Should I get TESOL/CELTA Teaching English Qualification?

[onkko]

skip the tetley....I'll have bacon butty though...Can you start selling wrights pies? Get a shop open my way!

Fish´n´ships?

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Fish´n´ships?

Can't get big enough newspaper to wrap them in.

[onkko]

Fish´n´ships?

Can't get big enough newspaper to wrap them in.

Järjestelykysymys

[Rosamunda]

I did much the same as Bubba. I met someone from this Forum (who was leaving Finland) and chatted to him about which schools to work for and which to avoid at all costs. He gave me a nice list which would no doubt be out of date today but at the time it was precious. So I sent my CV to the schools he rated positively (ie nice people, nice pay, sane working conditions, friendly atmosphere, professional reputation etc) and skipped the rest. I used a cover letter saying that XXX had personally recommended their school to me. That got me the interview and then I did the rest. I think my age (I was over 40) and my business/finance background got me in (some schools like to have a few "mature" ( ) teachers on the team to deal with all the ageing civil servants out there who learnt English in the 1960s and 70s). I interviewed at three schools and they all gave me work, but that was 5-6 years ago.

There is nothing to stop you working with several different schools at the same time (ie freelance) and also looking for your own private students. Timetabling can become a bit of a headache but you'll get better at it as you go.

The first few months/years are gruelling as you are on a steep learning curve. But it does get easier. I still have highs and lows but generally speaking the preparation does not take me as long as it did in the beginning.

There is not much work in the summer, so your take-home pay June thru August is pretty close to zero. Most teachers have a proper job in the summer. I have an ice-cream business Some teachers migrate to other countries.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

One thing I will warn you about though...the yearly income is very low. There sems to be a stereotype that TEFL teachers make a ton of money, they can in certain countries and with certain positions but in Europe it's quite bad. It's not really that the money in itself is bad but the way we work means it can be hard to make a decent salary.

At this point I will apologise and admit that it is 1 pm and I woke up about half an hour ago...so this is a ropey post

Very few TEFL teachers get a monthly salary, you either work for a lot of companies and are 'freelance' or you work for 1 or 2 companies and are called and 'hourly rate trainer' or some nonsense. Basically, you get paid for what you teach...If you have 3 hours of teaching then you get paid for 3 hours...So if there is no classes or a it's public holiday and everyone is off work for 4 days, you won't work and you won't get paid. If your class reschedule the class, you won't get paid...unless they tell you to late. Our compnay has a 48 hour cancelation policy.

You can of course take a lot of classes, I usually do 3 x 90 mins a day, or 4 x 90. but the problem is for every class you take it means more planning, travelling, waiting around, organisations etc etc and it is quite draining. With some experience though and collecting materials you can reduce all your organisation time.

The hourly rate is quite decent but by the time you travel to the company (how can you teach on a bus?), plan, schedule, email, organise, photocopy, research...It works out you are doing a lot for very little money. You work independantly, if the class cancel, they will contact you, not your office office then you will send 5 emails trying to organise when you will meet next...and that takes time and...time is money!

There is ways to make money though...I drive a lot. For that I get tax free km money, which works out quite nice. You can get half day money and full day money (also tax free) if you teach outside the office...I think you have to be 8 km away. so I try and get courses that involve a bit of driving and then stay in the company as long as possible...and it's totally ok to do that.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

There is not much work in the summer, so your take-home pay June thru August is pretty close to zero. Most teachers have a proper job in the summer. I have an ice-cream business Some teachers migrate to other countries.

Yeah - every year I play to go to Spain or Malta and do some summer camps or courses. but by spring I am always too tired and the idea of sitting in a classes over the summer just doesn't appeal to me.

[njmac]

Thanks for all the help. I can't really reply much during the day as I'm still working here in sunny Glasgow for now.

I'm really starting to reconsider whether the CELTA course is a wise move given what you've all told me. There seems to be an abundance of qualified people scrabbling for jobs and a stressful existence running about trying to get paid for enough hours each month. Would there be any particular skills/training that anyone would consider a real advantage of I was to do it before I come out? Bearing in mind i'm a qualified business analyst maybe I should be trying to make the most of that? I rather naively thought teaching english would be an "easier" option to start with

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Well....better teaching English and scrabbling around for classes than being on the dole?

It can be a way in, not a good way but a way...And remember you won't have to have finnish skills. So you could take up the teaching, network, learn some finnish etc and bail when something better comes along.

[njmac]

absolutely mate. anything's better than being on the dole. I may have to take up exotic dancing. bit of a niche market for that though I guess

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

I'm gonna start mincing around the docks...

[sammy]

I may have to take up exotic dancing.

Could that be combined with English teaching?

The thing to note with these qualifications is, as described in a previous thread, is that they do not provide you with a Finnish school English teacher qualification (private schools may be another matter, but they do not grow on trees here) - to become a qualified school teacher in Finland, if you come from the UK for example, you'd need to hold a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) to get your teacher's degree recognised and AFAIK these certificates do not provide that... (?)

However as others have stated, there may be jobs available in other English teaching sectors. Particularly if there's Lapp-dancing available as a bonus.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

True to an extend but there is a few foreign teachers working in the school system here who have non-finnish teaching certs, and they're not just working on a part time basis like what I done. It can be done...but it is damn near impossible.

For TEFL/the private language sector, all you need is a degree (pref. the language you are going to teach or some kind of business related thing - we teach business people so it's good to have some kind of background in that) and a TEFL cert. But I know people have less than that.

The polys and vocational schools might give you a few hours...but the high school gigs are as rare as rocking horse sh!t. I really dropped on, sadly I had to make a choice between tons of hours with less money per hour or a few hours at a higher rate. Money talks and...

but it's like everything, word of mouth and connections. When I got one gig in a high school...things started to roll. I ended up having too much work and went mad trying to fit everything into my schedule.

[njmac]

a fantastically late reply here as things went a bit mental towards the end and I had to do a couple of repairs to the house before it sold.... anyway, I decided not to do the TESL as there seem to be a lot of people doing it already and my potential work in the Kajaani area, where we're living with my in laws to start with, would be minimal. So I'm just going to see where my existing qualifications lead me [fingers crossed]

[Cloudberry]

a fantastically late reply here as things went a bit mental towards the end and I had to do a couple of repairs to the house before it sold.... anyway, I decided not to do the TESL as there seem to be a lot of people doing it already and my potential work in the Kajaani area, where we're living with my in laws to start with, would be minimal. So I'm just going to see where my existing qualifications lead me [fingers crossed]

Probably a wise move. I spent (wasted?) AU$2,500 on a TESOL qualification last year and it's highly unlikely I'll be able to secure teaching work in Finland given the large amount of competition and small amount of available posts. Maybe you can put up a website and do some freelance (business analyst) work remotely? Keep us posted and good luck

[brengun]

hi, cloudberry, not meaning to pry or anything, but how are you planning to weather the storm of living in finland,? as cash- flow is such an important key to happiness.