lots of people live here

TeacherReady found me an IS post in Vietnam, a great one. I gave them my top three and they got my top school. You are assigned a person who searches for you and makes the calls.

If it were me I would have no concerns about being able to find a post, Guangzhou is a big place.

I am doing exactly what you want to be doing, now. I was teaching EFL in Vietnam and started TeacherReady in November. I'm doing my practicum in September but have finished the bulk of my student teaching experience and the program.

Some points, based on your main post:

-TeacherReady assigns someone to help you find a mentor teacher (an IS). I gave them a list of three and they gave me my top choice, which was the best school in the city and maybe top two or three in the country. It's a great school. Another TeacherReady student was just finishing her stint there when I finished. I was not hung out to dry. Important to note I was LIVING IN VIETNAM when I started the program, you're asking a lot for a a program and the IS to take a chance on your flying out there.

-I was on a 'part-time' contract with ILA (EFL school in Ho Chi Minh City), which meant I was paid for hours worked. I talked to my manager to not work weekdays for awhile, the bulk of my hours are on weekends so it worked out nicely with the IS. My mentor teacher was flexible as well, for for about 2 months I had to show up very often because she let me teach an entire unit of the course.

-Prior to cutting back on my hours at ILA, I was saving enough money to cover tuition payments for TeacherReady. So it worked out really nicely financially.

My advice to you would be to find a country where you can work in a languane center, i.e. your hours will be mostly on the weekend. Work in a country where there is some flexibility if you need to work at a different language center or quit (China and Saudi Arabia, for example, seem difficult. Vietnam involves some paperwork but you could continue living there if you made changes, and ILA holds no grudges if you quit a part-time contract before its finished). Work in a country with a lot of international schools, i.e. a large expat population.

In short I'd say you're making this much more complicated than you need to make it. Find yourself an EFL job in a place with a lot of ISs. Then start the program and work with them to find one that will take you. Getting everything set up before you go sounds difficult.

I don't quite understand the difference in TeachNow/TeacherReady that is so important to you. TeachNow struck me as kind of a scam with its new Master's degree, for some reason they stopped working with a legitimate outfit (The U of Pacific) and started giving students an unaccreddited one.

Check out ProxMate plug-in for Firefox and Chrome. IIRC it has a Netflix option, don't use it for that personally so not exactly sure. But it unblocks a lot including YouTube, Comedy Central, and NBC, and it is faster since you aren't streaming through a third ..

I'm not trying to prove anything, and am not confusing anything. I live here and went through the work permit authorization process over the past two months. I know exactly what is required. And anyone who wants to Google it can find the same.

I only responded so that people aren't misinformed. I've done my best, random strangers, you can believe this guy or a person who just went through the process. Or just ask a school, most of them post the requirements on their website.

Regardless, the 'people you know' are not working legally and do not have work permits.

They are working on a tourist visa. It is possible they are working on a 'specialist' visa, a DN, but they would still be working illegally as you are only allowed in on a DN to apply for a work permit. They are not teaching legally in Vietnam.

You're flat wrong about Vietnam's visa requirements. And the Foreign Expert Certificate is for China, not Vietnam. Anyway I live here and just went through the visa process. You must have a bachelor's degree and a TESOL certificate with observed hours. There are people who teach illegally without either, yes, but we're talking about the work permit and visa.

Frankly given how much you post here with an air of authority I'd be curious to hear your qualifications. Of what you've said that I know about, you're wrong, of what I don't know about, I have no idea but am starting to assume you don't have any factual information generally.

My background is in social studies, my degree is social sciences. While I do appreciate your advice you keep pigeonholing me in things that aren't what I am so I'm unsure of what parts to take and what parts to leave. I don't have a Chinese certification, I have a Cambridge certification that is the industry standard for TESOL.

I also dispute what you're saying about work permits. I''ve worked in countries as a non-teacher and as an EFL teacher and the visa requirements typically don't differ a lot. You need company sponsorship and may need to apply within a category that fits your industry. In China for example there is a two-year requirement for a Foreign Expert Certificate but it is routinely not enforced for work experience within the field. In Vietnam I have the same visa as people working at Saigon South.

