Getting your First Job Teaching English Abroad

Nervous about landing that first Job?

Don’t worry about it . . .

Welcome to a new world where the job search and even interviews very rarely have that dehumanizing and degrading aspect that we are all so familiar with from job hunts in our Western world.

Yeah . . . the demand for EFL teachers worldwide is so great that you will find it surprisingly easy to land your first job offer.

They are looking for YOU – not the usual other way around.  But take your time, find the right position and make sure you will be happy.

Whether thinking about a two-year “lark” teaching overseas – or if you would like TEFL to offer you a long-term career – give this website a good read. No, we don’t really have all the answers, because the answers are as individual as each person thinking of entering the field.  But we do have about 100 posts to help you learn more and get yourself up to speed.

If you are interested in trying your hand at teaching English overseas, but don’t yet want to commit to a one-year contract, go over to
TEFL Temp where information about short-term TEFL positions is posted. Some are as short four months and sometimes even include airfare and training. Hard to beat that!

TEFL Newbie was written by a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana from 1989 to 1991 (me!) who designed the site with the complete “Newbie” in mind and answers just about every question you might have about Teaching English Overseas.

Once you land that first job – put what you have learned on this website to work!

TED’s Tips™ #1: Like finding a job in any industry, that first job may not be perfect – nor the one of your dreams. But it is a start. Just because you are heading overseas, don’t let your head get stuck in fantasyland. It is still a job, things are still required of you and your new employer will expect you to deliver. It is all part of growing up – even if you are already in your 60s.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Go on over to TEFL Boot Camp and give that website a good read too.  Much of the content on that website is FREE.

Teaching Internships in China

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Important Choices for a TEFL Career

Two TEFL Tracks Examined: University or Language School Options

Teaching English abroad, to me, has two different career paths. And they are both important to consider before you seek that first job and even before you take your TEFL Training if getting a certification is on your agenda.

The two paths?

Teaching at a language school or teaching at a college or university. How are they different? Many many ways.

Teaching English at a Language School

Teaching English at a language school often involves a large dose of teaching children very elementary language skills. But it also can involve a fair amount of singing, dancing and what some people might call “being a dancing monkey” to keep the little ones occupied and happy.

Now some people can think of nothing more joyous than filling their days with enthusiastic and energetic young kids, dancing, singing and laughing. Others see it as a very loud classroom with hyperactive screaming kids that present constant discipline problems.

The reality is probably somewhere in the middle, but TEFL newbies are often placed in with the youngest kids, especially if you are a very young newbie. Class sizes can often be small, with six to twelve kids per class relatively common.

Is this setting for you?

Teaching English at Colleges and Universities

Teaching English at colleges and universities usually involves teaching intermediate to more advanced language skills to larger classes of young adults. Some of those students don’t want to be in the classroom, but the class is required by their major. Other students will be enthusiastic English majors with a real curiosity about the language and a desire to improve.

Some people find teaching these students, who already have some good language skills, to be a a lot easier. Others find it difficult to manage the larger numbers of students that are in a university class – sometimes only 15-25, but 35-45 are not unusual – and I once taught a reading class (with a co-teacher) of 100+ students.

How about that setting?

Other Important Differences

A common difference between the two jobs is that university teachers usually teach only about twelve to twenty 45-50 minute classroom hours per week. Language school teachers will find 25-35 hours to be more common. Those classes though might range from only 30 to 45 minutes each.

Paid vacation time is usually significantly different. A typical language school teacher – let’s say in Asia, for example – will get about one week per year of paid vacation time. University positions vary significantly but a month paid vacation is about the minimum and some schools, as you move up the food chain, offer anywhere from 12-20 weeks paid leave per year.

BIG differences, no?

Now, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like long paid vacation time, but there are probably a few out there. To me the university/college path was always the best bet.

One final difference is important though. Generally university positions will require more education and/or training than a language school job. With only a degree you can get a decent language school job in almost any non-English speaking country.

A degree and a TEFL certification can land you university positions in many countries. Just a TEFL certification with no degree will usually see you in a language school in few choices of countries. A relevant graduate degree and a TEFL Certification and the world is your oyster.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Before you head out decide which path might be best for you.

