Newbie alert!

Well, I've always been intregued by Thailand so I thought I'll start there and see what happens. When I first started looking I had no idea where to go or what area I wanted to look for. I checked out lonely planet and overloaded myself with info from one of their books. I know what you mean about not having time to properly get a chance to sort it out. I also work rubbish hours! I gave my resignation in a few weeks ago and said to myself that this will make me decide and has given me a bit of a kick up the bum lol! The course I was looking at was with TEFL Training....I did my initial 20 hour intensive weekend with them but now I'm looking at itoi as they have good offers on now & the course has been suggested by a fellow TEFL friend. How was your tefl express course? I may also look into this one. I hope you manage to get a chance to check Asia out soon.....make sure you make time for yourself to do it....if this is what you want to do, make it your goal ;0) Vickie x

Wow seems like you've hard a proper think about about where you want to go! I'm just thinking Asia I need to get more specific. Are you doing the TEFL with i-to-i or with a different company? I did mine as 120 hour online certificate with teflexpress. Oh yes I must try that when I get a chance to sit down, my job at the moment is long hours so I barely get the chance to have a proper think and sort out my life.

Maryamx

Hi Maryam, I'm pretty sure that I want to go to Thailand. no, your not the only one :0). I'm just waiting for the long proceedure of the vaccinations and my 140 hour TEFL course booking to be confirmed. I think the course I've applied for is currently being stopped and they are re-structuring a new course so I'm awaiting to hear news from them! I've found a couple of jobs I like the look of but until I have the above I'm not going to apply to anymore jobs as most want you to start around now which I just cant do. I think I will head to Bangkok initially and then scope out other places once I'm over there. Originally I didnt want to go to Bangkok but this seems to be where most of the work is...I do like the look of going south maybe towards Surit Tani. There's so much to choose from and decide on! You could maybe try contacting the schools that are advertising vacancies, explain your situation and see if maybe they can consider you for later on in the year....you never know, it may be worth a shot?

Vickie :0)

Thanks everyone for your advice.

PDixon- Yes I do have a BA Hons degree in History and English and due to my current job in England and a holiday booked my availability is unfortunatley from Ocotober 2012 onwards. Thanks for all your advice though and I will be sure to check out private language schools.

Vickie- Glad to know i am not the only one out there searching. Yes i have heard of those sites and I am a regular visitor but I need to get applying. How are you getting on with your search? Are you set on what country etc ?

Thanks again :)

Maryam 

first question - do you have a BA/BCs Degree or higher from a valid university (diploma, foundation degree etc dont count) - if not - you may need to re-think things... all 3 places require a degree to work legally (china i think are a bit more relaxed or you may not need one) BUT Japan is very strict about it and Thailand are cracking down on people working with fake degrees.

if the answer is yes - your next step is to decide on what kind of teaching... for private language school they employ people any time throughout the year... if you want to work at public school then they have certain in take times (for japan its march/april and August/september)

You've said October - generally for asia this is a bit late - also again for places (such as japan) flexibility is key... as in when you can start and where you want to live. Most people opt to work for a 'dispatch company', there are also government programs, and private companies, as well as direct hires.

also - going to china you get paid less, but its cheaper to live - so you dont have to save as much - similar to thailand... with japan pay is more but cost of living is higher, but most companies (such as interac) ofter loans.

Also depending on country and company, some offer return flights and other bonuses - whereas others dont.

In short - you need to focus your search more - have a main country you want to teach in - know what kind of teaching you are aiming for and age group - then see if what you want is actually being realistic (an october start date to me is not realistic)

good luck!

Hey MaryamM, I'm also looking to go out to Thailand but around September time. Have you checked out www.davescafe.com or www.TEFL.com or the itoi jobs board? They have daily job lists that you can sign up to and there are jobs for all these countries. Alot of the jobs ask that you have a degree and at least 120 hours of TEFL training so maybe you could try to apply to some of those? Many of them offer health insurance and visa's but this would probably tie you to a contract but at least theres a little security ey? I've been advised that if you get to interview stage, ask questions such as can you speak to previous teachers, when are the wages paid, what benefits are you offered etc etc. Let me know how you get on.

Vickie :0)

Hi Maryam!

Just to follow up on CharlesH540's comment, we've also got our very own Jobs Board where you can search through the latest TEFL vacancies from all over the world:

http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-jobs-abroad/tefl-jobs-board/?source=chalkboard

I hope that helps! Most of the time when you apply for jobs independently, there is still a support network for you don't worry! You're never really alone (unless you want to be, that is!) when teaching overseas.

Katie

Actually, paying i-to-i for an internship is unnecessary.  You can get a job straight up.  There are agents hiring new teachers every day.  Just go on QQ (a chinese chat program like Yahoo messenger), join the "teaching jobs in China" group and ask for someone who has jobs in the area you want to go to.  They will ask for your resume, degree and certificate, then make you an offer which usually includes pay, apartment, partial airfare reimbursement and sometimes even meals while teaching.  Check it out.  That is how I got my first job, even before I earned my certificate.