If you are new to TEFL teaching then you might well be wondering if TEFL can actually be turned into a genuine career alternative. Well, based on my two decades worth of experience in the ESL/TEFL game, here is my answer:
TEFL teaching can be a fulfilling career especially if you work for higher tier schools or language institutes which provide opportunity for progression into management, and/or extra responsibilities in areas, such as: curriculum development, pastoral mentoring, teaching and learning, or marketing amongst others.
Next, we will take a closer look at the possibilities for career development in schools, language institutes, universities and also some slightly more obtuse opportunities that exist out there in the TEFL industry, for example, franchising, student recruitment, and becoming a ‘high stakes’ examiner.
Build A TEFL Career In Schools
If you are going to work in a school then the first most likely career step above being a regular TEFL teacher is normally going to be a Head of Department role.
Typically, this would involve ensuring that teachers in your department all have a clear and well thought through curriculum and scheme of work to follow.
You will also probably need to do some staff training to enhance performance, monitor and feedback, regarding teacher’s current performance, and ensure accurate records are being kept of student progress.
Depending on the size of the school, you may be line managed directly by the headteacher, head of teaching and learning, or even the head of Humanities, or English in bigger schools.
To be considered for a role like this then typically you will have proven yourself as a teacher in the school for a number of years already and taken the opportunity to show off your leadership skills by taking on some form of extra project, above and beyond what you would normally do.
This will provide some evidence of your work ethic and leadership skills if the opportunity to progress does come about.
A further qualification, such as a masters in TESOL (UK based courses here), or a DELTA would also be very useful here (I did the distance DELTA here). In fact, if you genuinely want to make a career out of it then I would highly recommend that you get started on one of those right away, or get a CELTA if you don’t have one already.
Let’s not forget though, that if you want to simply remain as a classroom teacher then the best thing to do would be to aim for employment in a true international school, i.e. a school which teaches an American, or British curriculum to students in a country where the first language is not English.
This will often mean that some of the students at the school don’t have great English skills, and therefore, the service of a qualified TEFL teacher are required, and obviously this is where you come in. Places where you can find jobs such as these are: tes.co.uk, tieonline, search associates, and international school services.
These schools are generally looking for fully licensed teachers, but TEFL teaching can be an exception to this, as in the UK at least, you cannot become a certified/licensed teacher just by teaching TEFL, so for this reason there are none, which would put anyone with some form of TEFL certification and a proven track record in schools in a strong position.
Just as an aside, these departments may well be called ESL, or EAL departments, schools don’t seem to stick to the theoretical acronym that should apply to them so don’t let that put you off.
Top bilingual schools are also another good option. These schools often have a full curriculum in the country’s first language and then a separate curriculum in English.
Why not aim to be the manager of one such programme? Often they are called EAP programmes, or international programmes but they essentially amount to the same thing. You will have to look at individual countries TEFL job boards as they tend not to advertise on the traditional international school style jobs boards/sites.
You might like: How Many Hours Does An ESL/TEFL Teacher Work?
TEFL Career Progression In Private Language Institutes
Language institutes are often structured so that there is a supervisor/head teacher who may help with the admin, induction of new teachers, staff training and quality control of lessons.
They will often work under the centre manager of which there are often two, one being a foreign centre manager and then another manager from the home country. They will work closely alongside each other to ensure that everything is going smoothly.
The most common form of qualification TEFL teachers seem to get who are pursuing these sorts of positions, in my experience at least, are the Cambridge DELTA, and/or a masters in TESOL (Read my guide to TEFL certificates here).
Once you have secured one of those, it is mainly about showing some commitment to the language institute that you are already working for and then also being proactive in ‘helping out’ around the centre. Then, when an opportunity arises you are in a great position to be able to apply for that role.
Once you have landed that first managerial role then your future depends upon how well you perform according to whatever their key performance indicators are, and these may well be sales related.
If you do really well then you may even be farmed around to other centres to show them how it is done, or to new centres to help set the initial systems up and/or train the new staff.
From this position, you have pretty much made it! Now though, you have valuable management experience in the service industry and this could set you up for switching into other industries if you so wished, or you could simply be open to the best deals available to you in the TEFL industry.
