c.v.

I liked your comment re CVs, geno. The info on add-ons to the resume is a really good one. In the post-modern world getting a resume to STANDOUT is part of the real game plan.  Hence listing challenges achievements and hobbies is very relevant if you have the basic skills and qualifications for a job and the guy looking thru the applicants is just wondering how you might fit into the business. It also makes for a lot of good starting points if you make it to interview and talking about yourself in interview often helps you relax and for the panel of interviewer to relate to you. The trick is to present a balanced picture.

IN specific tefl jobs, working in the classroom as a foreigner brings with it some challenges and any prospective hirer is going to wonder of you'll stay on. THUS it is important to come over as a well-balanced competent human being who is capable of handling setbacks and who can rise to a challenge.

Just some thoughts, cheers Ian B.

Truthfully, I never heard of a resume being called a CV. At least not here in the US. I don't know maybe things changed and me not really needing a revised resume since I have been in the same business (Education) for a long time it did not matter.
Just the same I had to think about this CV. Oh no! is it another certificate I don't know about? I went on line and laughed. It is just a fancy take-off curriculum vitae for a resume. After this I went searching for contemporary CV's. I was surprised since in the past we were urged to keep length at one page. Now I have four! According to my on-line suggestions they wanted everything from age, married status, children... I declined from entering all of this. The other add-ons were, challenges, hobbies and achievements.

Go figure.... well hope this brings some food for thought. It helped me since I have now been offered a teaching gig in China and I believe these changes added substance to my assets. Much luck

Hi there,

As a career changer myself I too was unsure what to do with my CV. I ended up taking the advice from IH Barcelona (http://www.celta-course.com/tefl-cv.html - see the adapting a CV link at the bottom of the page for an example). However, as with most things TEFL related, there's no one-size-fits-all solution - something I discovered when IH London complained about my CV! Because I'd removed all irrelevant career history (as advised by IH Barcelona), the interviewer at IH London concluded that my CV made it look as though I'd just dropped out of the sky when in fact I'd spent ten years working as a graphic designer.

So, what's the solution? Even now I don't know! At the moment my CV is a one-page document. At the top I have my name, qualifications, contact details and a colour photo (essential in the world of TEFL). Below that I have a brief profile which sums up my teaching experience and sets out what I am looking for. Below that is my teaching experience followed by my qualifications (TEFL certificate and degree).

Assuming that you don't yet have any teaching experience you should put your qualifications below your profile. Below that I'd advise summing up your previous career making sure to highlight anything even remotely relevant to TEFL, e.g., training people in anything, a knowledge of business, banking or aviation - all of these are relevant to ESP (English for Specific Purposes).

Hope that helps.

Briona