Teach English in Ping'An XiAng - Chongqing

Options for teachers I believe that choosing a career as an English teacher, whether that is with a long-term or short-term prospective, is both challenging and very rewarding. There is a huge variety of options out there for all different kinds of teachers and everyone needs to find what is best suited for them. First there is the choice of location. This has to do with everyone?s private preference and situation in life. If you have just finished studies and you are interested in travel, teaching English as you travel may well be a perfect combination. Choosing this path may seem like a very exciting one. There may be obstacles in the way. When applying for a teaching job wherever in the world, an institution as well as a private language school will generally prefer a long-term commitment. So announcing that you plan to move on in 2 months may not get you the job that you are applying for. Of course this may be different in voluntary or charity projects, where turnover of teachers is common and projects of such kind may offer a teacher to teach in one location for less than a month and maybe go on a break and then rejoin the same organization?s project in another location. Option number two still offers some travel, but is more based in one location. In this case scenario you carefully choose the target location and you most likely plan to stay there for anything from 6 months to 2 years or so. You may need to take the following in account: ? teaching jobs available ? Safety ? Life standards ? Pay ? Demand for teachers from your location ? Cultural obstacles ? Local language (you may need to learn some basics of the local language) ? Work permit and visa Once you have considered all the options and researched the location of your choice you may even start sending work applications before you even land in the location of your choice. You may find that employers are not so excited about applicants who have not yet made the commitment and are only shopping around from the distance. Therefore, one should not be overly optimistic because employers are unlikely to make an offer before they have at least personally interviewed a candidate. The other aspect to consider aside from location is what type of work you would like to do. It may seem that there is no choice, that an English teacher is just an English teacher. You could start by choosing, if you prefer, to work in a state school or in private sector. At the right time in the right place it should be fairly easy to get at least a part-time job in the state sector that may be working for a basic/primary school or secondary school of the respective country and teaching English to children aged between 5 and18. There may be some pros and cons you should consider before you make your decision. Pros: ? You are based in one location ? No need to travel ? You will take over a number of classes that will probably not change a whole lot throughout the year at least ? It may still be a novelty to have a native speaker teaching in the state sector in some countries, so you may be respected automatically ? You will probably get to socialize with real local people Cons: ? The pay may be significantly lower than in the private sector ? Not knowing any of the local language may make it difficult to handle discipline (which dealing with children will come up at some stage) ? You may be required to work with larger groups (depending on country and their standards) ? You will not be working with other travelling teachers like yourself as one state school may only hire one teacher of your kind ? Material and equipment in state schools may be of limited quality or quantity On the other hand the private sector may be more demanding of the expertise and experience of each applicant before he/she is hired. Some private language schools though also offer their internal training, so on top of your TEFL/tesol training you may be required to undergo some specialized methodological training of the particular language school. Other schools require or offer that you observe some colleagues before you start on your own. Generally, private language schools also hold quite wide resources in terms of material and equipment. These are the pros and cons to be considered. Pros: ? Competitive salary and maybe other perks ? Possible internal training ? Visa and work permit support ? Socializing with people in a similar life situation ? Meeting other foreigners from across the world ? Having choice to work with either adults or children, or both ? Gaining experience with both groups and private ? Groups would usually be of a reasonable size ? Help with learning the local language may be provided Cons: ? Lots of travelling may be required as lessons happen offsite ? Schedules may change on short notice ? Some classes may be quite demanding (clients of private language schools are careful how they invest their money, so they are more eager to see results and satisfied students) Last but not least let me mention a third option. A teacher can always choose to work freelance. This may be difficult at the beginning, as more paperwork is required by the authorities that issue business licenses and the easiest option may be to hire a local lawyer to help you. Once you acquire your business license though, not only can you contract your own clients, if you are up for it (let me say it is not as easy as it sounds), but you are immediately much more attractive to cooperate with than a foreigner who has just arrived with a travel visa, searching for help how to establish himself. A business license allows the teacher to quote their own price, what ever they may think their work is worth, which you will soon be able to estimate depending on the market you are in. It makes any kind of cooperation smooth and easy. The main con of this option is the legal responsibility for accounting and conformity to legal regulations, and legal advice may be crucial in meeting these requirements. In conclusion I would like to say that which ever path a teacher may choose to follow it is best to be fair to themselves and to their employer, stating what is it they expect from their job and what is it that they can offer and commit to. In such a case the career is at a good start.