If the whole managerial thing does not suit you then there is the option of specializing in certain types of exam classes, IELTS, TOEIC, or TOEFL, for example (check out my guide to becoming an IELTS Examiner here and my guide to teaching IELTS online here). These classes can pay very well since students absolutely have to do well in them for visa, career, or university entrance reasons.
In fact, once you have learned how to teach these types of exam prep classes, you could quickly establish your own face to face, or online business specialising in these types of courses. This can be very rewarding both financially and personally, as you are genuinely helping students get over an important hurdle for them.
Teaching TEFL In Universities As A Career Option
This is absolutely a possibility and universities are willing to pay handsomely for the right type of TEFL teacher. I have several friends who graduated from public language institutes to university teaching. Generally speaking the type of work they do falls into three main categories.
Firstly, there are a certain number of standard straight forward TEFL classes for them to teach. A lot of students need to do a certain number of hours of English classes to graduate, these tend to be the easiest to prepare and teach with the pay being mediocre and per hour as you might expect.
Secondly, there are universities who need native speaking teachers to deliver actual subject content in English. This could be a module in Economics, or Law, for example, a subject where the language can be really specialised and difficult for a non-native speaker to deliver effectively.
These types of classes tend to pay really well but you have to be delivering quality lessons, often students have come straight from international schools where they are used to high standards and being treated like a customer.
And then, finally, there are professors who teach a mixture of those classes but for who the real focus is on doing research and producing scholarly papers. This is often really important to a university as it can contribute to how highly they are ranked in university league tables.
Typically, to secure a position such as this you will already have had to produce published peer reviewed research.
You could go the route of working as a regular TEFL teacher teaching the conversation classes whilst you work on a Masters and/or PhD which could then put you in a position to gain a better position at the university.
There is not set route for this but the higher the qualifications you have, the better it is going to look on paper and on the website for the university itself.
Alternative Ways Of Building A TEFL Career
If you have built up a bit of experience then you could look into opening your own language school as an affiliate/franchisee. This means you get to use the name of a reputable school which immediately give you a foothold in the market.
You will also benefit from being trained how to run the franchise successfully. Of course, you can expect some form of upfront cost and then a monthly royalty payment to have to be made in order to keep going.
This is definitely a challenging but inspiring option, perfect for some TEFLers who want to settle down and really make a go of something bigger. Here are a few places you might look that require various levels of upfront investment:
Wall Street Language Institute (pricey)
Of course, you could buy an existing independent language centre that has no affiliation with a brand name.
You would need to work out why exactly the owners are selling up and whether or not you thought you could turn it around. Sometimes, though, the owner is simply retiring and has lot the passion for it and this is when you can pick up a bargain. Here is one place you could look for TEFL schools for sale.
Oh, and let’s not forget online teaching! Check out my guide to teaching English online to Chinese students here.
Downsides Of Making A Career Out Of TEFL
So, it all sounds rosy so far, but before we get carried away let’s just stop and consider some of the downsides of trying to develop a career in TEFL.
Firstly, how comfortable are you with the idea of spending years at a time away from family and friends in your home country? What about living away from elderly relatives when they get sick?
Or, how about the prospect of returning to your home country to try and start another career and nobody sees the value of your multiple years of experience teaching English. Plus, the fact that you will have aged and likely be well behind where other candidates are in terms of career growth and experience.
Of course, with TEFL teaching, there is the tantalising possibility of being able to move from one country to another and find work with relative ease whenever you want, however, when looking to build a career in TEFL you would want to consider how your move is going to look on paper too.
Personally, I think one of the biggest disadvantages to making a career out of TEFL is the ‘opportunity cost’.
For some, this will be greater than for others, for example, if you had trained to be a lawyer and then suddenly got hooked on TEFL teaching then for you, pursuing TEFL as a career represents a massive opportunity cost i.e. you are losing the opportunity to make great money in the legal industry.
On the other hand, if you have been scraping around, wondering what to do with your life and/or career, then TEFL may well just be the option you have been looking for. And who knows, you could be zipping around the world in no time and progressing nicely up the TEFL career ladder.
For more on the advantages and disadvantages of TEFL as a career then check out my full discussion on the pros and cons of TEFL/ESL teaching here.