Questions About Qualifications

[Ijustwannateach]

Um, ok. Through the magic of google, I have come up with this link to ISS. as an example...

[Ricohoc]

Um, ok. Through the magic of google, I have come up with this link to ISS. as an example...

Thank you, my friend. I had no idea it was as easy as "ISS". I would have done it myself. Thanks again!

[Tilokarat]

I have a Ph.D in History from the University of Toronto, and am 60 years old. I wonder if there would be a possibility for someone with my qualifications, at my age, to teach either English or History and Geography in Thailand. I would mostly be interested in teaching in Isan or the Chiang Mai/Lamphun/Nan area.

Robert

[Ijustwannateach]

If you can find a university that wants a foreign professor in your speciality, then the limit is what they're willing to pay- I've heard of very generous contracts in important technical areas; to be honest I'm not so sure how welcome foreign history experts would be (considering that history is a political minefield here). You won't find jobs of that type advertised; you'll need to contact the universities you're interested in and make contacts and network. Otherwise you'll be as qualified as just about anyone is to take any of the jobs for teachers which are normally advertised- at the normally advertised wages.

[PeaceBlondie]

My contacts in Lamphun say the starting salary for a new English teacher (Caucasian) is still 25,000 to teach high school, under terrible conditions. Chiang Mai seems to have way too many farang teachers. Good luck. If you have a pension, you should be fine. But without a pension, you probably can't survive.

[rocky3]

I will be movjng to LOS in June or July "07 on a Non Imm-O, married to a Thai, and over 50. I have a TESL Certificate and was curious is it possible to get tutoring positions without a BA. I do have a AA and gobs of experience in electronics and engineering fields. There is a Technical College in town and while visiting last year I was approached about teaching, thats why I have the Certificate. I do not want a full time position as it would get in the way of my golfing, but I do want to be legal if I am going to work. Is this possible?

[Ijustwannateach]

I'm sure that you could get some tutoring work, but getting it to be "fully legal" would be your big barrier. It's hard enough getting a work permit when you have a full time job with an established institution; getting one as a part-time individual would be quite a feat.

[old wanderer]

Don't really want to work too much when I finally move to Thailand. Married for 10 years to a Thai. I have been teaching internationally for a aircraft mfg. technical subjects for the past 10 years. I do about 10 international trips a year and will be with a Thai airline in May.

I have looked at the requirements, and for me it was always a certified transcript that showed degrees and honors. I notice you also require?? a diploma? I have several but with my constant movement, have misplaced some others.

Is the physical diploma a true requirement, or just a sealed certified transcript?

BS Physics

MSEE (Summa Cum Laude)

MBA (Finance) (Summa Cum Laude)

MBA (Marketing)

FAA Airline Transport Pilot

FAA Mechanic

FCC GROL

ISO 9000 Sr. Auditor

(Probably some other I have forgotten about)

I lot of junk to try and keep track of when one has the basic nature of "Colombo". (For our European friends that is a TV show).

I enjoy teaching to the top of the class, but will always try to make the light come on in the heads of those that have never discovered how to make their mind work. (Fun). Not of lot of patiences with the stupid, politicians, or lazy.

Not even sure when I hang it up, if I want to do these things, but one time before when I was 38 yo I retired and became a cowboy. (One of my dreams). I went crazy in a few years because there was nothing for my mind to do. Just a bunch of physical work, nothing mental, so I started playing attorney just to match wits with educated people and beat them at there own game. So probably need something to keep me mentally active.

Interested to hear your comments.

[Ijustwannateach]

The airport could probably use you as a consultant; I hear they're having a few problems...

[ClaudiaCat]

Hello, just the usual question about qualifications.

I'm got a B Communication in Australia, majoring in Journalism and Public Relations. I've had some freelance stuff published here and there, done some voluntary PR work and was briefly involved in national youth politics, but hever had a concrete Journalist job here in Oz.

I'm quite happy and willing to teach English in Thailand, having spent two months travelling the whole country and falling in love with the culture and (most) of the people. I am very proficient in all aspects of the English language. Some of my degree (probably about 30-40% in total) involved the study of grammar, structure, prose, etc as well as developing editing and proofreading skills. I'm also pretty sure I'm going to get a TEFL qualification.