Second, the idea that EFL teachers are 'unskilled workers' is wrong. Every country I know of requires a bachelor's degree, and many including Vietnam require a 120-hour course with 6 hours observed teaching for the visa.

Further, trying to apply a general rule to work permits around the world is just silly. Every country is different.

I only say this because I feel like people are going to read what you're saying at take it as truth. It isn't. I also realize how annoying it is for someone to ask for advice and then argue about the advice they're given, so with that I won't ask for anymore and thank you again for what you've said regarding teaching subjects and marketability.

@Basmad where is this a visa requirement? "Usually" seems a bit far fetched given language teachers can generally get a visa with much fewer credentials.

@Munybse how did your job search go? Or how is it going? I wonder how easy I could get a job in the states after.

As for SPED suggestions, I really don't think I'd make a good SPED teacher. I'm just not well suited for it.

@PsyGuy - one more thing - how much better off would I be if I just taught in the U.S. for two years?

So those qualifications, 1 year of EFL (which I understand mostly counts for little), plus two years in the U.S. I'm not totally opposed to it (never lived in Florida before) but my long term career goals are in international schools.

@PsyGuy I think I see the market you're getting at. On TES I see a lot of these English+English Lit jobs and some English+Lit+Social Studies. I think I could end up being an ok candidate there, I could work on getting:

U.S. ESOL subject certification
U.S. English subject certification
U.S. Social Science certification
CELTA
B.A. in Social Sciences
1-2 years of experience in EFL

Further down the road (2-4 years) it wouldn't be a heavy lift for me to get a Master in Teaching. TeacherReady counts towards a third of Colorado State's program.

and fwiw I've been a professional writer for magazines and online news outlets. If I got into English I'd really like to do some composition teaching if I could.

@PsyGuy thank you for the thorough reply, however I'm a little confused by some of what you said.

Social sciences is a broad field and is a lot more than psychology, as you noted. I'm confused as to why I'm suddenly branded a psychology teacher when I have not taken a single course in psychology in my life. Practically speaking I studied political science in college, almost minoring in English.

TeacherReady offers certification in Florida in social sciences.

Noted what you said about history. That's not my strongest area but I did take some upper level courses in college and could possibly go that route.

edit: oddly enough Florida doesn't have a history certification. I'm going to have to dig a little deeper on that, seems odd.

edit2: apparently to be a history teacher in Florida you would get the social science certification. So I could just apply for history jobs off the bat maybe?

If one doesn't have a social sciences degree, they require (to presumably teach):

(a) Six (6) semester hours in United States history,

(b) Courses in the areas specified below:

1. Western civilization or European history,

2. Asian, African, Latin American, or Middle Eastern history,

3. Economics,

4. United States federal government,

5. Geography, and

6. Sociology or psychology.

I got my CELTA last year and am now working in SE Asia as an EFL teacher. I make around $1,400 per month with no other benefits.

My degree is in social sciences and I was looking at TeacherReady to move into international schools.

At first I saw teaching as a temporary gig but I enjoy it and want to pursue a career, where EFL is a dead end.

The easiest subject area certification I could get would be in social sciences. I am also interested in possibly testing into secondary English and ESOL. I agree with the advice I've read elsewhere that it makes sense to build off of my background rather than shoehorn into math or science.

I do not care where in the world I go for my first job. If I had to pick I'd go Africa, South America, or SE Asia.

So questions:

-General impressions? Am I as hopeless as I've read in some places here?

-Does "social sciences" mean "social sciences" or are schools flexible in subject areas? For example Florida offers a "humanities" subject certification, and "social studies," I think given my transcripts I'd be just as qualified for a humanities or political science or whatever subject area that overlaps with social sciences. Do they want your subject area to match exactly?

-Are English and ESOL stronger subject areas that I should focus on getting certified in over social sciences? Social sciences is my core and I figured English/ESOL are nice-to-haves. I think my ESOL resume would look ok with a CELTA and over a year of experience under my belt when I finish the TeacherReady program.

-Would I be looking at a pay raise at most tier 3 schools?

Thanks for your advice. I know these types of questions get posted a lot but believe me when I say the more the better for people searching in the future.