TED’s Tips™ #2: If you are not sure, give both options a try before committing long term.

Teaching Internships in China

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Apply for that Job: Cover every Angle

Recently a reader asked:

This might be a weird question but one thing that I have been wondering is if I should straighten my hair for my resume picture. I am mixed, although you couldn’t tell with my skin, and have extremely curly hair.

My hair doesn’t look bad or anything it’s just often times curly hair can be looked at as “crazy” or “wild”. This may not seem like something that employers actually look at but I know from experience that it is. So what do you think?

That was a good question – so here it is featured as a post and my answer was:

Your question is not so weird. It is good that you take an analytical look at things and try to find the best path. Sometimes the fine line between making the cut for a job and not making it can be pretty subjective, especially in many countries where just about any kind of discrimination is legal.

I can’t tell you what is best for you, but I certainly – when applying for a job – minimize anything about my appearance that could distract an employer from finding out that I could just be the best teacher they ever hired. That means I usually cut off my beard for photo shot and leave it off for the interview and it slowly drifts back . . . It also means that – since I am “mature” in age – that I have the picture “photoshopped” to take a few wrinkles/years away.

I wouldn’t suggest doing anything that so dramatically changes your appearance that your employer won’t recognize you on the job, but anything you can do to tilt things in your favor – do it.

If you have a goal, do everything reasonable to make it happen. My beard is not so important to me that I would give up the potential of a job I really wanted. People who get all self-righteous on such things often minimize the possibilities in their lives.

TED’s Tips™ #1: You are more than smart enough to decide what will work best for you!
Go get ‘em!

Teaching Internships in China

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

TEFL Opportunities you won’t Believe

World events conspire to help you move up the TEFL job ladder . . .

Here is a bit of guidance on how to land jobs – right now – that you never would have been considered for, even just a few months ago.  Really!

First a bit of a short story to illustrate for you how it works.

During my 20+ years abroad I’ve lived in numerous countries where “interesting” things have happened.  This is not unusual and almost everyone who has lived overseas for an extended period of time will have experienced everything from riots in the streets, to wars to tsunamis to anything else that hits the headlines big.

Let talk a bit about these things and what it means to you.

When I was living in South Korea in 1992-94 there were tense times between the South and North and EFL schools had a terrible time recruiting.  No one wanted to come.  Even where I was – Pusan (these days known as Busan) – at the extreme far south of the country about as far away as you could get from N. Korea – no one would go there and many teachers there bailed out and left.  There were worrying significant incidents, perhaps roughly similar to the North shelling the island north of Incheon recently.

I was living in Taipei when mainland China was conducting “live fire” exercises shooting missiles directly over Taiwan back about ’94-95.  That incident only lasted perhaps a week or two – but no teachers wanted to go there for almost a year afterward.

In Thailand in 2004 when the Boxing Day tsunami struck, no one wanted to teach there for almost a year, even in Bangkok almost 700 miles away!

In Saudi Arabia, just shortly after the Al Khobar bombing, no one would go there to teach for almost a year.

In Thailand again, during relatively recent civil unrest in Banggok, no one wanted to go and teach in Phuket Island – again about 700 miles away, far away from the problems.

In Japan right now, teachers are bailing out and no one wants to go there.  And that situation will likely persist for at least a year.

Now . . . many other similar incidents have happened around the world, these are only a few examples.  Others would be earthquakes in Chile, drug wars in Mexico, street protests in Iran and on and on.  What they have in common is that teachers bail out in droves and new teachers won’t go there.  Even if the “incident” is over.  Even if the incident was hundreds, possibly even a thousand miles away – teachers bail, no one comes.  Even if the “incident” was three or four months ago.

I am sure that right now, even on Kyushu island in the far south of Japan, schools are having difficulty recruiting the teachers they need to fill their positions.  Even though Nagasaki or even Fukuoka are both well over 600+ miles away from the problems in the north, teachers are bailing out, recently contracted teachers will not arrive and there is difficulty hiring new teachers to fill their vacant positions.

