Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bitna]

So I'm doing my homework and trying to figure out what certificate to obtain before going to Korea to teach English. Some schools or online courses obviously are only out there to only make money and some are legit and credible.

What certificate do you have? Where and what program did you go through? Has it helped you with job search?

You can never be prepared enough, but I think getting a certificate will definitely give me ideas and better prepare me to be a teacher.

Thanks all.

[turtlepi1]

Invest in a CELTA if you are going to be doing ESL for a while.

If you don't want to do one then you should try to get a program that is 100 hours or more.

If you are ignoring both of those, then really...cheap and quick. (Some will say this is a waste...(maybe in the beginning it is...but if you have experience you can always get a little bump from one of these certificates.) Maybe better to just forget it unless you need the experience. Most jobs here you can learn the bad habits on the fly.

(Sort of depends on whether you want the skills from the course or whether you want the certificate.)

CELTA will help you for some of the higher end schools. (getting them I mean...it will help you with ANY teaching job as far as the skills learned go)

[dulouz]

CELTA - dont bother with the others.

[Tiger Beer]

I agree - dont bother.

I spent $2000 on a course in Budapest through International House in the Summer of 1997.. it never got me a job. Definetely dont need it for Korea.

If you have intentions to teach in Indonsia, Turkey, or anywhere in Europe... it could be of some benefit. But Korea and the rest of the world, no.

[animalbirdfish]

[Paji eh Wong]

I did a TEFL cert, and it was worth it, if only for my own developement. 6 weeks in Bangkok, 30 odd hours per week, USD $1000. I think the "make or break" point of any program like that will be the trainer. I got a pretty good one. I've managed to land a "low end" Uni gig for the coming semester.

The online certs would probably be a waste. Just pick up some proffesional developement books if you have no other option.

[TECO]

First, North East Asian schools don't really require applicants to hold any TESOL certificate or to have any prior training.

Second, if you do hold a certificate or diploma, you won't be paid any extra for it.

Having said that, doing a CELTA course will definitely make you more confident in your teaching and give you more ideas for the classroom.

CELTA can be pretty tough for a lot of people and it's gonna cost you about $2,000 U.S. I think - depends where you take it.

Overall, you probably won't notice any advantage in getting a job, though, because of holding a certificate in Asia.

The schools in Asia that do require a CELTA though, are The British Council and maybe International House.

University teachers have little to no knowledge of CELTA and other certs. In fact, all they care about is hiring teachers with Master and Ph.D degrees - even in non-relevant fields like Economics, Law and Computer Scicence! LOL!!

It doesn't make a lot of sense but those have been my observations.

[turtlepi1]

[TECO]

Yeah, you could be right.

I also did see some university ads here on Daves asking applicants to have a CELTA or Certificate.

I haven't seen many ads like that before.

Maybe Korea is changing in this regard.

I've spent a lot of time teaching mostly in Japan and Taiwan (7 years) and I can tell you that CELTA and other certificates are not really needed to get teaching jobs at any level - hogwan or university.

My other point is that Asian language schools don't have a very good understanding of courses like CELTA. In many cases, these schools don't even require prior expereince, never mind training (I'm talking about language school not international schools where a PGCE / B.Ed is required).

Furthermore, schools like BERLITZ, NOVA, GEOS, ECC and so on have their own methods that they demand teachers stick to 'religiously.' Teachers are not encouraged to stray from their 'methods.'

So, these big chain schools definitely don't want candidates with M.A. TESOL and CELTA / DELTA qualifications, it would seem, for fear that the teacher would think too much (And I also don't think schools like these would be good places for trained and expeirenced teachers to work).

I sat 2 interviews this summer at universities in Taiwan. In on interview, out of 7 professors who were on the panel, 1 of them might have 'heard' about CELTA he said!

None of the professors, and they were all from the Department of Foreign Language and Literature, knew anything about the CELTA.

And if you do hold one of the EFL teacher qualifications, the majority of language schools do not offer a pay raise because of it. Where's the incentive? The industry, which is mostly made up of private business people, doesn't support teacher education. They don't need to. A warm body with preferrably a white face is all that seems to be required of teachers still in this part of the world!

Europe, however, seems to be another story all together.

[the eye]

if you are going to be working at a hogwan(private institute), or if you are only staying here a short time, don't bother with any certificates.

[bitna]

Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate it!