Job Discussion Forums

[dirimini]

Hoping (again) to get some (additional) advice.

Basics: male, mid-40s, American, PhD in humanities from top-10 program in US; my degree is fairly specialized, so to avoid "outing" myself, the closest/most generic area of study would be cultural anthropology.

As noted in another thread, I am thinking seriously of starting an entirely new career in ESL, and am wondering what, exactly, getting an MA in Applied Linguistics would do for me, career-wise. Specifically, for which types of jobs would I be qualified with this degree - assuming it was from a respected, B&M university? Would this allow me to apply for jobs in universities outside of the US? In what sort of capacity? For what kind of working conditions/salary? In which countries? (Again, I'm most interested in Eastern Europe; Northern Europe would be sweet, but I'm assuming that's difficult for non-EU citizens.)

I understand that I would have to get some teaching experience in ESL under my belt in order to be a viable candidate first, and to that end I would certainly get a "CELTA" (or comparable) certification, and would have no problem just barely scraping by for a year or two. (I have been teaching for seven years, at the university level in the US, including a stint at an Ivy-league university, and have outstanding student and faculty evaluations - but not in ESL teaching). However, I would want to know that the MA would actually be worth something in the long run.

From my (admittedly basic) level of understanding, CELTA would prepare me to teach in a private language school; in order to teach in an international school (which are K-12?) I would need teaching certification and experience in my subject areas, correct? But because I am most interested in teaching adults - in a university or business setting - I am wondering if the MS is an unspoken requirement.

Sorry for the length of this post, but thanks in advance for any and all responses. Feel free to PM if preferred - I've reached the 25-posting benchmark, and can now respond!

[spiral78]

I have the MA TESL/TEFL and 12+ years of experience, and the European university job. Thank god for my good luck and timing - I'm grateful on a daily basis, quite honestly.

I would say that all of your suppositions are essentially correct. You've clearly done some useful homework.

An MA is indeed a necessary qual for competing successfully for most European university positions - things are tightening up in general, and more and more MA qualified candidates are competing on the job market.
Today, there are people with great jobs with lesser quals, but there's a bit of a boom in MA holders and I'm pretty sure it's going to become the norm at the uni level very, very soon...if not already.

I'll send you a pm, in fact...

[dirimini]

Thanks very much, Spiral; I received the PM, and will reply.