Thread: We are coming to thailand with no Bachelors Degree or TEFL!!!

First of let me introduce myself (hello I'm from the UK london and am a 27 yr old male) and state that i am a newbie and decided to finally sign up for an account here on ajar after countless hours of going through the large and helpful amount of information on here. Thank you guys for all your advice, please do not get mad at me if my thread is stupid or has been answered plenty of times before. Please.

Now i plan to go to Thailand to teach EFL in March/April with another friend of mine however as the thread title displays i have no bachelors degree. OMG. i know crazy some of you may say but me and my friend really feel we have to do this around early2013.

Qualifications and experience wise i hold a FDsc (Foundation) Degree in ICT and a PTTLS (for those of you who know what this is) I have worked at a college for over 10 years 5 of which was a teaching position ages 15+.

I do however intend to take a CELTA course before i leave for BKK and also undertake my bsc degree with the UK open university while in thailand which will take 2 years.

Questions:
1. Do you think i can get an NES job in Thailand realistically?
2. Should i go for a CELTA which will cost me £1000 in the UK or one of those cheaper tefl courses?
3. If tefl should i do it in the UK or BKK?
4. Will an agency be better for me to sign up to as i don't have bsc honours degree?
5. when would be he best time for me in my circumstance to go to thailand and have a good chance of securing a job if any?
6. Do you have any advice for me please because i am really excited yet very scared for this life changing experience?

thank you in advance
regards

crystal

^ agreed

sensible answers. but if i took these guys advice i'd never have left canada. and boy would i be one grim prick.

Yes, but a B.A. can be had in the UK in only 3 years and some of those courses are really, really easy. It's like Bill Bryson says, "in the UK getting your bachelor's is a lot like your birthday: wait around long enough and it'll happen."

Get your B.A. first. Do some investment in yourself, and your Thailand experience will be much, much better.

thanks but what about the tefl do employers want a certain amount of time on those certificates before they employ you?
is the £1000 delta worth it?

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

thanks but what about the tefl do employers want a certain amount of time on those certificates before they employ you?
is the £1000 delta worth it?

Anyone who is willing to hire an illegal worker won't be too fussed about your "CELTA" or "lack of experience". They just need a white face to show the moms on Saturday mornings. You joing the rest of the back-packer crowd down on Koh Sarn Road and compete with them for the same dodgy jobs.

Get your degree and be legal and the picture changes a whole heap. Thailand will still be here when you are done.

.

awww man. thanks for the reality check guys but you are killing my dreams here.
is there anyone that has gone to thailand and secured a teaching job without a degree? if so please tell me of your experience with that please.
oh and thanks ttompatz but i am black from the UK or black british as we call it. will that make it more difficult for me?

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

but i am black from the UK or black british as we call it. will that make it more difficult for me?

I hate to say it but yes, it's more difficult.

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

thanks for the reality check guys but you are killing my dreams here.

it's not the reality, much as they want/wish it to be. there are buttloads of people in thailand and other countries teaching english without the legal means to. i've been illegal in asia since 2005 and i earn more dough than most teachers. but i won't elaborate because these highly educated and badly paid teachers get pissed off hearing about it.

---Update---

oh teaching while black is not easy by all accounts. but are you going to try to dodge every obstacle in life and sit and twiddle your thumbs rather than seeking adventure?

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

thanks for the reality check guys but you are killing my dreams here

that's not really the point though, is it? you can ask as many different people as you'd like until you get the answer you're looking for but it won't change the fact that if you wish to work in one of thailand's mainstream schools LEGALLY, you'll need a degree.

you can find teaching jobs outside of mainstream education but the jobs are in language schools.

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

is there anyone that has gone to thailand and secured a teaching job without a degree?

of course there are. and many are scrambling to sort themselves out. a very good friend of mine was just told the school would not renew his contract. previously, he's been working there for almost 7 years without a degree. the school got sick of bucking the system because doing so is getting so much more difficult. no doubt someone will come along and say that i'm full of doom and gloom but that's my take on the issue.

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

oh and thanks ttompatz but i am black from the UK or black british as we call it.

here's some more brutally honest information: racism is alive and kicking in thailand and throughout asia. teachers of african and asian descent face a much tougher job search. without a degree, it will be even harder.

i certainly wish you luck and hope you land on your feet. just please don't shoot the messenger.

Originally Posted by crystalvisuals

oh and thanks ttompatz but i am black from the UK or black british as we call it. will that make it more difficult for me?

Finish your degree.

Better yet, get a PGCE or whatnot...and become a real teacher.

The higher you go in the teacher game the less relevant race becomes.

In proper institutions (good luck finding many in Thailand) race will NOT be a factor at all and in the aim of inclusiveness (especially for the students) your being black, gay, handicapped, aged, single, divorced, ugly, etc, will be embraced...as long as your are decent, personable, and COMPETENT.

Alex
ps. Just my opinions here.

Originally Posted by IsaanAlex

Just my opinions here.

pretty spot on if you ask me.

thanks alex i appreciate that alex.