What Should My Plan Of Action Be To Find A Teaching Job In Bangkok, Thailand?

[HalfSquat]

I am coming to Bangkok in mid August 2009. I have accommodation in Bangkok.

I have a 2.1 Bsc (hons) degree in an IT related area from a lowly London university. I have four years graduate work experience but no teaching experience or teaching related qualifications. I am 29, male and English.

I am looking at TEFL courses in the UK at the moment which I am planning to take before I come out. Is this a good idea? Should I be looking at CELTA courses or something else?

Can anyone recommend any books I should be reading that would help me become a good teacher to go along side whatever course I do?

When I get to the Bgk, assuming I have done a course, what should I do to find a job, are they advertised in local papers or should I visit the schools in person or post them my CV/resume & covering letter?

Is the work likely to be term based like in the UK or something else?

Is the work full-time or part-time or is there the option to do both. I would like to see a bit of the country so short contracts with a break between would be nice but perhaps this is not possible.

Ideally I would like to be earning 26500THB / 500GBP per month after tax. Is this likely and if so would it be full-time work?

Thank you very much.

[Norrad]

You are pretty much a prime canditate for teaching in Thailand, everything the schools look for. Your TEFL training will prepare you for teaching so don't worry too much. Most come here much less prepared than yourself. You will easily find a jon in the 30K - 40K range practically right off the plane. Unfortunately that will be full-time but there are plenty of school holidays over here.

[HalfSquat]

You are pretty much a prime canditate for teaching in Thailand, everything the schools look for. Your TEFL training will prepare you for teaching so don't worry too much. Most come here much less prepared than yourself. You will easily find a jon in the 30K - 40K range practically right off the plane. Unfortunately that will be full-time but there are plenty of school holidays over here.

That sounds good.

Not sure what course to do. My heart is saying do a low cost weekend one but my head is saying fork out £1000 and do the 1-month CELTA one.

Should I let them know when I am arriving so they can meet me off the plane to give me the job or will they be waiting anyways?

Is full-time 40 hours spread over five days a week?

[aussiestyle1983]

You are pretty much a prime canditate for teaching in Thailand, everything the schools look for. Your TEFL training will prepare you for teaching so don't worry too much. Most come here much less prepared than yourself. You will easily find a jon in the 30K - 40K range practically right off the plane. Unfortunately that will be full-time but there are plenty of school holidays over here.

That sounds good.

Not sure what course to do. My heart is saying do a low cost weekend one but my head is saying fork out £1000 and do the 1-month CELTA one.

Should I let them know when I am arriving so they can meet me off the plane to give me the job or will they be waiting anyways?

Is full-time 40 hours spread over five days a week?

Mate, just follow the red carpet to the limo when you get of the plane, they will be there waiting from tomorrow... LOL

What Norrad meant was it should be no problem for you to find a job once you start looking

You should easily be able to get what you expect based on your first post. My first job, with no experience and without a degree, landed me 38,ooo THB per month.

[HalfSquat]

Thanks. Got any pointers of where I shoud look? Online, papaers, job centres etc?

If you have no experience, when they put you in the class room, how did you know what to do?

[PeaceBlondie]

Check at the top of this forum for our sponsor, http://www.ajarnjobspace.com Teaching

[aussiestyle1983]

Thanks. Got any pointers of where I shoud look? Online, papaers, job centres etc?

If you have no experience, when they put you in the class room, how did you know what to do?

There is a website most people use called ajarn.com

If you google teaching in Thailand, or similar phrases, you might find a few useful websites.

When you get to Thailand, you could just walk into places and ask.

I landed my first job by just being white and walking down the street. I as asked if I wanted to teach and took it from there. Once I learned how easy it was, I quite that job before I even started and landed a better job. In that better job, i made a few contacts who put me in touch with the school I eventually ended up working full time for. I had no degree or experience, but I had a TEFL, or a Diploma in TEFL, that's all. I was young, and well presented so that helped. But that's how easy it was. It all started with just a walk down the street. If I was you, apply for jobs online, and go into a few schools. When I applied for a teaching job online once, my mobile phone rang 10 seconds late. no joke. I filled out the online application, clicked submit, and then, by the time I logged into my hotmail account to check my e-mail, my phone was ringing in my pocket. It was that quick. I went for an interview the next day and got the job. That was right at the start of summer school. Either way, if the timing is right, you could be in a job in no time.

As for what to do, you will learn very quickly as you go. ask other teachers for ideas. Teachers out the have so many good ideas. The worst case scenario will be if a school puts you in front of a class without telling you anything. That happened for me on my first day at a private school. I was in front of a grad 2 maths class. I just walked in and the students were smiling at me. I said hi and introduced myself. They all started laughing. I then said good morning. they said good morning teacher. I said sit down please. The students said 'I'm fine thank you and you?'. I thought, what the <deleted>? I did not ask them how they were. Why did they say that? No one told me there is a routine that happens at the start of every class. I felt dumb, but I quickly learned and it was actually quite funny. Anyway, it's not rocket science, you, and anyone, will be fine.

Good luck!

[HalfSquat]

Thanks for the info. Good to hear some stories. I am a bit aprehensive about this as I have no teaching experience at all (apart from being at school!).

I can't afford and don't have the time to do the CELTA before I go.

What course should I do instead? It should be short and cheap and give me some understanding of how to teach and get me a job before I can do my CELTA at a later date.

Cheers.

[sassienie]

Another desperado who wishes to stay in Thailand long term, but doesn`t have the funds.

My advice is, come back in another 20 years if and when you have some financial security.

[skybluestu]

Another desperado who wishes to stay in Thailand long term, but doesn`t have the funds.

My advice is, come back in another 20 years if and when you have some financial security.

Another pointless comment from a fool on thaivisa.

My advice to the op is to ignore plebs like sassienie.

[Absingjul]

Search google for the stickman page on teaching in bkk. It is about 100 pages long now.

[PeaceBlondie]

I stopped reading after stick bragged about British English, adding "I like to think that I am something of a purest, and am somebody who likes do things properly,...." in an article he started proofreading over six years ago.

[Milo]

Another desperado who wishes to stay in Thailand long term, but doesn`t have the funds.

My advice is, come back in another 20 years if and when you have some financial security.

Shame nobody's allowed to live here without independant financial support isn't it? Always looked at my time teaching here one hel_l of an apprenticeship to Thailand and her ways. Know I shouldn't rise to your bait, but sure taught me a great deal more than simply propping up the local farang bar with my 'funds', feeling I was superior to all! If any of us here REALLY had money, would be living it up in Monaco/Biarritz now wouldn't we? Clown.

Go for it OP, even if after a couple of years it isn't working out plenty of time to find something/somewhere else.

[marty147]

A good CELTA / TEFL course should include a large proportion of teaching practice in addition to the usual instruction in vocabulary, grammar etc. You should receive feedback on your technique after each 'dry run' so that you can adapt and refine your methods.

That way, when you begin teaching for real, it is not the first time you have stood in front of a class.

Also, be aware that there are many online courses which most employers are not keen on - they sometimes specify "face-to-face TEFL courses only" in their qualification requirements.

ajarn.com has a tonne of great articles about teaching methodology etc

You can study for your qualification in Thailand rather than the UK as it may be slightly cheaper.

Good luck.