My question is, do I have any chance of getting a journalism or PR job (no matter how small or vaguely related to the industry) in Thailand? Or should I stick to English teaching?

My degree was also three years long. Some of these postings have mentioned you need a four year degree for 'above board' jobs. Is this going to be a problem? Most BA degrees and similar in Oz are only three years long.

[colly122303]

I new to posting so I'll try this thread about qualificiations. I have one year's teaching experience but I'm unhappy with my current employer as well as other problems so I'm looking for a new job. However, I do not have a degree and since the new rules are tightening up, I'm wondering whether it is possible to find a job and what the salary would be. I noticed that the salaries are much lower than last year.

Also, I am trying to get a degree, but I must do part-time study as I have a family. I would do one back home but I have too much tying me down here now. The Burapha University is offering part time BEd degrees (4yr) and I would continue studying too if it was succesful and worthwhile.

My main ponderable about this is;

Is a degree studied in Thailand worth doing? Would it be more-or-less on par with degrees from western unis(with regards to employers/MOE acceptance)? Would I be able to teach TEFL in other countires on it?

[PeaceBlondie]

ClaudiaCat, if your "BCommunication" is a Bachelor's degree, the Thais don't know if it took you 36 or 45 months to earn; a bachelor's is a bachelor's. Of course you can teach English, but I have no idea if your PR thing would even be an allowed occupation. Good luck.

colly, the consensus is "No; almost all degrees earned in Thailand are not considered equivalent to a degree earned in the West."

[mrmazinkle]

Hi,sorry if this has been covered before..I'm here on a non imm "O"visa.I would like to find a legal job here.I have a H.N.D. from a British University,and,a TESOL with some teaching experience in the U.K.as a mandatory part of the course.

Is it possible for me to get a work permit here? and thus a legal teaching job?I appreciate any input or advice,,Sincerely,Bill....

[PeaceBlondie]

Anything's possible. The only Thai school administrators who understand British initials like that are the folks who insist on a B.Ed. or a BA plus a GCSE, or whatever you call it.

Good luck, but most folks think there's no substitute for a bachelor's degree (BA, BSc, BEd). People have gotten work permits in the past with what you have. It now appears to have been the exception that tested the rule. The new rules appear tougher. The rules are only appearances, anyway.

[garro]

Hi,sorry if this has been covered before..I'm here on a non imm "O"visa.I would like to find a legal job here.I have a H.N.D. from a British University,and,a TESOL with some teaching experience in the U.K.as a mandatory part of the course.

Is it possible for me to get a work permit here? and thus a legal teaching job?I appreciate any input or advice,,Sincerely,Bill....

I was in a similar position as you about three years ago. I had a three year Higher National Diploma in Nursing studies from a UK university. At the time I was told that it would be difficult for me to get a teachers licence with it and I would imagine it is harder now. The problem is that they don't really know about H.N.D.s here.

I ended up converting my qualification to a degree by doing some extra courses. Could you do this? As far as I remember a H.N.D. is equal to 240 CAT points and you need 360 for a degree.

I hope this helps.

[Ijustwannateach]

Sorry to be behind- blankety blank internet connection is unreliable... grumble, grumble.

Old Wanderer, you are far more than qualified for any science-related teaching position here in Thailand; the real question is whether you will find one that you like. If you want to go fully legal, you'll need diplomas & transcripts for any qualification you seek to prove you have- they don't necessarily need to be sealed from my past experience here in Thailand. There are one or two reports of certain schools now also asking for a "letter of verification" of the diplomas and transcripts, which seems redundant- after all, who's going to prove that the letter of verification is real?- but just to let you guys know.

At the moment, there are some mixed reports about private schools and public schools. Public schools are given permission by the government to vouch for their teachers (plus their budgets are lower) so they don't have to employ people with teachers' licenses (Thais or farang). Private schools are forced to dot every i and cross every t, however, so if you apply at private schools it's possible they (the schools and the government) may now be requiring a Ed degree somewhere in your pedigree to get the teacher's license which *is* required to work at them.

Claudiacat, I know of one local journalist who has sometimes posted on this board. I know that the Nation and the Bangkok Post accept applications for employment from foreigners. However, I don't know what they are looking for in terms of qualifications.

