, way too long. For example, the resume is a 'full' resume. It contains every single piece of information that you can think of about yourslef (when I used one it was I think five pages long. I never send resumes longer than a single page). Even then, usually there would be something new in each resume (often that I would then add to the full resume, if I though it was something that may be useful in the future)

The cover letter is different, in that you set up lots of paragraphs that can be used individually, but especially with the cover letter, you are addressing it to an individual person. You don't say the exact same words to different people over and over when you meet people, and you shouldn't send a cover letter like that, either.

BTW, I think your posted cover letter was a little short. It had only one paragraph, and yet that one paragraph was too long for single paragraph in this kind of communication. It's probably better, rather than to just spit out the key 'selling points' that get told to people doing 60hour or aa hundred hour or whatever TESOL Certifi-kits to give some examples. For example,

[Jetgirly]

I just marked thirty Grade 12 essays on Heart of Darkness and The Old Man and the Sea, and the same thing I said to 90% of my students applies to you: SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT WITH EVIDENCE!

- How will your degrees make you a better teacher?
- How did your TEFL course prepare you to become a good teacher?
- Try to choose better adjectives to describe yourself, and SUPPORT the characteristics that you list with EVIDENCE and EXAMPLES!

I typically break my teaching cover letters into the following paragraphs:

1. Introduction - my name, citizenship and work visa status (when relevant), the position I'm applying for and where I saw the ad.

2. Education - the specific skills that I developed through my two degree programs and the CELTA (I keep this part fairly brief... four or five sentences)

3. Work Experience - Prior relevant work experience (teaching, working with kids, working across language/cultural barriers, etc.)

4. Other relevant info - Place where I currently reside, availability for interview, "please do not hesitate to contact me for any further information", etc.

My resume was selected by my university's Career Services as the best resume of my graduating class, so I think it's safe to assume that my cover letters are at least decent.

[Adahma]

These are great tips for when I start working on my cover letter. Thanks.

[wildchild]

PF,

If you haven't already, you can google some sample cover letters and see what you like best, what makes more sense to you.