In today’s world, the ability to speak and understand the English language is considered a skill on its own.

This is because English is the language of international communication, the media, and the internet. Plus, knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or finding work abroad.

So, to hone the skill, folks from all over the world are willing to pay top dollars to anyone skilled enough to help improve their English proficiency.

Enters English Teachers!

The growing demand for English teachers

Provided you understand the English language up to the point you can teach others, and you boast the right certifications to back up your claim, there are lots of institutions, programs, establishments, professional bodies, business owners, and individuals that are looking to hire you.

More interestingly, these offers are available both offline (traveling abroad) and online!

How large is the market?

Someone might ask: how large exactly is the job market for English teachers abroad?

Well, let’s find out!

  • According to a forecast made by the British Council , approximately 2 billion people around the world are looking to learn and use the English language.

What does this mean? That there are people waiting across the globe to hire your services as an English teacher.

What does this mean? That there is an enormous opportunity to teach English as a foreign language in China.

  • Some time ago Mexico enacted plans for more than 12 million school children to be learning English within 6 years. According to the British Council, similar plans have been enacted in Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia, and Sweden and in dozens of other countries worldwide.
  • According to GlobeNewswire , the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) industry was estimated at USD 33.5 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach around USD 54.8 billion by 2025.

What does this mean? That the industry is a well-paying one.

  • Eighty percent of TEFL teachers abroad are non-native English speakers.

What does this mean? That the demand for English teachers is so huge that it can’t be met by only the native speakers. This opens opportunities for non-native speakers to land careers.

  • According to various reports, about 40 to 50% of TEFL teachers overseas often leave their positions after a few sessions. Sometimes to return to their home country, other times to try out new culture. This usually results in a never-ending cycle of job openings in the TEFL industry.

What does this mean? That you can never be unemployed as a TEFL teacher.

Having established the rising demand for English teachers and the opportunities that are there, let’s now discuss how you can leverage these opportunities.

How to leverage the TEFL opportunities that are out in the world

The best and the most productive way to leverage the rising English teaching opportunities across the globe is to become a certified TEFL teacher.

If you become a certified teacher of English, you can teach English to those looking to hone the language whether online or off it.

How do you become a certified TEFL teacher?

The process of becoming a certified TEFL teacher is not a rigorous one. In fact, you can even get started without a college degree or a qualification in a language field.

Below is a 4 step guide that will help you launch a career in the TEFL industry:

  • Reach out to an expert advisor for guidance
  • Understand the destination options available to you
  • Choose a TEFL course and get certified
  • Look for TEFL jobs abroad or online
  • Reach out to an expert advisor for guidance

The prospect of teaching in South Korea, China, Poland, or Columbia is exciting, no doubt. But where do you start?

Like it or not, you will have a tough time understanding things like TEFL certification, TEFL institutions, number of hours of TEFL/TESOL courses, best country for you to teach, proficiency skills, CELTA, DELTA, to name just a few.

But with the help of an expert advisor like Premier TEFL, you’ll have access to all the tools and information you need to launch and sustain your TEFL career.

  • Understand the destination options available to you

Most people, once they decide they want to become TEFL teachers, they make a list of countries they’ll like to go to.

Unfortunately, teaching English as a foreign language doesn’t work like that. You need to answer a few questions to know which country you’re qualified to teach in.

Some of the questions include:

Do you have a bachelor’s degree or not? Without a college degree, you can’t get good TEFL jobs in countries like China, Japan, South Korea, etc. But you can in countries across Central and South America and some countries in Europe.

Do you want to take your TELF certification course online or in a classroom? Although most countries around the world accept online TEFL certification courses, there are still some that demand in-class certification, especially countries in Europe and in the Middle-East

Do you have a teaching experience? Most people dream of going to TEFL in places like Qatar, UAE, Russia, China because those countries are known to pay well. But, unfortunately, many of the opportunities in those places require teaching experience. So you may need to first go to countries that don’t require teaching experience or join voluntary programs to gain adequate experience before applying to your dream country.

  • Choose a TEFL course and get certified

A TEFL course is a course that trains you how to be a TEFL teacher.

If you want a flexible training structure, you should take any of the online TEFL courses . Otherwise, you can enroll for physical training at any of the accredited TEFL teaching centers around you.

What are the qualifications you need to take a TEFL course?

You do not need any formal qualifications! You just need to speak English fluently enough and be able to show it.

For non-native speakers, you can demonstrate you have an excellent command of the English language by gaining a Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) or taking and passing an English proficiency test like IELTS.

Once you complete your TEFL online courses or in-class courses, you’ll become certified, and be equipped to teach English as a foreign language anywhere.

  • Look for TEFL jobs abroad or online

With your TEFL certification and English proficiency proof, you're ready to start hunting for TEFL jobs. If you want to go abroad, reflect on the points we made in step #2 above, and find out which country you're best qualified for.

Once you do, reach out to your TEFL course provider to see whether they can connect you with employers in your chosen destination. Most providers like Premier TEFL assist with stuff like this.

Alternatively, visit sites like ESLCafe.com, Transitions Abroad, Go Abroad, Dave’s ESL Café, Go Overseas, ESL Employment, etc. International employers post English teaching openings on these sites.

If you still can’t land a job this way, go to ESLBase.com/schools/ to find language schools and institutes. From there, contact schools directly to inquire about job openings.

Alternatively to traveling abroad, you can look up opportunities for online teaching on sites like:

  • Skima Talk (doesn’t accept non-native speakers)
  • Italki
  • Palfish
  • Learnlight
  • Cambly (doesn’t accept non-native speakers)
  • Preply
  • Open English (doesn’t accept non-native speakers)
  • Verbling (doesn’t accept non-native speakers)

CONCLUSION

Everything we've said so far highlights the opportunities that are there for you to take advantage of.

Once you land a job, it’s important that you also find out everything you can about the school because not all language schools are created equal, and the last thing you want is a school that’ll underpay you.

Don’t settle for one school. Get offers from as many schools as possible so that once one school confirms to hire you, you ask to speak with a past or present teacher to get a feel of the school, and the country, after which you can compare your options.