Job Discussion Forums

[Quoven]

Hey guys, I've been creeping around the forum for awhile and have contributed a few posts, but I'm well decided on teaching abroad in 2011. I have a few friends teaching in Korea and have been put in contact with a few recruiters by them to expand my options, but I am primarily interested in Indonesia.

I have a BA in Political Science, no teaching experience as of yet, but will begin substitute teaching withing the next couple of weeks. I have been researching Indonesia and am about half way through "How Languages are Learned" by Patsy M. Lightbrown and Nina Spada. I'm currently finding this overview to be quite enjoyable.

I know this isn't much information and I am still mostly a stranger to most of you on the board, but I am eager to learn and passionate about pursuing this opportunity. I know a few of you are well established at the schools you work at, based on certain posts, and I was wondering if any of you could possible put me into contact with any recruiters of reputable organizations. Pay is not so much a concern as personal/career development to me. I want to be good at what I do, not make good money because I have an American accent.

I see the posts about RE and EF, and do not want to work for such solely profit-driven institutions. Any help from you all would be highly valued. PMs or standard replies are both more than welcome. Thank you for reading, and I hope all is well to you.

[malu]

You don't mention whether you have an ESL teaching certificate of any kind which you will require if you want to teach English.

There aren't really any recruiters in Indonesia as such because the Indonesian ESL market is not like that in Korea with its private 'hagwan' tradition of mom and pop English schools.

[Quoven]

I do not have an ESL certificate. By next year, I will either have one, or will have my license to teach Math. Both cost about the same, and from what I understand, it makes a lot of sense to get my actual teaching certificate as far as career-wise.

[extradross]

As already pointed out here-there aren't really any professional recruiters here-regular schools[I mean Nat+/International] have their own HRD departments that wil do the recruiting through local press/Jobs DB/lokeronline-last two are websites. As for EF, well they have their own recruitment procedure/department-and there are currently no shortage of candidates! Like everywhere else in Asia right now, supply is outstripping demand so coming here on tourist visa and looking around for work may not be as fruitful as it once was!

[travelNteach]

JIS uses a recruiting agency based in New Jersey. So does school pelita harapan. not sure if they are the same agency or not. i know this doesnt help much, but if schools are using overseas recruiters, it might be easier for u to find them in the states.

if u want to teach for the long haul and have a much better quality of life and stay away from the language mills, get your teaching cert in math. u will be much more marketable for the international school jobs in all countries. hell crap schools like EF dont even require an ESL cert. good luck with the substitute teaching.

[Quoven]

Well thanks everyone, it's really nice to know that there are people out there willing to help even though it doesn't seem that there is much help to be had. I will look around and try to track down some of these recommendation, tNt.

That sounds like good advice with the whole teaching cert thing, I'll probably do that so long as I enjoy the school environment, which I think that I will. Subbing should start next week, assuming I get a phone call. I'm lucky to be in an area that has nothing close to the inner city situation, as Vermont doesn't have a city over 45,000 in population. I think things will go really well, and I appreciate the good luck wishes.

I don't mind roughing it a bit. I'm 23, and enjoy dirt under my nails, which is definitely one of the reasons I want to get out of the sterility of the developed Western world. That being said, I respect the fact that there are short-sighted, profit-driven institutions taking full advantage of global economics and undercutting a traditionally lucrative job market. While I'm afraid this may be inevitable, I have no intention personally offering my labor to an institutions like these.

Anyway, thanks again everyone. I look forward to later discussion.

[travelNteach]

u dont have to be poor or live a backpacker lifestyle to enjoy living overseas. as someone who has lived on both sides of the fence, i prefer having money. my language skills improved alot faster because i was immersed in the local culture out of necessity, but i can still do the same thing by choice and actually have access to parts of the culture and population that i couldnt have being poor. also i get to travel extensively.

get the teaching cert and live large overseas. it is great

[Quoven]

Just getting back to you on my substitute teaching experience like I promised.

I finally got called last week and asked a few questions by a school secretary. Before i knew it, I found myself substituting in and ESL class! Quite the coincidence. The class sizes are very small at this school. So far I have had a lot of kids asking me for help with pronunciation and the meaning of words. I covered quality of thesis statements with an upper level class today, and worked with two kids individually. One of them is an immigrant from Kenya and the other from Turkey.

I am quite happy with the work. I find it very rewarding and the perfect kind of challenge.

I have one more day tomorrow before my future is again uncertain with respect to teaching.

I'd be happy to go into more detail tNt, but I'll leave it short and sweet for now. Good luck out there everyone.

[travelNteach]

glad u are enjoying so far. hope it leads to greener pastures