Job Discussion Forums

MarkM · Joined: 28 Apr 2011 Posts: 55 Location: Lianyungang, China

I am getting into this late, at age 54, after spending over 30 years in banking and business. So teaching business English makes the most sense, especially because I am not enjoying teaching children. So I am looking into teaching business English and would appreciate any insights into what is involved.

By way of background, I have a commerce degree, I have done a TEFL cert and a business English cert, and I am halfway through the mandatory 1st year of TESOL experience. I teach children at a language school over the weekends, and I teach young adults Applied English & Business English at a tertiary institute during the week.

I want a job in which I go into client companies, assess the language learning needs of staff, put together a programme for them, and deliver it. I am not fussy about location, but it should offer professional development opportunities/support. Doing the DELTA would be useful for this kind of work and it would bring management jobs within reach. But my employer would have to support it.

I haven't seen too many jobs like this advertised. The ones I have seen require business English teaching experience, which I don't have. There seem to be a number of them in Europe but, as a New Zealand citizen, I can't get EU working papers. So what would be the next logical step for someone in my situation?

tttompatz

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Read the FAQ stickies in the Japan forum. Plenty of biz English agency links.

MarkM · Joined: 28 Apr 2011 Posts: 55 Location: Lianyungang, China

tttompatz and Glenski, thanks for your input. Networking will certainly become a critical success factor, but I am not there yet. I don't want to stay in Zibo after my contract ends in September and I need to work for someone I can learn business English skills from during the next contract. So I am really looking for a big company or franchise with well established systems and procedures.

You are also right about working with all ages. I have realised that to be useful to an employer, I need to be willing and able to fill whatever gaps they have. I am finding that teaching kids is getting easier anyway, so I don't mind doing it if there is a need.

The Japanese links look interesting. I will spend some time going through them. Interesting that they don't seem to advertise on the ESL job boards. It must be supply/demand. They don't need to look too far to find the people they need. I may need to look at less popular ESL destinations. Interestingly, there seems to be quite a lot going on in Russia at the moment.....

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

You might try applyinf with NCUK. I know they have jobs in China and the Middle East. They pay very well as well. Your experience and background in bsuiness would be a great asset.

Another option would to try to get a uni job. You could also see if you could create a course or two at that uni for bsuiness majors or finance majors,etc and get more money.

Doing BULATS or other exams are a great way to bring in extra money as well.