Job Discussion Forums

[Sillykates]

Hello all

My boyfriend and I are trying to decide whether we should do the intensive residential TESL certification at the school in Manuel Antonio or if we should just do it online before we go through ITTT (International TESOL and TEFL Training). Has anyone gone to this school before? If so, would you say it was worth the extra money?

Also, has anyone done an in-class certificate and found it easier to get jobs in Costa Rica and the rest of the world? What are the pros and cons you have found?

Has anyone with an online certificate had any trouble getting a job? We will not be getting there until June, so it will be mid-year. Would it be easier for us with less job choices if we had the classroom certification?

We want to sign up for it by the end of this month if we are going to do the classroom version because we will get a free certificate in ESL for young learners or business. We would really appreciate any input in the next few days.

Thank you all!!! This is very exciting!

[OleLarssen]

I took my TEFL certificate in Manuel Antonio and enjoyed it very much, though reports has it that the quality has gone down after most of the staff was replaced. Dunno how it'll be midway through next year, though.

You can read more about Quepos, Manuel Antonio and the TEFL course at http://costaricaclassroom.blogspot.com (my posts in December, January and February). Overall I liked it and I don't regret at all doing it - the teaching practice was good and very practical to have to smoothen the transition between teaching and not teaching. That sounds kind of, er, silly, but, yeah.

If you get some sort of extra certification, go for the business one if you want to teach in San Jose, though I doubt it'll make much of a difference. I don't know if having a TEFL certificate helped me to get a job since I never tried getting a teaching job without one, but most schools want it as a minimum, though I know you can get a job without one if you have some sort of relevant practice.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

[logicpocket]

Having just finished taking the October cert course at the Manuel Antonio TEFL school I must report that the teaching staff is quite fantastic. All of our instructors were quite professional, well informed, supportive, accessable, and gave fantastic constructive criticism during the second phase of the course.



Entonces... feel free to consider it as an option if you are seriously considering a one month intro to teaching english with the communicative method.

[Sillykates]

Do you guys feel like it has/will help you get a job easier? Does it give you an advantage over other candidates that only have the online certification? It is considerably more money, and while I want to do it for the experience and to have 4 weeks where I know I'll have a place to stay and a plan, my boyfriend is less convinced of the benefits.

I am wondering in more developed countries, like in Europe, if they would look more highly on an applicant with the classroom version as opposed to the online version? Or if it still doesn't matter?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

[teachwrite]