Okay, so I was asked on the blog's Facebook page about any tips about how to get started in TEFL teaching. This is for those of you who are either thinking about, starting or have recently completed a TEFL course. As some of you know through a turn of events I have been fortunate enough to teach English in two different countries: Hungary and Spain. After graduating with a degree in media and having a hunger for learning about other countries cultures and languages, I decided the easiest way to do this would be to put my communication skills to good use. One thing which scared me about TEFL was that I would be living abroad alone. For a girl who had not lived outside of her native Scotland before was a terrifying thought. (Excuse the long story but I will get to the advice soon, I promise!)
Often in competitive job markets it's about who you know and not what you know. This isn't always the case in TEFL, although in my case my first job was exactly this. One of my closest friends was teaching in Hungary and after two years of being there, decided it was time to go home as she missed her family. The school would then have to look for a new TEFL teacher and she turned to me, as she knew I was completing my university degree and would look for employment after it. I also was So, after a lot of thought and talking things over with my family I sent a letter of motivation to the school and I was accepted.
After the summer I was headed on a plane to a small town in northern Hungary to teach at a high school. It was difficult, but halfway through the job I realised really enjoyed it and I was sad to leave because I had made so many connections there. I had secured summer employment as an EFL teacher with a summer camp company based in south east England.However, I still felt that I wasn't ready to return to work permanently in the UK and had the means to live abroad for another year. I searched on the tefl.org website for jobs. I then came across a teaching assistant job in Spain, which is currently the one I'm working at. My official job title is Conversation Assistant, I live with a host family and experience a culture exchange. I also work at a nursery and primary school, where I organise games and activities to encourage children to speak English, assisting the English teacher in English and arts & crafts classes.
There are many different TEFL sites which have regular job postings. The one I used for the summer camps and Spain jobs is www.tefl.org.uk. This is the best one in my opinion, although there are other websites such as Tefl.com which are good too.
It's important to remember that jobs in Asia and the Middle East are better paid than jobs in Europe for example, but often these jobs can provide you with flight compensation, free accommodation or monthly living allowance. So while you may be earning less in Europe the company will provide you with certain benefits to make sure you have a comfortable lifestyle there. It's important to research the country before you consider applying or moving there, to know what the teaching salary is, how many hours a teacher works, visa requirements. While you can still TEFL without a university degree, you may be paid significantly less than those with one. Also countries such as China request their TEFL teachers have a university degree, even if it's not related to teaching.
Be wary of teaching jobs which requests their applicants to pay thousands of pounds as a start up fee. If you're not sure e-mail the company to ensure that there are no participation fees or how to apply. If schools ask you to send some money to them be wary as it may be a scam. Also ensure that you geta Skype interview with your future school to ensure that it is also not a scam. DO NOT send large fees abroad as your dream ESL job may just be imaginary. However do not worry because the legitimate jobs outnumber scams* and with a some research your new life will be just a few clicks (and a plane ticket) away...
*Information from www.gooverseas.com
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