Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ScottyG]

I have tons of experience in Korea and China, and am trying to get a part-time job in Vancouver teaching. I'd have thought this would be somewhat easy, but all these schools want these certifications, which is logical but somewhat annoying to someone like me. If I simply put a line in my resume that says "TESOL Certified" I'd immediately get calls it seems. My question is, how do employers check that you ARE in fact certified, and DO they actually check. In my experience, they didn't in Korea. I had a friend who lied about it and it worked for him. I don't like lying, but...just wondering if anyone has anything to relate. Making a scan or fake certificate is not hard.

[sqrlnutz123]

When I got my TESOL, my school looked up the institution online. I think that would be an easy way for them to find you out. However, I have heard of people going to a copy place and making very nice certificates for themselves. I don't know how it turned out though.

[Kaypea]

Hi Scotty,

It seems like the good language schools in Canada want you to not only be "Tesl certified" (if it were merely that, it may be possible to say that you are but that you "lost your certificate in Korea"), but it seems like they actually want you to be registered with TESOL Canada-- a real professional organization, where you pay dues and have professional certificates which cost a lot of time and money to get!

I think if you have a relevant MA, you can get a good job in a public college or university, but if you want to work for many of the good language schools, you have to be TESOL Canada certified.

You could still try applying for language schools, of course. I think there are places that will hire you because you have some experience. I wouldn't lie about having TESL or something, but you could let these places know that you're willing to get one.

[Totti]

When I was working in England, they wanted to see the original certificate at the interview and also called up my TESOL school to make sure.

[Troglodyte]

In general, in Korea they don't care about your qualifications or experience. That's why they also don't do teacher training courses or workshops. But in other countries, they will check up on you before hiring because they ARE interested in hiring someone who knows what they are doing.

[richardlang]

It doesn't help that tons of people have scanned their CELTA certificates in high quality and posted them on Google. Just search. Presenting a real CELTA certificate, rather than 99.9% other TESOL/TEFL certificates (which don't have holograms) in person is, however, the final word.

Granted, the really, really old CELTA certs I found on Google don't have holograms. But there's always a serial number and CELTA isn't going to shutdown anytime soon like these fly by night online TESOL programs might.

Sure, you could fake a certificate, but you're on borrowed time and should get your life together.

[young_clinton]

[djsmnc]

I should hope that anyone who tries to use a fake credential shall be charged with fraud and conspiracy, sentenced to seven years, and repreatedly raped in prison.

[misher]

The school I worked at does check if you have your Canada TEFL 1 or whatever it is called. They scanned my CELTA and made sure that I was registered. You could probbly get away with faking it but you certainly won't get away with it at the better schools.

[Troglodyte]

I have taught at language schools in Canada (in Toronto and Montreal) without the Canadian TEFL certificate or a B.Ed. I have a CELTA (a real one) and a few other minor certificates. But that was about 10 years ago. Maybe the Canadian TEFL certificate wasn't used much back then. I'm quite sure that the schools that I worked for verified that my CELTA was real. They also contacted a few of my previous employers for a reference.

[Smee]

Christ, I guess I'm the only one bothered by somebody lying on their resume.

[djsmnc]

[CPJ]

Just do the course!

It's not like you have to spend a year or two getting a TESOL/TEFL/TESL certificate! And there are lots of places in Vancouver where you could get certified in less than a month!

And we're talking Vancouver, not Korea. Chances are they will check.