Job Discussion Forums

[mgs2]

I'm looking for some good resources to help me secure a job before I go teaching overseas, I'm not sure which country I'm going to go to yet. Can anyone provide useful resources that they know of? I appreciate all responses, thanks.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Does the "jobs" tab at the top of the page count?

What are you looking for in the way of 'resources'?

These are some 'resources' I've used to 'secure a job' in the past:

undergraduate degree
professional training (a year at a university in a linguistics department initial training for English language teachers program)
resume
cover letter
contacts or job ad
suit
shiny leather shoes
preparation for the interview.

[jdl]

mgs2,
Need a little help here....what kind of information do you want? There is a lot of help to be had from the people in this forum if you could be a bit more specific. Bear with us.

[Glenski]

Pick a country(ies). That'll help us help you.

Tell us your educational background and nationality, too.

Can't give you any "resources" without knowing some basics.

[mgs2]

Thanks for the replies everyone, sorry I should have clarified this more. I meant online resources.

My background: I'm 21 years old living in Sydney. I have a 4 week TESOL Certificate which include 8 hours of assessed teaching practice. I also have a 50 hour online course in teaching business english to adults. I've worked as a teacher for 2 months in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and I've just started working as an English teacher in Sydney.

I'm looking to work somewhere in Asia, I prefer big cities. So I'm looking for online resources that can help me secure a job before I leave for overseas. I appreciate all contributions, thanks.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Since you didn't include an undergraduate degree in that list, is it safe to assume you don't have one? If you don't have one, then you should get one. It's by far the most important first step. You cannot get a master's degree in TESOL without one (and without two years of experience), and an undergrad is a basic requirement if you want to get jobs in the higher paying countries, and a masters if you want to work at higher levels in those countries.

If you just started teaching in Sydney, then why are you going to leave your job? Or does 'just started working as an English teacher' not actually mean that you have a job?

Side note: an on-line business English teaching certificate in someone who has very little, if any, business experience does not inspire confidence, especially when business English language like "resources to help me [it's better to avoid personalizing requests in business communications] secure a job" is used as well as (possibly) "just started working as X" when in fact you haven't started working as X, you are trying to start up as an X. That kind of language is irritating, or, as one of the CDs [Creative Director] of an advertising agency that I was working at used to say, 'just evil'. It's also the wrong sociolinguistic register for a message board like this.

If you're adamant that you have to go overseas now, then maybe you could consider going back to Ho Chi Minh or somewhere else in Vietnam, that way you aren't starting from scratch (and if you do, do yourself two favours: 1. DON'T use that kind of language, nor teach it until you understand better how to use it, 2. Learn some of the local language. Every single person I've ever met who didn't have a stream of formal qualifications but had climbed out of the bottom wrungs in the country was able to use the local language to a very high level).

But again, if you don't have an undergraduate degree, then you should get one (and if your goal IS to teach business English, then you should include some sort of business communications courses as well as English, linguistics and other things).

Most of the jobs available to people without degrees tend to be found in-country. There's Ajarn for Thailand, at least (but I heard that they've started kicking people without degrees out of the the country).

[Glenski]

Again, online resources for what? Securing a job overseas?

Get the working holiday visa.

http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/w_holiday/index.html

Look up ads galore.
See the FAQs for links.

Come at a good time. Put together a good resume. Customize your cover letters. Hope for the best.

[mgs2]

Thanks for the replies. Some more information, I have finished 2.5 years of a 4 year degree. The business english course I did was by correspondance, is this not viewed on positively, should I omit this from my resume?

From december I have 3 months holiday for our university break, and I'm looking to spend part of this teaching overseas. I'm looking for online resoucres, to help me find a job overseas. I understand I may be limited because I have not yet finished my degree, that is why I didn't refer to a specific country, because I know I need to be flexible given that I don't have a degree. Hope this clarifies things.

[jdl]

Finish your education. If you are really in a hurry to travel and take a break try some volunteer work with an aid organization or a university student overseas volunteer agency.

[mgs2]

The point is working overseas during my summer break is not slowing my uni graduation. Remember by the time I leave I will have finished 3 years of my degree, which is comparable to the length of some degrees in other countries, so this will be of benefit, even though I will not yet have completed my degree.

[jdl]

A summer job. Well that is a different story. Sorry I misunderstood. Should have read your post more carefully.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Have you looked into summer language camp jobs in your city? No start up costs, you get experience in your home country, you are in the position of knowing what's what instead of being in the position of not knowing what's going on outside of teaching and then by the time you start to figure it out, you have to leave.

[mgs2]

Thanks for your post GambateBingBanBOOM. I know summer camps are an option. The point of the exercise is to work somewhere overseas, this is why I don't want to work in my city. I'm looking for a challenge and to experience something new.

[Justin Trullinger]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]