Stuck at the fork in my career road, need directions. Please.
June 14, 2011 7:44 AM   Subscribe

December (graduation) is coming soon, and I'm terrified. I have two things I want to do, and I can't decide which way to go, or where I'm even qualified to go. Um, help?

Here's the deal. In December (knock wood) I'll be the proud possessor of a Master's in English and a TESOL certification. Actually, I already have the TESOL certification, which I acquired as an undergrad.

So, here's my dilemma. What I want to do, more than anything, is teach adults - as in teach Adult Basic English, GED courses, and/or Basic English in Community College. This has been my goal all along. It's a field that's understaffed and not a lot of people want to be there. Me? I'm not looking to make a lot of money, I just want to give others the same chance I had (I started out with a GED).

But others have told me to go overseas and teach English there and I hear that siren call. I have friends in Turkey who are looking for jobs for me and if they find one, I'm pretty sure it will be awesome. Yet the thought of going out of the country still makes me shake (even though I finally have a passport for just such an opportunity). As a matter of fact, I've nearly decided to go there if I do find a job. But I'm wavering.

The problem? I have zero teaching experience. My university did not offer me a teaching assistantship. I have a service assistantship instead. This means I'll graduate with zero teaching experience. I have over fifteen years of office experience, but nothing in the field I'm going into. I don't even know if I can get a job at any kind of reputable company overseas without teaching experience. I may or may not be able to get one here... I'm 45 years old! I can't make too many more false starts.

So, I put it to y'all. Which would be the better path? I've looked around online both here and overseas, but the data is overwhelming to me. I can't tell a reputable school from a disreputable one overseas, and every state has so many different schools, literacy centers, etc... I don't even know where to start.

Help!
posted by patheral to Work & Money (5 answers total)
 
You're seeing this as an either/or and it isn't, at all. If you can land a job teaching ESL overseas, for which the barrier to entry tends to be lower than the US job market, you will gain very valuable, hands-on teaching experience. Doing that for a year or two will really, really help you round out your CV, and in combination with your MA will make you a better (and probably better prepared) candidate for teaching positions you might want in the US.

I personally would apply for everything, both at home and abroad, and not stress about making a decision until you have an offer from somewhere. The job market is tough, so you may actually end up with less choice than you anticipated. Cast your net wide and see what comes in before you start freaking out; thanks to a crappy economy, you may not need to!
posted by DarlingBri at 7:58 AM on June 14, 2011


I know people who taught English overseas and saved up a ton of money. Teaching abroad might be a good way for you to bank away a lot of money for retirement in only a few years, so that you can come back when you're 50 or so and spend your (sorry, you're really still very young) "golden years" doing the work with adult students that you feel called to do.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 9:22 AM on June 14, 2011


Yeah, this isn't either/or; this is first/second. Go teach overseas while you are young and unencumbered and the schools in question don't actually care if you have any teaching credentials. Then either you will find a new thread to pursue while you're doing that, or eventually you'll decide to come back and move on to Phase II.

It's a long life and you don't have to decide all of it now (and if you did, a lot of that would be wasted effort. Things change, plans change, stuff gets invented that doesn't exist currently). And as long as you are a sensible person, traveling and working overseas isn't anything to be afraid of. Go, see the world, grow and get some experience.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:44 AM on June 14, 2011


Not only does this not have to be either/or, it doesn't have to be first/second either. Why not look into teaching English to adults abroad? I'm not sure about the situation in Turkey, but I have a friend who taught English to adults in South America and she really liked it.
posted by ootandaboot at 12:08 PM on June 14, 2011


Response by poster: Thanks y'all. I wrote this question in a fit of panic this morning. I'm very much a "live in the now" kind of person and I realized that this kind of mindset can lead to a lot of problems when it comes to looking for work overseas (obtaining a visa and so on takes time) and I just kind of panicked and went into a self-esteem spiral.

I'm better now. Honestly, I've pretty much been set on doing what DarlingBri suggested, which is apply everywhere and see who nibbles.
posted by patheral at 2:39 PM on June 14, 2011


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