Looking for work on the ground

Discussion about TEFL jobs in Europe

Moderator: Joe

JForster
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 08 Jan 2014, 12:38
Status: Prospective Teacher

Looking for work on the ground

Unread post by JForster »

Hello everyone, I am new to these forums and this is my first post. I have recently completed the CELTA course and have been applying for jobs online, unfortunately I don't have a degree. I didn't realise before I did the course how difficult it would be to find a teaching post without one, especially online it seems.

I am planning to go to Spain in the next week or so from England to try and catch the recruitment season and secure a job. However, I haven't received my CELTA certificate in the post yet, but I do have an end of course report written by my tutor with an expected grade and evaluation of my performance on the course.

Will the fact I can't produce a degree certificate or an official CELTA certificate be very detrimental in finding a job? I don't want to waste my time and money on a trip which is very unlikely to be successful.. Or will the fact that I am there, enthusiastic and very flexible allow me to land a job during the January period?

Thanks for any help or advice given :)
Briona
Top Contributor
Posts: 199
Joined: 29 Jul 2009, 20:33
Status: Teacher

Re: Looking for work on the ground

Unread post by Briona »

Hi there,

The new term started on Tuesday, so if you leave it a couple of weeks, you run the risk of ending up with nothing at all.

More often than not the requirement for a degree is a 'would prefer' rather than a 'must have' (unlike Asia or the Middle East where it's essential). So not having a degree should not be too much of a problem. However, the lack of a CELTA certificate might.

I am not really sure what to suggest. While there are jobs available in January, it would be foolish to suggest that there is a 'recruitment season' per se. If you look at TEFL.com you will see that (at the time of writing) there are 26 adverts for jobs in Spain. These are all over the country though so booking a flight over with a view to handing out CVs isn't a viable option. A better idea might be to contact some of the schools through TEFL.com and highlight the fact that you are willing and able to fly over for interview.

Briona
Experience teaching in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, Spain, the UK, and Qatar
JForster
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 08 Jan 2014, 12:38
Status: Prospective Teacher

Re: Looking for work on the ground

Unread post by JForster »

I really need an answer on someone with experience of barcelona language schools to suggest whether I will need my certificate then.

There are atleast 40 language schools in Barcelona and I have read that most of them don't recruit online so I think it's worth going there in person to apply for jobs... if they understand that I will have my CELTA certificate in a few weeks time.
Post Reply