Job Discussion Forums

[TexasKelly]

I have a masters and an undergraduate both in social work. my undergradate degree is in my parents attic in a frame done professional so it will be in the frame for all eternity. will my graduate degree be enough? can I use transcripts in place of a degree?

Transcripts are official documents that list my degree and all the classes that I took while earning the degree. I am not sure if every country uses transcripts so if someone is on here not from the US I wanted to explain.

Thanks for the help.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

That's a good question. I'm in the same situation; I lost the original diploma with the fancy lettering a long time ago, and have used a notarized transcript for work permits in other countries (Korea and Japan) and it was no problem - they accepted it. Here in Thailand I didn't need to show my degree, as my working status is 'consultant' rather than teacher. In short, I don't know the answer. If you don't get a reply, I'd suggest that you register and post your question here, within the Paperwork subforum. There are a lot more regular posters over there; somebody will know the answer.

[Jared]

Does your degree necessarily need to be from an English speaking country to teach in Thailand? Or can it be from any country just as long as it's accredited by their local ministry of education? and if the courses were conducted in English?

[gusto102]

Unlike Korea or Japan, the Thai government isn�t as strict as it should be in regards to enforcing their teaching requirements. The teacher�s salaries out here are not exactly competitive so Thailand cannot afford to be as picky as other places. It would be nice to see more qualified teachers out here. But I think that a master�s degree and teaching experience is far better than what I see most teachers come out here with.

I can only comment based on my experience at a Thai public school and a private school here in BKK. My boss at the public school asked for my university degree, transcripts and TEFL when applying for a work permit. But I have seen other guys that have come and gone with neither a degree/transcripts nor TEFL. So I think, officially, you would need all three, but in reality it would just depend on the school and the teachers themselves. The private school I work for doesn�t enforce either the degree or TEFL requirement, but no assistance on the work permit.

As far as where the degree comes from, the teachers I know at the public school would not hire a non native speaker with or without a degree. I am guessing their attitude is that they want the �real deal� so to speak. I know a few guys working at other public schools that are non native speakers and still landed jobs. My boss at the private school, who is from Poland, says he won�t hire a non native speaker. But I have seen him hire guys from Holland and Quebec albeit they spoke English without a strong accent.

Sorry I cannot give you a straight answer, but there doesn�t seem to be any clearly enforced hiring criteria here in Thailand.

[Jared]

[JamesDavid4th]

if you have a degree bring it. why wouldnt you. it is your credentials. in Korea, they will not simply accept transcripts, you have to take your actual degree to the labor board in order to get your visa, no exceptions. i even first tried with an official letter of completion from my university, they said no, they wanted the degree.

[Jared]

[TexasKelly]

i can probably just order another one from my university. I am just lazy and cheap. that is probably what i should do. I am sure it is not the last job that i will need it for.