Teaching Adults English qualifications

[faithslayer]

Hi I'm new to this forum. I wondered if any of you guys knew if the Finnish Education system recognizes the international qualification CETL which is a qualification for teaching adults English.

I am a qualified IT Software Test Manager in the UK and I've worked for big companies such as Accenture and Barclays Bank PLC, I'm looking to settle in Finland to marry my fiance. I have been applying for Test Manager and analyst jobs for 9 months now with no luck. I can understand that I am living in the UK with no Finnish language skills so I'm under no illusions as to the success I'm unlikely to have with this approach.

Although I am studying Finnish the only way to truly learn it is to immerse yourself in the country so I have decided to make the move to Finland without a job which is scary in itself as I earn £50k over here. My fiance is going to support me on his modest income and I hope to buy a flat outright to rent out for an even more modest income while I study the language.

However, I did wonder if it was worth pursuing the option of teaching English to adults in the short term whilst I gained my Finnish language skills and looked for a job in IT, testing software. Any (polite) advice anyone?

[Rosamunda]

It's a good idea as IT skills plus a TEFL certificate would probably guarantee you some work. Teaching is September to May (nothing much available from June thru August) and right now the private sector is quiet (to say the least). Some of the larger language schools (EF, AAC etc) have contracts with the big IT/Communications companies and might be interested in your CV but coming here with no teaching experience will mean you are off to a slow start and will have to prove yourself (student feedback) before the work starts flowing in. Teaching is freelance so you probably won't be offered a permanent full-time contract. OTOH you can spread yourself out and work for several schools at the same time.

Teaching is flexible enough so that you can continue looking for IT work in FInland when you get here (which is easier than doing it remote) and if/when you find something you can more or less up and go (one of the advantages of being "freelance").

On the down side, it is much harder to learn FInnish while you are teaching English all day.

[faithslayer]

Thank you thats really helpful