Couple with degrees, No TEFL or money for flights.

Hello everybody, i'm part of a British couple that's looking to teach English abroad. The only thing stopping us is our lack of money, which consequently means that we cannot take a TEFL course or book flights. I'd heard that it's possible for people to find employment without a TEFL (as degrees are viewed as more important) and i've also heard that it's possible for people to have their flights paid up front. Is it likely that we'll find both as a couple?

We're struggling to find employment in the UK at the moment and even when we do it'll take months before we could finance our way out there, so we're hoping that we can skip the initial hurdles and find employment. We do have money to survive until our wages come through though.

I know what some of you may be thinking; without any teacher training we'd be hopeless teachers and perhaps to a degree it's true, however I like to do well in anything I do, so we're planning to research a lot about teaching in order to be the best we can be. We'd do a CELTA if we could afford it. Also I volunteer at a language session in the UK, helping others to speak English better, so i'm not completely new to it, however I understand it will be much different to working in a school.

If it's the TEFL that's holding us back then it's possible that we could find the money for the cheapest course we can find, but the flights would be a no-no for many months.

Any replies are greatly appreciated, thank you.

Re: Couple with degrees, No TEFL or money for flights.

Keep looking on sites like this and Dave's ESL. Email a few recruiters, you will find something eventually. The best jobs pick people with the best qualifications so in the future you may want to consider getting TEFL/CELTA certified or even masters degrees if you see teaching as your future but in the short term look professional on your resumes talk about your strengths and don't give up if the first few jobs want somebody already out here or more qualified. you will find something suitable eventually.

Re: Couple with degrees, No TEFL or money for flights.

Do you have all your documents ready such as apostiled degree and criminal check? If yes then go to Dave's and any other job board you can find (work and play, serious teachers) and contact EVERY recruiter. Public schools are mainly insisting you have an tesol certificate however the cheap online ones are ok providing they are 100 hours and over, sometimes there are offers on groupon. Without one you should be able to get a hogwan job but be flexible about location, Brits are less in demand than other nationalities, although there are plenty of Brits here, so if you aren't stuck on Seoul or Busan it will be easier. Also look at Facebook and join all the groups you can find, most cities have a foreigner group, and many people look for their replacements on there now. Good luck! You will definitely get something.

Re: Couple with degrees, No TEFL or money for flights.

Superman - I've just heard fom somebody that if you're on JSA then you can do CELTA for £130, instead of the ususall £1,000+, so i'll consider that, but i'm so poor that I may not even be able to do that, unless it will certainly increase my chance of employment and will ensure a higher wage. Isn't CELTA an overkill in Korea though?

 

Englandteacher - We don't have our actual degree certificates yet as we graduate in about 2 weeks, nor do we have criminal checks sorted; these will have to be prioritised. Are these steps expensive? My friend got a TEFL on groupon for about £50, which we could maybe afford to do now. Or like mentioned in the above reply, with a reduced CELTA I may be able to beg/borrow/steal to get that instead. I hope that being British won't be too much of a problem; I have an extremely clear RP accent, so it should only be a benefit, though I may have problems with Americanisations. We are kind of set on Busan, as it looks amazing in almost every way. I just really hope we can have our flights paid upfront, because then we can leave ASAP and start teaching (and learning to teach).

Re: Couple with degrees, No TEFL or money for flights.

I wouldn't worry too much about it.  As others have mentioned you should be able to secure a hagwon position with your degree alone.  Also, I second the advice, that if you want to move here ASAP, gathering the other documentation needed ahead of time will be a big help.  I have lived in Busan for over 4 years  and I think it's a great place to live.  However, the easiest jobs to get are often a bit outside of the city center in places such as Gimhae or Hadan.  If you are in a hurry, you will find places in these areas have the most openings and, in general, are less demanding regarding certifications/experience.  But if you are willing to hold out for a bit, you could potetnially land a gig in a more desiable location near the beach, etc.  Again, this is just on average, often timing and luck of the draw also factor in.  Best of luck.

Re: Couple with degrees, No TEFL or money for flights.

I wpuld suggest putting your resumes up on Daves ESL. That way, the recruiters come to YOU and you can have a form email ready to specify exactly what you are looking for in terms of location/flights up front etc I would really play up the part about volunteering at the language school as it shows you know what kind of work you are getting yourself into. I wold still look for jobs on the myriad of sites out there, but posting your resume would be a good first step.