tefl job market in europe flooded?

Discussion about TEFL jobs in Europe

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mlewis71
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Joined: 17 Dec 2014, 19:58
Status: Prospective Teacher

tefl job market in europe flooded?

Unread post by mlewis71 »

This here post is a result of some major concerns a friend(tefl prospect) of mine has concerning teaching in Prague. Well, taking a onsite tefl course in Prague first followed by employment in Prague. I myself have the tefl in Prague aspirations. same concerns?

My friends concerns stem from her hearing stories about all of these tefl teachers in South Korea who have been getting these "pink slips", for whatever reasons and as a result are leaving S. Korea and looking for work mostly in Europe. Mostly in Prague Czech Republic. Mostly tefl teachers from s. korea but not all from south korea.

Is the tefl job market in Europe flooded?

Can a schmuck like me with no bachelors degree hope to get a job in Prague even with a credible onsite degree from a Prague tefl institution?

I am not as concerned about all of this as she is, but my friend is a teacher, has 2 masters degrees in education and is now extremely skeptical concerning teaching in Europe.

Should I/we be worried about tefl in europe? Any truth to the great tefl job market flood there?


thank you,
Briona
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Posts: 199
Joined: 29 Jul 2009, 20:33
Status: Teacher

Re: tefl job market in europe flooded?

Unread post by Briona »

Hi there,

I think I replied to your previous posts. A degree is not a requirement per se, but many schools will insist on you having one. Higher education is very important to Central/Eastern European students and they don't always appreciate being taught by those without it. However, as I said before, as long as you have a decent face-to-face TEFL qualification, it is still possible to find work without a degree.

Prague is one of the more popular destinations in Europe, so if the Czech Republic is the dream, you might want to consider working elsewhere in the country first to gain some relevant experience and make yourself more attractive to employers in the capital.

You haven't given much information about your friend. If she's not an EU citizen, finding legal work will be difficult. Furthermore, Asian experience is not valued in Europe. In other words, the 'edutainment' favoured by Asian students does not fly in Europe where students are more demanding and have no qualms about making complaints about 'substandard' teachers.

The TEFL market in Europe is thriving, at least in that there are plenty of jobs available. However, the huge number of teachers means that wages are being pushed down, particularly in the bigger cities. Generally speaking, wages are subsistence level, and they don't improve much, even with further qualifications and experience. I'd probably recommend the approach I took, which was to start off in smaller towns. It was only in my third year that I moved to a capital city.

Briona
Experience teaching in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, Spain, the UK, and Qatar
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