Aperture

The more the merrier, to fluff up a resume/CV. You never know. I would think a bachelor's in economics would make the business endorsement unneeded, but maybe not. If you have no intent to teach children, ever, skip the kiddies' course.

I don't understand which test the #2 is supposed to prepare you for. Surely not either of the TCT requirements

Great. Thank you for the info.

-Ap

I just completed the TEFL course through Oxford Seminars, which is a 40 hr course.

They have 4 add-ons (40 more hours) to the course:

1. Business English

2. Teach TEFL prep course to pass exam

3. Teaching children

4. and something else.

My questions is- would getting Business English or #2 help myself? And more importantly, will it help in getting more pay in BKK?

I already have a Bachelors of Science in Economics and my native tongue is English.

Thanks in advance!!

-Ap

I just did a google with 'TEFL' and 'Singapore' and it seems there are good opportunities

I was really searching for 1st hand experience, not just a google search (anyone could have done that). Since English is taught in the school-system, I've been told that Singapore does not have a strong TEFL need- very weak.

I was looking for 1st hand experience- thanks tho.

-Ap

I found some info about teaching English in Singapore off google, but was unsure of the TEFL market since isn't English part of their grade school curriculum? So wouldn't that make TEFL teachers very, very low demand? I was wondering if anyone of you had some solid info. Ideally, Bangkok would be the first choice, but Singapore comes in a very close 2nd.

As always, any info is greatly appreciated!

-Ap

To put things into perspective for you. Ten years ago (maybe even 15 years ago) 25,000 baht a month teaching, any English teaching, was considered bottom of the barrel salary. With the qualifications you have, you should aim for at least 40,000 baht per month. You could make more than that teaching business English with your education background being economics.

thank you and thank you peaceblondie. good info!

-Ap

Hey, merlin! Thanks for asking. With a master's degree, you'll have a lot of the medium-range options open to you- especially university work, where you may even find a position teaching sociology (though TEFL or English is more likely). For university work, the Master's is more important than the TEFL. Unfortunately, the baseline salary for most universities is rather low, in the high 20s per month- on the other hand, class load is small and there are very long paid vacations, plus extra work is readily available for much better pay. If you have other sources of income, this can be an excellent way to get beer money plus a visa.

Having the master's degree will also overcome your not having TEFL in many elementary/high schools, though not all- most of the "upper crust" ones will want to see some experience in teaching, plus a TEFL if that's your subject. You shouldn't rule out teaching social studies (in English) in one of the more advanced EP programs, of which there are not too many- but the pay for the ones which exist is very generous compared to your average Thai school program (even into the 50s and 60s range).

If you do have a lot of teaching experience, you could theoretically apply even for the international schools here, though sometimes if you're applying locally it doesn't matter HOW good your qualifications are (they're kinda prejudiced against us locals) they still won't take you.

Naturally, the schools which will take ANYone will still be available, at the industry standard rate of 25-30K, usually without paid vacations or legitimate paperwork.

"Steven"

"Naturally, the schools which will take ANYone will still be available, at the industry standard rate of 25-30K, usually without paid vacations or legitimate paperwork."

In my situation, I will have

-Bachelors of Science in Economics

-TEFL Cert

-40 hd addon in Business English to TEFL cert

-no teaching experience

With these stats, can I get into a school fresh off the boat making more than the industry standard? Ive read a lot of conflicting info about this- some say you'll make $25k, some say a lot more. Im not sure which is true. Can you please help?

Any info is greatly appreciated.

-Ap

Welcome to the forum. If you are taking an online course, like somebody was just saying over on TEFLWatch, it would be difficult for most online courses to provide you with job leads. Even some of us who took courses '

in-country' were not led by the hand.

There is now www.teflwatch.com and www.teflwatch.org - the first one has job listings, I believe. ajarn.com also has many entry level positions. If you check our huge Qualifications thread at the top of this sub-forum, you will probably see that a BA in economics (or a BBA) with no teaching experience probably would only get you a job teaching basic English in a rajabat (lower ranking uni). At any rate, with the current pandemonium here, it is possible you would not be legal even after one year in Thailand.

Can you explain more please- "it is possible you would not be legal even after one year in thailand"

-Ap

First off, thanks for all the great information on this board. Its really helped me.

As for me, I am an American currently taking the TEFL course through Oxford Seminars. After Im done, I plan on getting a "Business English" follow-up to it (an additional 40 hrs). I am a graduate from a Cal State University and have a Bachelors degree is Economics.

I'm very serious about teaching. I've read terrible stories of teachers who don't care...etc...but I do care. I would really like to get established with a private institution (Ive read the pay is more) and possibly the Bangkok Unversity (although from the posts Ive read, it seems you need prior teaching experience, currently have none- will finish the TEFL course in about 3 weeks from now.

Any good insight to really solidify a good school would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

-Ap