Colly,

At the moment things look bleaker for those without a degree, though just a year ago I would've said it didn't matter too much if you were doing TEFL. It shouldn't, anyway. But if you ever want to use your degree for anything outside Thailand, I think a degree done in Thailand isn't really worth the time and expense. I'd suggest you look into one of the distance/self-study courses done by reputable universities in English-speaking countries. They won't be as well-accepted as full-time class study courses, but they'll stand up better outside Thailand than degrees offered by most Thai universities.

Mr. Mazinkle,

As far as is known, it is not an absolute requirement to have a full 4-year college degree to do TEFL here in Thailand at public schools. That said, the political weather is shifting and I can't really say it will always be like that- so I can't recommend that you come here planning on those terms. Thanks for your advice, too, garro.

"Steven"

[old wanderer]

Stephen,

Guess I should stop sniveling. I do know where my MBA's from Tulane are, and my MSEE from USC is in a box in the garage (I think). The BS I have not seen for over 10 years, so guess they will have to figure if I got a MS I must have got a BS before, plus it is no problem to get certified transcripts from USC.

Actually what I would really like to do is open a composite repair school. With the new Boeing 787 being mainly carbon fiber, the demand for schools will really be in an exponential growth mode over the next 10 years. Maybe I should look to get some certification for the classes from Boeing and Airbus. Since it is new technology you cannot apply old skills to do this.

Now that would be a gold mine. Those typical classes run about $2500 - $5000 per week per student. Typical certification would take 4 to 6 weeks. Usually you would have a max of 10 students.

The cost to set up the lab to teach in is high due to the vacuum and autoclave requirements as well as materials, (but you can charge students for materials just like any school)..

Now do I really want to work that hard?????? I do not think Thailand would be difficult to deal with on this kind of high tech school. BUT TIT??

Ciao

Bob

[colly122303]

Thanks for the input IJWT, I was thinking the same but it is almost impossible to do a distance study course in Thailand (or at least one with a good reputation). Most universities, even OU see it as off limits. The other thing was I did want to specialize in Education. Distance degrees can't teach this as there must be a strong practical element.

I'll just have to do some more thinking on a solution to this one.

Cheers again,

Colly

[aussiestyle1983]

I plan to return to my country in the comming months to do a Master of Education (TESOL) degree and I am just wondering what kind of salary I should expect to earn upon return to Thailand after the completion of my course. The course only goes for one to two years full time depending on how you arrange you studies, and the cost is very good compared to other courses on offer. Here are my questions (keeping in mind I will use the degree to work in Thailand so my qualifications will be asessed by Thais)

1- Would it be of less credit to do a full online course through a lesser ranked Uni (Universit yof Wollongong) than if I were to do an on-campus course at a well known Uni (University of Sydney?)

The costs are the same, but I would not be able to work as much by doing full time on campus studies, but by doing the online course I would at least be able have more options of work.

2- Is there anything wrong with doing an online degree?

When I return to Thailand in afew years, I will have the Masters degree and my current TEFL cert. I will also have 1.5 years part time and 1 year full time teaching experience here from what I am doing now, so what kind of decent well paying jobs could I expect and how much should I expect to earn?

Thank you for your replys in advance.

[garro]

I can't answer any of your questions but would be very intrested in the answers.

I was thinking of doing a Post-Graduate Advanced Diploma in English Studies with the Open University in the UK which is distance learning, but I think respected.It is a bit expensive but I think worth it as it would be a more relevant qualification than my BA. The Masters in TESOL sounds very intresting, especially if it can be done by distance learning.

[sylvafern]

With a Masters in Education with a specialty in TESOL you would be able to look for a job in an international school as an ESL teacher or support teacher. The only thing that might hold you back is that most (good) schools require at least 2-3 years experience in your home country so you might want to think about doing a year of full time teaching before you come back to Thailand so that you can apply for schools with better salaries and packages.

[Ijustwannateach]

You'd also really need to be a fully-licensed teacher, which may require more than simply one year of teacher depending on your local state requirements- check 'em out. The international schools here are really anal about the official licensing, so don't go into it thinking you can cut corners if that's really your final goal. Good luck to you, though, and let us know how it's going.

I'm going to merge this thread with Q about Q, since really it's in that line.

