What can you do with a TEFL certificate?
A TEFL certificate is your passport to an exciting career teaching English as a foreign language. Even in this world of Google Translate, English language teaching from a native English speaker is highly sought after.
With a TEFL certificate under your belt, you can choose to teach English abroad or in your home country. Alternatively, you can start teaching English online from anywhere you choose, whether that is Costa Rica or Croydon.
TEFL certification could also allow you to play an important role as a qualified teacher of English on volunteer programs across the world.
TEFL training is the start of a flexible career, giving you unrivalled choice over where and how you work.
Read on to find out more about the opportunities available when you earn your TEFL certificate and how to start your career in English language teaching.
The key benefits of teaching English abroad
Teaching English abroad offers both personal and professional benefits.
Personal
The opportunity to travel widely, experience new cultures and learn other languages
Professional
Gain extensive teaching experience, learn new skills and develop an international professional network.
Teaching English Abroad in international schools
Many international schools employ TEFL teachers. They particularly value native English speakers who hold internationally recognised TEFL certificates from highly regarded course providers like FullCircle.
As well as providing the opportunity for classroom teaching practice, international schools also offer career progression, and you can develop your skills by taking on management responsibilities.
Teaching English online
Even if you are based in an English-speaking country, you can still develop your TEFL career by teaching online. We offer a 40-hour online English teaching course, which can be taken as a standalone course or as part of one of our longer TEFL certificate courses.
It is relatively easy to get a job with a school or agency teaching English online. However, you may also like to consider setting up your own online TEFL business. You will have to spend time building your business and recruiting students, but the rewards of higher pay and your ability to control how many contact hours you have in your schedule could make the effort worthwhile.
Our ‘Starting Your Own Business’ course could be a good investment if you decide to strike out on your own.
Teaching Business English
English is still the language of business, and many foreign companies provide their staff with English lessons so that they can compete more effectively in international markets.
Although you are a native speaker, you may have to do some research on appropriate business vocabulary and language skills. The language that your students will need may vary according to the context in which English is to be used – dealing with customers or in the boardroom, for example.
Some of our TEFL courses, including our Level 5 TEFL Diploma, offer specialised modules in teaching Business English.
Teaching young learners to speak English
English teachers abroad often teach young learners, including primary school age, up to school leavers.
A variety of exercises are required to teach this broad age group effectively, and most of our courses include a module on lesson planning and developing materials for this type of teaching.
How much can I earn as a TEFL Teacher?
The TEFL job market is always buoyant, and demand for TEFL-certified teachers outstrips supply every year, meaning that the best and most highly qualified teachers can demand the best rates.
However, it is difficult to say precisely how much you will earn when you teach overseas, as the teaching environments vary so much.
If you work for yourself online, you can work as many chargeable hours as you wish, whereas if you work at a school, you will work classroom hours.
It is undoubtedly true that you can earn more in some countries than others. TEFL teachers earn premium rates in affluent countries like South Korea and less in countries in South America or North Africa.
Is TEFL a long-term career?
Many people use their experience of teaching English abroad as a springboard into other careers either abroad or back in their own country, but there are opportunities within the TEFL profession too.
As discussed, international schools offer long-term careers and the potential to become a manager.
After years of developing your skills and experience, you could also enter the world of teacher training yourself and become a tutor or course developer for one of the TEFL providers like FullCircle.
How do I start job hunting?
We help our students to find TEFL jobs and provide a list of current job opportunities.