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kbaileyoakes

I just CAN'T find a straight answer on this.

I'm interested in knowing what a person needs to have in order to get a work permit to teach. Every website I visit seems to say something different. Can anyone help me out?

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

120 hour TEFL certificate (CELTA or equivalent), university degree in any subject and a clean police certificate from your home country.

The reason you can't get a straight answer is probably because there's a difference between teaching in Vietnam, and getting a work permit to teach in Vietnam.

marina33 · Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 43 Location: Hawaii

self edited for reasons of extreme fed-upness!

Please do the research yourself here. This and other forums on this site are LOADED with the answers to your very overposted question.

If you wish to teach, you need to apply yourself, that means spending not 20 minutes, but TWO HOURS at a minimum reading former posts by using the SEARCH/KEY WORD(s) filter(s).

If you don't bother to do that, how could you possibly be capable of TEACHING?

kbaileyoakes · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 2:16 am Post subject:

I'm With Stupid-
Thank you. That's what I needed to know. Is an online cert okay or does it have to be in-class?

Marina-
Yes, I have done that. Did you not read the part where every website I visit says something different? I have perused this board for hours on end and found no solid response.

deadlift · Joined: 08 Jun 2010 Posts: 267

If you're the kind of person who requires a definitive answer before taking any action, Vietnam definitely isn't the place for you.

"I'm with stupid" gave you the basic list of requirements, but where things become complicated is the process of getting the documents and getting them authenticated.

The reason you haven't found any definitive answer about this side of things is because all the info out there is based on individual experience, or interpretation of various degrees of law/guideline/decrees whatever. A criminal record check, for example, is a very different document from country to country.

The person from the US with no original documents and working for a crappy school is going to have a vastly different experience to the individual from New Zealand who bought all their documents with them, and has a job at a school with a quality HR department.

The only real answer is to come here, find a job, and then find your own way up the river. All the best.

kbaileyoakes · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 3:58 am Post subject:

The only definitive thing I was looking for was what I needed to qualify to get a job and a work permit. I don't see that as too much to ask of any country. I'm not going to just go to a country if I am not qualified to teach there legally.

I have gone through the process of gathering and authenticating documents before, and I am prepared to do it again.

The thing that ALWAYS comes up as different is the TEFL requirement. I have read that it has to be in-class on some websites, and I've read on others that an online cert is sufficient. Can anyone answer this? Would a person with a 120-hour TEFL cert completed online even be eligible to obtain a work permit in Vietnam?

deadlift · Joined: 08 Jun 2010 Posts: 267

Yes, and I still maintain that Vietnam is not a country where you can get definitive statements on anything, even matters of law.

IN MY OPINION/ASSUMPTION, you'll have no trouble getting a WP with your online cert. I doubt any of the desk warmers at the red-tape factory are knowledgeable/interested enough to examine it very closely, so long as looks somewhat official.

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

kbaileyoakes · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:17 pm Post subject:

Well, I finally got a response from the guy who taught where I teach before the guy before me, who teaches in Vietnam now. He seems to echo the opinion that there are no regulations. If that's the case, I guess that's the definitive information I needed.

Thanks for all your responses.

Oh My God · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 273

H5N1 · Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 80

Oh My God · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 273

snollygoster · Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 478

Lot of differing opinions here- based no doubt on real experience.
Answer the question? Your On Line TEFL is fine- Police check- some sort of evidence that you are a person of no interest to the Police-Degree is good, but you can get a Work permit with verifiable work experience of 5+ years, particularly if it is teaching/instruction related.

As to the way it is applied? Micky Mouse is the arbitrator on that, and it may depend on whether he has had his ice-cream fix today or not-BUT everything is possible in Vietnam. The system is so "flexible" that any "problems" can be sorted out with the right application of some butter on the bread.

After Korea, I think the benefits in Vietnam will outweigh the small but annoying problems.

ajc19810 · Joined: 22 May 2008 Posts: 214

For a work permit an online certificate is fine.

I was at a couple of schools last week and they both had a folder with copies of what they believed to be acceptable certificates in them. I only recognized a couple of them CELTA and the dubious Aus TESOL cert which was offered through VATC as a way of recruitment a few years back.

Schools like the idea of some kind of teaching certificate as they think that it makes us professional.

Last time I was in Oz I looked at the TESOL certificates on offer, most were ranging from $2500 - $3500 for a month course. However, a Master of Applied Linguistics (TESOL) costs approx $5k which can be completed in a standard university year (with flexible delivery options). Online Cert = $200.

SG is right, Vietnam is still a place, where there are always options.

H5N1 · Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 80