I had intended to go to Thailand to take a TEFL course in November of this year and then search for a job immediately upon completion of the course. However, I recently read on another resource website that December is the worst month of the year to seek employment as a teacher in Thailand. Would it be advisable to wait until March or April to take my certification course so that I will be available in May, the beginning of the Thai school year, or are there vacancies that need filling year-round? I would like to get started as soon as possible, but if waiting until the beginning of the school year will increase my chances of finding both a job and a job with decent pay, I would be happy to wait.

May is the beginning of the academic year. April has many public holidays and it's also school summer holidays, therefore schools tend to recruit for the new academic year around March. You'll want to finish your TEFL certification before March. Also, most schools would prefer teachers to have some experience before they make a job offer.

But if you want to gain experience with a language school gig there's work all year round. An option for you could be: do your TEFL in November, have a christmas holiday, find language school work to ease yourself into TEFL teaching. You'll be better prepared for the recruiting season and you'll have experience.

Jumping from a TEFL course into a full-time job you'll be very stressed because of your lack of teaching experience. IMO.

Thank you so much for your advice Loaded! I'm so happy I found this forum!

I agree with Loaded. I finished my course in July. Within one week I found a full time teaching job (my very first, and 35 km away), rented a great big condo, bought a new Honda CBR, and started a long term relationship-love affair. Some people, youngsters perhaps, might not have coped. It was fairly easy...well, it was tough, but I'm a tough old bird. Let's see, do we have an emoticon for an old geezer? No, just this happy cowboy: