Employment & Prof. Development

Hello Dr. Greg,

I posted on the forum a couple months ago, and after reading through the Guide a bit more, I am more confident in my ability to get a teaching job this summer/fall. So thanks again.

I will have a bachelor's degree in 2 months, and I have just completed a TEFL certification course. I would like to start teaching in China as soon as possible after I graduate, but I figure it would be a good idea to try and earn some money for China and gain English teaching experience here in the U.S. for at least a few months.

Since I have no teaching experience yet, the only idea that came to mind was to try and contact private TESL companies in the area and ask to get a job as an intern or teacher's assistant. I feel that now that I have a TEFL certificate, I should put it to use in some way and get paid if possible.

Do you have any or suggestions for someone in my position?

Thanks very much,

Michael

For starters, I really don't think you need to first acquire teaching experience back home in order to find a job in China. Of course, it certainly won't hurt and it will definitely look better on your résumé.

I am thinking that any primary or, perhaps, even secondary school that offers ESL curricula might be willing to take you on as a teaching assistant.

The other possibility is to volunteer for a literacy program. These are typically held at community colleges and through public libraries. The majority of students enrolling in these literacy programs are not, in fact, illiterate native speakers but non-native speakers who need help with all their English language skills.

Either position would be useful to you I think for the purpose of gaining "field-related" experience.

While I was preparing to move to China last year I decided to try my hand at getting some teaching experience.

What I did was ask some of my Chinese friends in Australia if they knew of any people interested in having some tutoring done. After a month or so I had around 6 students that I helped prepare some IELTS practice for.

Once I started applying for jobs I had the students write recommendations for me. When asked if I had ever taught before I did say no but added that I did have experience with private tutoring. My current employer accepted this as good experience and most have been happy to accept it as teaching experience.