As 2022 is approaching shortly, the teaching English abroad market is also gradually re-opening. Some countries like South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Germany have already reopened lots of their schools and language institutes. This means hiring for different ESL teaching positions could start within the next couple of weeks.
Hence, we’d suggest getting your TEFL certification now and start applying for jobs! With the certificate, you’ll be completely able to discover lots of teaching English overseas positions across the world.
If you are looking forward to getting the right ESL opportunities as the world reopens from COVID-19, here are a few expert tips to help you.
Tips for TEFLing In COVID-19 Reopening
If you want to travel and teach English abroad now, consider the following tips and suggestions:
1. Get Fully Vaccinated
COVID-19 vaccine will not only protect you and others from the spread of the virus but also make it easier for you to travel to a foreign country. The majority of the countries do need a negative Covid test to enter with completely vaccinated reports. Like recently, the European Union announced that most member nations will reopen to tourists, but only those who are fully vaccinated.
Therefore, don’t forget to keep your vaccination papers and take a photo of your vaccination card that you can save on your phone along with your email so that you can always access it if required.
2. Get TEFL Certified
It is one of the most important steps. Now is the perfect time to focus your energy on completing an inclusive TEFL/TESOL certification course. Consider online TEFL courses which can be completed online from the safety of your own home.
Several international schools are starting to restart their classes and students are looking for online classes to take while they’re stuck at home. If you are a fresher and have no teaching experience at all, TEFL/TESOL certification will deliver you with the skills you need to become an effective ESL teacher.
3. Prepare TEFL/TESOL Resume and Teacher Portfolio
The demand for skilled and qualified English language teachers has always remained high. Start creating your teaching portfolio and include the following things to improve your TEFL resume:
- A short professional summary (3-4 lines).
- Keep the education section at the top, just after the professional summary. Highlight your TEFL/TESOL certifications.
- Add a professional-looking photo or a link to a video introduction.
- Avoid indistinct acronyms, industry jargon, and overly flowery language.
Also, update your LinkedIn profile as well. Add “looking for jobs” as this will help recruiters get in touch with you through several sites.
4. Gather Experience
Now is the perfect time to get a teaching English online job or to volunteer to teach English. Teach English online before going overseas. This will help you to gather professional experience. You may teach English online as a freelancer or work with an online ESL company. This will also help you to build your confidence as a teacher. You will get the opportunity to prove that you have teaching experience by enhancing your resume.
5. Consider Asia
Needless to say, Asia has developed as one of the largest and one of the most lucrative job markets in the world for teaching English overseas. However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, Asian countries have been among the most effective in the world at containing the pandemic. Now, they have started to reopen their economies as well as educational systems. Schools in several of these countries started recruiting TEFL certified teachers, and simply more ESL jobs are in Asia.
Few additional points to be aware of
- Teaching English online is a wonderful way to earn money from home.
- Teaching English as a second language or foreign language is mostly recession-proof.
- Your TEFL certification is effective for life.
- Countries like Oman, South Korea, Taiwan, and Colombia have a huge demand for ESL teachers and are a good option for those looking to go overseas in 2022.
- Gather the necessary documents like – a copy of your university degree, your TEFL/TESOL certificate, a criminal background check, and notarization or apostille of all these records.
- Start the visa process as early as possible.
The Bottom Line
We understand the fact that it may be difficult to get the ideal teaching English job abroad now because of the way the world is right now…but there are a few concrete steps that you can take to move. There are authentic TEFL Courses right now, get yourself certified and gather teaching experience. Consider the steps abovementioned and you’ll be ready to make the jump into teaching English abroad as the world has started to open again.