Soon to be college graduate looking for some advice

[Cowhead]

Hi, I'm currently a senior at the University of Notre Dame, majoring in Finance and minoring in Russian. I will be graduating in May. Over the past few years, I've realized that I have no interest in entering the business world, and would instead love to work with Russian and foreign languages in general. I currently would love to work in Russia for a few years, and have looked into TEFL as a way to do it.

I recently completed a 120 hour TEFL online course, but in my applying for jobs I've quickly realized that I may have wasted the $400 in becoming certified, as I didn't any gain any real-world experience, something that all the positions I've been applying for require (understandably). I did manage to score an interview, but was rejected for not having enough experience. I did study abroad in Vladimir, Russia for a semester, have a fairly decent grasp of Russian, will have a degree from a very well-regarded university, and have many foreign friends with whom I help with English (you can call it casual tutoring), but none of this seems to make up for my lack of experience. What are my best options here? I really want to work in Russia, but I'm not against spending a summer or a semester (or even a year) somewhere else to gain the necessary teaching experience. I did the online certification because I'm a poor college student, but is the 4 week CELTA course worth the money? How else can I boost my resume/CV?

[anneremy]

Unfortunately a lot of those online courses can be a bit of a rip off. When getting certified, you should always look for a school that has good accreditation and requires you to do a practicum so that you have some teaching experience. Russia is a great location for teachers right now.

I work for the TEFL Institute, we have certification courses that are internationally accredited and recognized and we also offer lifetime job placement assistance to all our alumni. All of our students actively looking for work do get jobs. If you would like, I can send you some more information about our courses and job placement assistance. No pressure, you can email me here.

If you're not looking to get re-certified (sounds like money is tight for you), you can just try to find some volunteer teaching work or private tutoring near you until you graduate and are ready to go. There are lots of places in the United States that are always looking for ESL teachers.

Good luck no matter what you're trying to do!