Job Discussion Forums

[MattElz]

I am considering getting an MATESOL and would like to know what the teaching market is like in the US, especially in the NYC area. (Not K-12)

I am most interested in teaching English to foreign students at colleges, universities and community colleges in the US. What is the market like in this area, specifically?

Is getting an MATESOL the ideal preparation for this kind of career? How do people with this type of career fare in obtaining overseas teaching positions (positions that pay reasonably well)?

[Sherri]

Hi Mattelz
I am looking into teaching in the States now and am in the middle of doing an MA in TESL/TEFL. I also am not interested in K-12 teaching. It seems that the best teaching situations are in community colleges and universities and maybe a handful of better quality language schools. You will need to have an MA in a related field and some experience to even be considered for a job. I have a feeling that a lot of people start out as part time, then move to fulltime as a position becomes open. I am not targeting the NYC area, but my impression is that the market it tight and competitive, limited to a few colleges and universities. Private schools pay badly and tend to hire part timers only.

Here are a couple of websites that you might find useful in your research:

http://www.CareerBuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobFindAll.asp
(use keyword "ESL")

http://www.languagemagazine.com/jobshop/jobs/newyork.html

http://chronicle.com/jobs/

Good luck
Sherri

[Dave Kessel]

I do not know much about the NY area but I went to LA with an MA in TESL and worked there for five years in 1985-1990. There is a pretty good market with private vocational schools- I worked for two years for an airline school in Hollywood and then at the "American Business Institute" in downtown LA ( now closed). If you open up the LA Yellow Pages and look under "Schools- Vocational", you will see many such listings. Many a school that offers vocational computer/secretarial /accounting courses/travel industry/import-export /clerical / word processing/haircutting training and things like that often has an ESL program. There are many such schools and I had a few full time jobs with those.

Then, you can get a nightly assignment at some community college or teach a class there on Saturdays. I even ended up teaching at the UCLA downtown extension for one semester. So, it was OK.

I would normally get school names/addresses from the Yellow Pages and then mail out some 20-50 resumes. I would normally get a call within a week or so.

Teaching 8-hour days at a travel academy and then a few hours at night at community colleges gave me enough to live on- some $2500-3300 a month before taxes depending on the season.

In order to live in LA, I figured you need about $2200 a month after taxes minimum. But that was in the eighties. I don't know how things are now.

Government programs/community college programs are there but very few fulltime ones- the mainstay of a person with an MA will most probably be private vocational schools.

I tried to get into the LA Unified School District but was not impressed- I quit after one week- it was just too dangerous- Also, they do not really care if you have an MA- they will employ you and you will get emergency credentials and then you will have to start studying over again to get your K12 credentials- it really sucks!

There are adult programs at adult schools and these are government schools- if you are lucky, you can get into one of those- they are not easy to get into but once you are in, you are in.

You will not starve in LA. It took me at least 4 months to get a good full time job and it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on.

You can live on that income but you cannot truly prosper or save enough- just my opinion. It was good for a young guy in his mid 20ies. Then when I hit 30, I went to Japan and then Thailand and then to the ME- I am in Saudi now. I can save much more. Sometimes I wish I had come here twenty years ago. But that is for another post....

[Capergirl]

You might want to PM Lynn...she teaches ESL in NY. I'm sure she could give you some good info.