The TEFL will stay valid forever.

And that is a long time.

It's utility depends on where you want to use it. Some places will take anyone who can speak English, others want more than a paper qualification. Pay and conditions will reflect the standard of entry criteria. There's plenty of stuff on the net about all this.


Simon

The TEFL certificate is like a diploma from any other school. It doesn't expire. At least there is no expiration date on the dozen or so certificates I've seen.

I'm currently doing mine online, it only cost $220 compared to the $1800 it costs in a classroom. Even if I don't use it then it will still take up some space on the resume :)

Just want to add a few things to this:
The degree needed is only a 3 year degree.
Teaching privately is illegal, as is working on a tourist visa, and if caught, the teacher can be subject to a fine and deportation.
In general the procedure for getting a valid work visa is tightening up all the time, with many more time consuming checks to be done, i.e criminal records and drugs/medical/Aids tests, due in large part to one particular cretin who posted swirly-faced photos of himself on the internet. But there are many jobs available and a shortage of teachers so in time these rules are (imho) likely to be relaxed otherwise teachers will go to easier places in Asia to save themselves the hassle.

I'm glad they caught that bastard

For those interested you might want to look at Welcome - TEFL.com which is probably the best site out there for job finding and also all sorts of information.

It does seem that a lot of schools what a CTEFLA which is the Cambridge certificate and seems to be recognised the widest as being the best. There are however numerous different certificates, but not all have the acceptance.

I accidentally moved to France ten years ago through having mine which I'd done as a four week crash course, loads of fun, lots of work and a fine amount of beer drunk. It might not be the best way to pay your way round the world, but it can be very rewarding nonetheless.

Great advice here. Just remember - teaching can be tough. I used to work in a supposedly tough area - steel fabrication on North Sea oil production platforms. I'm now an English teacher in London. I tell you now that the platforms were the easy option!!

I was a timber cutter for more than 30 years. the last 15 were for helicopter companies. teaching English is duck soup compared to that. I have not broken any bones on the job, seen anyone killed on the job, nor seen anyone crippled. As a logger, noone every brought me chocolates. Noone ever bowed to me, and I never had 22 weeks a year paid vacation. As a logger I worked 42 hours week, not 10. I worked in snow, cold, heat, fought fires, walked untold miles up and down mountains carrying 70-100lbs of gear, not a briefcase with class notes. naw, give me the teaching job anytime.

Fair points here - but try a South London school where some pupils killed a man, spat on him and laughed. You have to teach people like that. Some suffer such neglect at home, they take it out on you - daily. A bunch of them will damage the education of others, and then someone calls you to account if exam results are poor. You're obliged to teach Shakespeare to kids who can barely read - so they kick off with a range of insults. The thing is to control your temper on the 20th time you're called a F******* C***. No! give me the North Sea any day. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

Yes Caminando, what you say just about curdles the blood. It's why I won't teach in America. Twenty percent don't speak English. Fifty percent are armed and those that are not will be next year. You need to hang it up there and come to Korea. If one of my students comes in late, he or she bows very contritely and asks for forgiveness. weapons at school are totally unheard of. It has never happened at any university I know of. For a student to even think about striking a teacher would probably cause his heart to go haywire. Walking down the sidewalks downtown and running into students they will all stop and bow until you have passed or stopped to visit with them a bit. Nope, I sure would not want to be in your shoes.

Come on over here where you are respected, paid well, and have 22 weeks a year of paid vacation (plus all the holidays --another 4 or 5 weeks, plus no work during university week, festival week, sports week, review weeks, and in some universities, even exam weeks are monitored and administered by the university staff and not the faculty. I save about 1800 USD a month. I pay 50,000 won or $52 a month for medical insurance that covers 80-90%. My apartment is free, but I do have a electric bill, internet, phone, etc that comes to about 200USD. AND WE ARE SAFE! Children can play outside at night without a parent anywhere around and there is no danger. Women can go out at night for walks in the parks --alone--and no danger. Personal crime is almost non-existent. It's the traffic that will kill you.

If you would like to give it a try, pm me.

Joe

to izatafac
 

The 3 year degree acceptance ended three years ago unless it is from Canada and has the same course requirement that a U.S. degree demands. It is only illegal to teach privates if: your contracted institute objects; you hold only an E-2 visa; you are working for the government which always forbids teaching outside the contract.

Any holder of an "F" visa can pretty much do anything a Korean citizen is allowed. I can rent an aprtment in my name, drive taxi if I meet the requirements, open a shop, teach privates, ad inf. An E-1 visa holder can teach privates without permission from his contracting agency. The C-1 visa which most people get if they are just coming over for the winter or summer camps is good for 90 or 180 days and allows the holder to teach once his or her obligation to contract is completed. That means teaching privates is allowed. Teaching on a tourist visa is not allowed under any circumstance, but thousands do every summer. Occasionally someone gets caught. My daughter works for the Ministry of Immigration. They estimate they catch about 1/5th of 1 percent of the illegals.

The laws are tightening up considerably as to admission to the country. You have to have a criminal background check. You have to have your 4 year degree notarized. You have to have a medical check and be free of any communicalble diseases.

Funnily enough, I was going to try Korea some time back, but I gathered that the money wasnt too great at the time. But you never know!

I went to Abu Dhabi instead and the school was amateurishly run - that was a bummer! Pay crap too-but I really wanted the change away from the UK. But I'm back now!

The UK is heading in the direction of the US, with armed pupils. Nothing effective is done. You, like me, have seen another way of working, which is why I find it hard to restrain myself from these minithugs. In industry, these jokers would be gone or "sorted" in 5 minutes.

Well Caminando, the pay is pretty good. I just took a job at what I call low pay, but at my age have to be satisfied with what I can get. I am working for about $3000.00 USD. I will pay 3.5% tax. My medical will about 47 USD a month and cover 80 of all medical, dental, pharmacy needs. Sadly enough though, I have to work 25 hours a week instead of the university 12. If you are younger you could have a job in 10 minutes and they would pay your airfare here. You would get more money than I do, but you would also have to pay into the pension fund--about 150 a month. Because I am more than 60 years old, I don't pay the pension fund anymore. You will get it back when you leave, plus the equal amount the employer pays. also you will receive one months pay for every year you work. most universities give 10 or 11 weeks vacation in the winter and summer--paid of course. Some require that you work in one of the vacation periods for 4 weeks teaching a camp--extra pay of course. If you work 12 hours a week, it is usually 4 hours a day 3 days a week, so you might work M, W, F, or something like that, but never a weekend. You will always have one weekday off even if you have to work 16 hours a week. I worked 18 hours week because I wanted the overtime. Six hours overtime a week at 47.50 an hour made a nice pay pack at the end of the month.

Get out of England where the kids are rude, conditions are bad, and come over here. There are jobs going begging that pay better than what I make.

Joe