TEFL Career Advancement

As with most other jobs, it is possible to move up in TEFL. But how to do it?

Stick around: The first step is just gaining experience so you can go from new teacher to experienced teacher. In a field that many people enter into for a year and then leave, even a year’s experience can make a difference. You may make bit more money or be able to secure better conditions (no split shifts, more development opportunities, more holiday time).

Get a DELTA: The DELTA (Diploma of English Language Teaching to Adults) is the qualification which follows the, um, CELTA.

It is typically done over a six month period, and you generally need to have a full-time job while you work on the DELTA (classes are once or twice a week and you regularly are observed and observe others teaching) as well as experience teaching adults. Participants seem to find the DELTA even more intense than the CELTA, but correspondingly also even more useful. This qualification (plus the experience required to enrol in it) may open up doors as a Director of Studies or as a teacher trainer. Find information on similar courses available through BootsnAll here.

Get an MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) or do other similar master’s work. Many people who work in TEFL abroad for a few years return home to study, and this can help you get higher paying work or better conditions abroad…or more rewarding or secure work in an English-speaking country (perhaps teaching immigrants and/or refugees in a community college setting). There are a huge number of TESOL programs in the US so you have to do your research. Find a thread on Dave’s ESL Café general forum on critiquing master’s programs here.

Become a certified teacher in your own country in ESL or another subject. Taking a state certification test will open up doors to working at international schools, which generally offer a more traditional work environment, more normal hours, and better pay than EFL.