ESL/EFL JOB PROSPECTS

One of the key components of success in any career is continually expanding your knowledge and skills related to your chosen profession. However, it is one thing to understand the importance of developing your potential and it is another to fit continuing professional education into an already busy schedule.

In the field of knowledge, ESL / EFL jobs provide a vast range of career prospects for the humungous ambitious crowd, helping them choose varying levels of employment opportunities. The teaching arena abroad has opened-up a cluster of opportunities by making English Language the focal point of career prospects. There is a wide range of acronyms and terms used for teaching English abroad which are different from each other and offer greatly varying career opportunities as well. This fact can be cited in few examples to get a comprehensive view of the varying differences.

ESL as a matter of fact stands for English as Second Language and entails a student who is learning English to live and work in a primarily English speaking environment.

Whereas EFL or English as a Foreign Language is primarily taught to students as a foreign language, which is not required for the living / working environment on a daily basis.

The main differences between ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) are the place in which English is taught and the purpose for which the students use English. ESL is taught in a place where English is the most commonly spoken language. Speakers need to know functional language and vocabulary specific to the place where they live. EFL is English taught in a country where a language other than English is primarily spoken.

Confusingly, the English language teaching world has a bewildering array of abbreviations and acronyms, many of which mean the same thing, and most of which have no official significance. To name a few - TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language and TESOL meaning Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. TEFL programs are generally located in North America, while TESOL is preferred in Britain. Other common acronyms include ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and VESL (Vocational English as a Second Language). Both of these refer to teaching English for specific purposes such as Business English, Computer English, etc. Likewise, you can find references to CELTA, DELTA, TESOL, TEFL, EFL, ESL, ELT, ESOL, EAL, TEAL, and TESL which are similar sounding terms and are often confusing for those who are considering a career in teaching English abroad.

Depending on the type of teaching, the credentials of an ESL / EFL teacher would vary accordingly. Generally, a Native English Speaker and a Bachelor's Degree holder were of utmost importance as eligibility criterions in the ESL / EFL field in earlier times when teaching used to be a relatively easier and less competitive than today, when it is a hugely desired profession amongst many thus making the profession highly competitive.

With changing times, today an English teaching certificate has become mandatory for teaching jobs abroad. Generally, a short-term training course of 3-4 weeks, offered widely in Britain and USA and recognized widely all over Europe and Asia, allows one to fetch a certificate enabling him / her to teach in wide varieties of Private and Public schools which can further be categorized into kindergartens , primary and high school sections. The growing vacancies in International Schools as well cannot be overlooked either.

However, the Diploma Certification course offered may vary from 3 months to 1 year for a normal intensive course involving great deal of testing. This is the minimum requirement for directors of most schools and is quickly becoming a teaching requirement for higher level and better paid jobs in Europe. Ideally, ESL / EFL jobs provide quicker growth and better pay packages to the Certified teachers with good work experience as well as with higher educational qualifications.

However, today, in addition to the growing competitiveness of ESL / EFL jobs, the growing difficulty of acquiring work -permit and visa papers make it a cumbersome process too. In the European Community, working papers are required and are usually given to those who are not going to replace other European Community members. In Far – East, getting a job permit is the easiest compared with other places world-wide.

Usually, the work hours vary between 15 – 30 hours per week with a pay at around $230 - $530 a week for fresh graduates holding and TESOL / TEFL Certificate depending upon schools. The basic salary of an ESL / EFL teacher averages about $12,000 - $20,000 a year. Generally a health care plan or any kind of pension is included during the teaching tenure depending upon the schools or organizations. Payment is usually figured on an hourly basis.

ESP or English for Special Purposes offers very lucrative job prospects in the corporate fields. Banking or Computing English as a free-lancer in various organizations, manifold business oriented jobs and various other metropolitan centers offer good platforms for high-paid white-collar jobs in the private sector.
Security of jobs can be achieved in the higher educational sector which involves a pre-requisite of higher educational degree like a Master's or a Post Doctoral Degree.

An ESL / EFL Career gives you the opportunity to experience all of this with the added advantage of teaching abroad, immersing and assimilating cultures, languages and societies vastly different from your own. Teaching ESL / EFL can mean much more than spending a gap year abroad and teachers with good qualifications and experience can build a rewarding and diverse career for themselves.

In Language Schools, Corporate Training, Public Relationship Companies or getting placed as Voice and Accent trainers, Soft skill trainers - one gains the unparalleled opportunity to further his / her career goals. Whether you are planning to teach long term or on a contractual basis or just want to have the option for job placement anytime in the future, ESL / EFL jobs help you get a lifetime support.

To sum it all up, it can be said that an ESL / EFL gives a patriotic impression of representing one's country in a foreign country and puts forth the opportunity to visit the most beautiful places in the world which makes it more adventurous for one who loves traveling and wants to explore different countries. Asia and former East Block countries offer the most opportunities, while ESL programs in the USA and Canada are also experiencing a boom.

So all that, the interested Native English Speakers, who have the knack to transfer the basic language skills to the speakers of other languages, need is to possess an ESL /EFL certificate which imbibes in them the power to initiate a fervent teaching career. Career as an ESL teacher also mean ample opportunities to travel and get fully drenched in diversified culture, heritage across the world thus making one emerge as a successful and responsible teacher with strength to touch many lives by infusing vigor and valor and influencing them to a great extent.