Thread: Hello and Help!

Hello

I'm a newbie.

36 female from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Fully qualified ICT and Computing Teacher with QTS and five years teaching experience under my belt. I also have a 20 hour TEFL certificate. I Left blighty in search of adventure and a better way of life, sick of ofsted and the new education reforms.

I'm currently in Chiang Mai and would like to stay here but I know this is unlikely as it is a very popular place and haven't built up any experience teaching in Thailand. Been ill so unable to print out my CV and hit the streets of Chiang Mai yet but thats on the cards for Monday.

I've been emailing my CV out to recruiters in Bangkok but only had a few dodgy phone calls.

Got enough cash in the bank to see me through another 2 months and to get me home with enough to set me up back in England.

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers
Jody

A 20 hour TEFL cert carries about the same weight as toilet paper.

QTS and 5 years in the classroom however are a different matter.
Quit looking for bottom barrel EFL jobs and start looking for jobs as a proper teacher in your field.

Teaching Jobs & Education Jobs - TES Jobs
International education - The International Baccalaureate offers high quality programmes of education to a worldwide community of schools (get their list of schools and apply directly).
Welcome to Search Associates (no, they are not free).

If you really do want to drop down to 30k EFL jobs then move 100km in any direction from Chaing Mai and just hit the bricks with your CV in hand (might be a big help if you can get someone to do a translation of it and your cover letter). Schools are finishing up their 1st term now and classes will resume at the end of Oct.

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Originally Posted by Jamm

36 female from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Fully qualified ICT and Computing Teacher with QTS and five years teaching experience under my belt.

You qualify for an International School. QTS Primary of Secondary? If you're looking for a job that matches your qualifications, you have to go to Bangkok, I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by ttompatz

Schools are finishing up their 1st term now and classes will resume at the end of Oct.

Yes. You've to wait a bit.

Cheers guys,

Trying to get away from teaching my subjects so want to try a bit of English teaching or possibly switch from secondary to primary. I know neither of these is a walk in the park, I just need a change.

Looks like the plan is to do a bit of EFL and then look towards an international school when the are hiring.

with your qualifications from blighy, not the 20-hour cert, you should have absolutely no problem finding a job. get out of chiang mai as quickly as you can. the place is saturated with teachers.

loads of jobs out there. i'm not having a go but if you cannot find a job with your quals and this market, you're doing something wrong.

Originally Posted by Jamm

from Newcastle

BTW, howay the lads!

Got an interview on Wednesday for a Kindergarden job in Bangkok.

Originally Posted by Jamm

Got an interview on Wednesday for a Kindergarden job in Bangkok.

Best of luck.

It's about time I got my first post out of the way!

Jamm, I have a degree and I completed a TEFL course here in Thailand and I had no problems getting a job in the greater Bangkok area. I had no teaching experience beyond the teaching practices in my course. I sent my resume to 5 institutes of various types (school, language school etc) and had interest back from 4 of them.

The job that I have now I didn't actually apply for, they saw my resume ajarn.com. So a plug for that service, it does work and schools will look there! There is a useful guideline on the website about putting your resume up and how to present your photograph. Take a little bit of care and time with it.

In my very, very limited experience (and from a lot of reading around online) I'd say you will have zero problems getting a job. You're young, female, a native speaker, you have a degree, you're a fully qualified teacher with 5 years experience! Look smart, set your sights high and don't settle for a low salary or poor conditions. I'm sure the people who have been around here for a while would agree that you're a high calibre candidate here in Thailand!

Good luck for your interview!

Cheer Noal

I'm currently trying to find suitable interview clothing as I know appearance is very important in Thai culture. My CV is already on Ajarn and I have emailed quite a few institutions and had only a few replies. I might have to tweak my CV and cover letter.

I will be printing out my CV and visiting a few schools in Chiang Mai on Monday and then I will be in Bangkok on Tuesday so will be visiting schools and dropping off my CV then and after the interview on Wednesday. So with any luck I will have a job soon.

Going a bit stir crazy with the applying online, but as I'm nearly back to full health I can start getting out and about.

Jamm just about your CV. I had a discussion a year ago with a lady who was head of recruitment for an Environmental Consultancy firm who gave me some tips. What you say about Thais and appearance I took that and applied it to my resume also. You obviously have to list the details about your qualifications, history etc. but have it in a way that looks snappy. Perhaps the Thai person who receives it doesn't speak perfect English but they'll like the feel of it which is a great start. Professional, snappy; it's almost like a brochure/leaflet, two pages to make a good first impression. I stayed away from Times New Roman as well and went for calibri font, or arial is quite modern too. I'm male so I thought 'clean cut appearance, clean cut resume'. Like a car ad, the specs are there but really you're selling 'brand Jamm'!

Just an update. I got the job . Going to be teaching 3 year olds, good news is there's only 5 of them. I'm also going to be teaching primary ICT and providing tech support.

I have to find a cheap apartment near by, difficult as they are in an expensive area.

I would also like to know the best way of going about teaching private lessons, school contract forbids tutoring our own students, but would like to make a few Bhat to save.

Cheers for the help and support
Jody

Congrats Jody! My wife and I are visiting Chiang Mai in January--I'm really excited. Please keep us posted on how things go for you there.

Originally Posted by Jamm

Just an update. I got the job .

Congratulations.

Originally Posted by Jamm

I would also like to know the best way of going about teaching private lessons, school contract forbids tutoring our own students, but would like to make a few Bhat to save.

Patience. The moment you start working there and doing a great job students (from other schools) will ask for you.

You also might want to contact the learning or language centres in the neighbourhood for a part-time job.