Teaching Without a Degree

Hi,

I am a twenty five year old white male from the UK. I have travelled in Vietnam before and have fallen in love with the country.

I dearly want to live and work in Vietnam, but my problem is I don't have a degree. I have studied for two years at university, but had to leave my studies for personal reasons.

I am learning Vietnamese, I'm studying TEFL, tutoring people where I am, and am prepared to do a TEFL course. What chance do I have of finding work? or tutoring privately?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

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Reply from Travel-Budget-Asia.com

So, Mate. What's her name?

Forget about tutoring. You need to have contacts and you need a place to do the lessons and students can be unreliable and not show up for scheduled classes..

Not going to happen without a degree and some contacts. And never worth the trouble unless you sign a strict contract with the student anyways.

Your chances of getting work with a Private School are 100% IF....

You do at the minimum one of those 120 hour TEFL online courses. You need a bargaining chip in Vietnam to win a job.

With the 120 hour course then at least you can present a resume.

I think you would get hired no matter what (Unless you're as Ugly as Hell) but you will get a really low ball deal because very few schools will contact you.

Having some sort of experience with the TEFL will make you 1,000 times more employable.

I know schools in Vietnam where fewer than 10% of the teachers hold a degree. And 90% of them hold a fake Degree made on Koh San Road in Bangkok.

Get a TEFL (Or for best results get a CELTA). Head to Ho Chi Minh city or wherever in Vietnam. Buy a Sim Card for your mobile phone. Include the phone number on your resume and print them out with a small photo of you on top.

You can write down a list of school addresses from the teaching English in Vietnam page.

Jump on the back of a moto taxi the next morning, dressed with a shirt, tie, slacks and proper shoes (You can buy all that in the markets of Ho Chi Minh City for about $27USD).

Take 5 resumes with copies of your TEFL and a photo of your pretty face. Tell the moto driver to take you to five schools.

Give him the list of schools or take a risk and see where he takes you. Don't offer more than 20,000 - 30.000 Dong.

Drop off your resumes at 5 schools and return home. You will get a phone call to go in for an interview.

You must do a Demo class where the School's staff watch you for 10 minutes after giving you a topic.

'Tell us the difference between Present Perfect and Simple Past'.

That's where you will need your TEFL. If you even do OK at the demo but everyone thought you were polite and kind then you're in. Then you bargain your per hour price.

Never less than 12USD / hour, I always say.

Sorry for the too much info bit there. I just want you to get a job and I mean it when I said that your chances are 100%.

If you put out a resume without any reference to the world of teaching, you might be working for $8USD an hour but you'll get work.

If you present yourself well, dress well and make the students happy with how you teach, you'll get a ton of hours and be making $2500USD per month.

The rent on your Town House will be $300USD.

If you come to work smelling like a beer factory and dressed poorly, you'll get fired.

Peace and Good luck to everyone.