For many of us, we didn’t wake up thinking we wanted to become a TEFL teacher – we just kind of fell into it. So this begs the questions, who really takes a TEFL course? The motivation behind it tends to fall into a few categories. This looks at the first group.
A Year out before real life hits
Many people who take our TEFL course they decide they want to travel, experience another culture and live life a little before getting bogged down with mortgages and credit cards. This often means they are newly qualified graduates from university. However, many people don’t have the funds to travel without earning money and teaching English can be a great way to have a job as you explore the world.
Taking a TEFL course in the country you want to travel is a good idea if you fall in this category. The TEFL academy will have links to TEFL jobs and you will get an instant set of friends. They can also help you with the transition to a new culture. At TtMadrid, we help you with the transition to Spain not only in getting a job but also helping with accommodation, Spanish classes, etc.
Don’t underestimate the value of what you are doing. Living in another country such as Spain looks good on your CV/resume, as does learning or refining a second language.
More importantly, teaching business English can give you a great insight into your future career. You get to teach top executives in international companies. They often agree to act as references for future employment which can really help your future job prospects.
TEFL jobs in business gives you real practical experience of business and commerce as you often help the students with their day to day jobs (emails, presentations, practice for an up and coming meeting etc).
Don’t for a minute think that TEFL is not a ‘proper’ job. The help, support and quality of teaching you give your student is of huge value to their professional and personal lives. It could also be the edge you need to make you stand out from the crowd when you go for that graduate job.