This situation repeats itself probably at least several times a year around the world.  Saudi Arabia – right now – is probably having real difficulty finding the people they need for teaching positions as the world anticipates potential civil unrest.

What all this means to you . . .

LOTS of jobs are open and you can usually land jobs that are much higher up the food chain than you might otherwise have had the opportunity to grab.  This would be the time to apply for that supervisory position or university professor position that wasn’t really open to you a few months ago.

Now – I am NOT suggesting that you go to Libya and throw yourself in the line of fire in order to land a job with better wages.  Do your research as to what the situation on the ground is – no matter where you are looking for work.  But I would bet that there are good jobs going wanting in Alexandria, Egypt.  In Nagasaki and Fukuoka.  Probably even excellent university positions in Saudi Arabia.

Get the idea?  If you don’t want to be in or too near the trouble spot, look in the same country on the far other side.  If Saudi might have trouble in Damman where there is a majority Shia population – work on the other side of the country in Jeddah.   Because, generally speaking, people don’t think these things through – they just avoid the whole country rather than the specific area where problems are occurring.

If there was a riot in Los Angeles, would you refuse a great job in Las Vegas?  Phoenix?  San Francisco?  That is exactly what most teachers do

TED’s Tips™ #1: View times of trouble as having the potential for great opportunity.   I personally would not want to work in Sendai right now, but I would be very happy to work in Osaka or Kobe or Nagasaki.  And there are a load of good jobs waiting for you.

TED’s Tips™ #2: After you have lived abroad for a few years, you will come to realize how much the international press over plays many situations.   It’s good for viewership.  But it is usually bad for the country.  I still remember when I was in university and a river on the edge of town flooded.  The press played it up like the whole town had washed away.  Great shots of cars floating down the river, a few people sobbing and crying – great drama for the ratings.  But far less than one percent of the city was affected.  That was never mentioned.  Friends and family were calling to see if I was still alive!

TED’s Tips™ #3: I am not trying to minimize difficult situations.  What I am suggesting is that you think for yourself, do a bit of research and if the situation seems right for you to seek great opportunity that might otherwise not have been available to you – go for it!

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Little Things Help you Land the Big TEFL Job

How to land the best job you can teaching English overseas.

Five easy Do’s and Don’ts that will increase your odds of getting that job.

DO have an attractive passport type photo made of yourself
This should be a photo with you in professional dress, groomed immaculately and with a nice smile.  If you are old and look a bit too old, just a touch of Photoshop is okay, but don’t overdo it to the point where the school won’t recognize you when you arrive.

Many cultures put great stock in appearances and in how you present yourself.  Take it seriously, it does make a difference – a big difference – and that is why it is FIRST on this list.

Do have all your documents scanned and ready even before you apply
You never really know for sure for what documents a potential employer might ask.  Have copies and scans of everything they might possibly ask for.  Have it ready so that you can provide it immediately and the hiring authority does not have to wait for it.  During that wait someone else may slip right in and fill that job.

Don’t argue/niggle with an employer or recruiter about what they are requesting
Don’t send a transcript when a degree was asked for.   If you lost your degree, get a replacement before you start applying for jobs.   Don’t send a photo of you out hiking when a passport type photo was asked for.  Not following through makes a potential employer wonder if you will do the things required on the job or if there will always be a problem or excuse at hand.

Do make yourself available for an interview
Set time aside to be available for an interview.  Don’t make an employer wait.  Interview as soon as you can to lock in that job.  Don’t tell a potential employer that you are too busy on a certain day or time.  It makes it sound like the interview is not important to you. If you really can’t interview at a certain time or day, give a solid reason.

Do be polite and professional in all your communications
Write and speak using formal English.  Writing to an employer using email shorthand or Twitter type shorthand just turns people off.  If you are applying for a position teaching English, demonstrate your ability to use it correctly.

TED’s Tips™ #1: You might be surprised how many people do NOT follow these simple guidelines.  And how many good qualified people don’t get the jobs they think they should get, because they didn’t follow them.   As Nike says, “Just do it”.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China