First, TEFL job is always an exciting journey with millions of dazzling thoughts to envision. To teach English abroad, finding online TEFL courses are now a piece of cake. However, finding a TEFL job easily is quite debatable. Much that it is a lucrative job sector and recruitment in this avenue of teaching and facilitating is comparatively higher, it does come with its share of apprehensions.
TEFL jobs depend on various factors:
- Hiring season or recruitment months
- Valid certification
- Nature of job- travel abroad or teach online
- Salary expectations
- Places to teach (if travel and teach is the objective)
Recruitment months are usually toward the end of an academic year when the contracts of the expat teachers are supposed to end and the schools need to fill the position. Also, peak times or the summer months in most countries especially in Europe are long vacation months where parents majorly like to let their children enrol for vocational or language-specific camps. April to August serves ideal months for ESL teachers to travel and get exposure to a different culture.
ESL/EFL jobs also depend on where one person would like to get recruited. China, Vietnam and other South Asian countries are favourite places to teach and they recruit throughout the year. However, people would always have their individual preferences. Also, the salary is something that comes as an immediate consideration along with that.
All in all, here are a few points that one can keep in mind while searching for an ESL job after getting TEFL certified.
Documentation: Keep your original hardcopies and softcopies of the TEFL certificate handy. Along with the soft copies, make sure to also keep scanned copies of your certificate, your school and university certificates ready and save them in a portable external drive. Along with these, make sure to keep the scanned copies of your government ids, visa works, passport and other paper works and documents ready.
CV/Resume: This is one of the crucial areas where most of the ESL/EFL teachers fail to prepare as per the requirement. Remember, you need to understand the differences between CV and resume. Second, make a country and organisation specific CV/resume. The resume that may work for a bilingual school in Spain, may get disqualified in a private school in China. It is important to know or choose your target learners and then use the right vocabulary to enhance and enrich your CV! If you want to keep your options open, this event calls for more attention to the different sets of CV/resume that you need to design.
Introductory video: A video where you introduce yourself; a crisp 2-3 minutes long reel where you touch base on your qualifications, strengths and weaknesses, skills, etc. For references, you can always take a look at the millions of videos up on YouTube. Once you are all set, upload your video with appropriate hashtags for an effective reach. Attach this introductory video along with your CV/Resume when you email a potential recruiter.
Extra credential: ESL/EFL has a lot to do with dealing with the mindsets of language learners. They come from different cultural and social backgrounds than you. At the same time also understand that it is you who needs to build empathy. So, to make yourself stand out, getting additional qualifications are always a good brownie point. Specialised courses on intercultural communication, teaching qualifications specializing to teach young learners, learning an international language like Mandarin, Spanish, French, etc., always add uniqueness to your profile.
Social media presence: Make social media your best friend! Being active on social media is one of the key skills that you would need to get recruited faster. Each social media platform has its unique target users. For example, while LinkedIn is a great place to connect with professionals and showcase your professional skills, Instagram is an interactive platform with engaging features to attract ESL learners through your posts, stories (polls, quizzes, announcements), reels, etc. Upgrade your social media accounts and make sure to be consistent with the activities that you plan on publishing over there.
While you are trying to complete this checklist to get recruited faster, try to secure an online TEFL job. This way you keep yourself away from anxiety and the constant fear till you secure your first TEFL job to teach English abroad. This is another way to not exhaust the value of the certification that you receive from the online TEFL courses that you chose. This further lets you comb through the skills and explore your best qualities so that you can knock ‘em dead in the interview!
