Finding your first TEFL job

Where can I teach?

There are English teaching opportunities in just about every country worldwide, although the demand for teachers and access to jobs for foreign teachers is much greater in some countries than in others. Have a look here to get an idea of some of the countries where work is available at the moment.

Requirements of employers vary from country to country and from school to school too, so although there may be many jobs advertised for a particular country, you may find that you do not match the profile they are looking for. Most employers in the EU, for example, only recruit EU citizens. Many schools in some countries in the Middle East require a high level qualification and several years of teaching experience, and so will not recruit newly-qualified teachers.

Having said this, the number of opportunities available means that there is something for almost everyone!

How do I find a job?

The most common way to find a TEFL job is through a TEFL employment website. When you find a job which interests you, the first thing to do is to apply with your CV. It may sound obvious, but make sure that your CV has no grammatical or spelling mistakes (if you are applying for a job teaching English, there are few things more likely to see your CV thrown into the "No" pile than bad grammar or spelling). Also make sure that your qualifications and any relevant experience are clearly visible. If you fit the school's profile, they will normally contact you to arrange an interview (if the job is abroad, probably a telephone interview), usually with the school's Director of Studies, or in larger schools, a Recruitment Coordinator.

The interview can last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or more. In part 3 of this guide, we go through some of the common questions you may be asked during the interview, as well as some questions you may want to ask the interviewer or a teacher currently at the school.

Many schools in English speaking countries and Western Europe use other means of recruitment, including TEFL recruitment agencies, newspapers and local expat magazines, as well as just relying on people walking in off the street in search of work. Interviews are more often face to face. Recruitment agencies often still advertise on TEFL recruitment websites (agencies are also common in countries such as South Korea). The advantage of agencies is that once they have your CV on file and have interviewed you, they can continue to contact you for any suitable job that may arise in the future.

One option is to travel to a country first and look for work when you are there. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. On the plus side, some schools are more likely to hire you if they have met and interviewed you face to face, and you are already established in a place (as we said above, some schools rely entirely on teachers walking in off the street in search of work!). On the other hand, there is a risk in spending a lot of time and money with no guarantee of finding a job, particularly if it is your first job and you have chosen a country where many schools require several years of experience.

The school

The great majority of schools are reputable businesses, and, except for the inevitable mishaps and inconveniences (broken photocopiers, cultural misunderstandings!) most contracts go without a hitch. But of course, as in any other profession or industry, there are some schools out there who are not reputable, and who seek to take advantage of unsuspecting teachers, with more serious consequences than a lack of paper to make photocopies. If you are unlucky enough to encounter one of these schools, or worse, buy a plane ticket, travel to the country and start work, it can be too late by the time you find out that something is amiss, and quitting may leave you severely out of pocket.

The most important thing is to do your research before accepting any offer of employment. Talk to other teachers, join TEFL foums, do an internet search for the name of the school.

There are some things to watch out for though with every job that you apply for:
Are they willing to offer you a job without speaking to you first?
Are they unprepared to put you in contact with current teachers?
Are they expecting you to accept a job offer without seeing a contract?
Are they asking you to send them money? (There should be no reason for this)

Have a look at the TEFL jobs page to get started finding a job.

Continue reading

Choosing a TEFL course
Finding your first TEFL job
TEFL interviews and contracts
Surviving the first weeks
Career paths and options
TEFL acronyms

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