"Steven"

[Logarhythm]

I have a qualifications related question. I will be arriving in Thailand next month with a view to teach English. I recently completed my CELTA (Pass at International House in Sydney, and I have a Bachelor of Nursing degree from Sydney University. The thing that has me concerned is that I only spent the 1 year at university as I converted from a General Nursing Certificate to a Nursing degree. I had achieved enough credits on the certificate course whereby I only had to do 1 year at uni to convert to a degree. The uni transcripts specify the amount amount of credits I received from the certificate course. Will I have any problems getting a Teachers license and work permit?

[Ijustwannateach]

If your university is relatively credible, then a degree is a degree is a degree- at least, I believe that should be the case.

[Logarhythm]

Thank you. I just needed that little bit of reassurance. I've no doubt that The University of Sydney is one that they recognise.

[ajack]

I am looking for work as a teacher in Bangkok. I have a tefl, but no degree and experience of teaching in Thailand. I have looked for jobs on the net and they all say they require a degree. Is this actually the case or just something they have to state in their advert?

Also, I am interested in finding some teaching agencies, but have also read about the lottery of finding a decent agency that actually pays teachers. Does anyone know of any decent agencies or the best area to go looking in Bangkok?

Can anybody help me on these matters and shed some light, or point me in the right direction.

Thanks for any help!!

[Ijustwannateach]

The only real way is to find out. In theory, what they say they want is what they want; on the other hand, we've seen too many ads over the years for people with M.Ed's and Ph.D's from schools offering 25,000B a month in the past. I really doubt they all filled those positions with people with those qualifications. Furthermore, I doubt that there has been a large influx of new foreigners with college degrees all a-flame to teach here in Thailand- you know, considering how stable and consistent and transparent everything is recently in just about every area- so the premium on someone with a real degree may have gone up and the other jobs (i.e., the lower-paid ones) will have to make do somehow.

Despite signs that the government is getting tougher, I still have seen nothing which makes impossible for a government school that really wants to do so to hire a foreign teacher who doesn't have a degree and give him all the paperwork, including the work permit. No promises, though.

Good luck, Ajack. You've got some calling to do.

"Steven"

[PeaceBlondie]

ajack, there are places in Thailand that will hire you and even try to get you a work permit without a degree, but there aren't many like that in Bangkok, apparently. The ads often ask for the moon and settle for a small rock. Agencies need a commission (part of your salary) to pay their bills.

The only direction I could point you in is anyplace outside of Bangkok, though I wouldn't recommend Chiang Mai.

[Ijustwannateach]

Yes- basically stay away from anywhere that would normally be popular with foreigners/tourists.

[Lkind]

Before I start asking away I'd like to thank all the knowledgeable and friendly posters who have shared so much valuable information with the newbies looking to make the jump to teaching in Thailand.

After traveling in Thailand for a few months I, like so many others, have fallen in love with the people, food, and culture, and wish to make plans to relocate there for an extended period of time. Teaching English seems like the easiest (or at least most realistic) way to support myself, but I've got some concerns about the viability of my experience and credentials and the long term prospects for farangs who choose this line of work.

I'm 26 years old, American, and have little to no Thai language skills (although I intend to learn the language once I'm living there). I've got an AA in philosophy and have completed about 10 credit hours of upper division philosophy classes at UC Berkeley, but do not have a BA. It is my intention to complete a TEFL certification course either here in the US or in Thailand after I relocate. In addition to my scholastic experience if have 6+ years of experience in the IT field, including a moderate amount of experience in training development and delivery.

With regards to my lack of a BA, how will this effect my ability to get a decent job in Thailand? How will the lack of a BA come into play when attempting to get a teaching license and work permit visa? How difficult and risky is it to work in Thailand without jumping through the hoops required to get the teaching license and work permit?

What are the continuing prospects for someone with the type of job my experience and education level might expect to attain? For example, after a few years of experience in TEFL will there be a wider array of jobs available to me, specifically jobs with a higher salary expectation? One idea I've had would be to try to use teaching experience gained in Thailand to get occasional contracts in Korea or Japan to supplement my income. Is that a realistic idea?

Finally (until my next novel-length post full of questions) is the teaching field really my best option? As a farang, how feasible is it to get a lower-level IT related job in Thailand? How do those salaries compare to teaching and is it more or less difficult to get the visa to live and work legally?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance to any answers provided.

Laughlin Elkind