Job Discussion Forums

[Julian Pyke]

I have a few questions:

1) Do I need a Bachelors degree PLUS CELTA certification to make decent money/get a job? Or can I just start now if I get my CELTA?

2) Where is a reliable, good place to get CELTA certified?

3) Are there any jobs in Argentina, Panama, Coasta Rica?

[naturegirl321]

1) Depends on what you mean by decent money. Sure, you can get by with ust a CELTA: Visas might be an issue, but many places, like Argentina and Peru wont' even bother and will just have you work under the table. DItto for Costa Rica. Mexico, you'll need a visa though. Personally, if it's money, either
1. Get a job at an intl school.
2. Go to Asia
3. Go to teh Middle East.

Abotu CELTA; just about anywhere should be good.

Jobs: There are jobs in Argentina and Costa Rica, don't know about Panamore, do you mean Panama? If you do, then no. Not unless you have a legal working visa.

[Julian Pyke]

Ok, if I get a job at an international school, is it required to have a Bachelors degree?

And, yes, I meant Panama. I would need a working visa to EFL there?

In general, is it required to have a bachelors degree to work in Latin America? All I am interested in doing is traveling, working, and saving enough to travel when I can while I do a bit of school online.

Specifically Argentina and Costa Rica.

[hughesie]

[spanglish]

Regardless you'll be working lots and saving very little (unless you get lucky).

Unless you're willing to hack it and are willing to just settle down in one place in Latin America and make just enough to live on (which is what I and many of my friends are doing, hoping to work our way into something better), here's what you should do:

A. Get a degree, CELTA (or just a get a masters right away if you're serious), then go to Asia, get 2-3 years of experience teaching, save money (maybe get the DELTA at this point), then come back to Latin America and get one of the good teaching jobs.

or B. stay in your home country, work a service job, save your money, then come to Latin America, travel around and just enjoy yourself without working (slight modification: go to Korea for a year and save several thousand $$, then come blow it here).

C. (the best option) become an engineer.

[Atlan Training]

You can find work with a CELTA, particularly if you get a Pass B or Pass A. A lot of employers will not care about you not having a Bachelor or not check, and they will "hire" you, though not legally. However, you'll have many more opportunities and make more money easier and faster if you also have a university degree because this is the only way to legally get a visa. There are not many CELTA centers in Latin America. Brazil lists several but most of them are phantom courses. IH Buenos Aires lists a lot of courses a year, runs most of them, relies a lot on freelance trainers. The British Council in Bogot� runs a couple of courses a year. Southern Cross in Ecuador, where I work, will run between six and eight course in an ecoresort on the beach in 2010. We're a very good center, excellent reputation. That's it for South America. In Central America there is only the center in San Jose, Costa Rica. Then you have the IH schools in Mexico, but they all have quite bad reputations.

If you just want to make a bit of money to get by and be mobile / travel, you can manage it with only the CELTA, particularly if you work your butt off and get a Pass B on the certificate.

Good luck!

[Justin Trullinger]

Another question might be age. Are you degree-less due to having been in other professional fields, or are you just pretty young?


Might not be a deal-breaker, but if you're very young AND degree-less, it makes things harder.


Best,
Justin