Getting a foot in the door

Post Reply
chaus2
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 09, 2016 11:01 pm

Getting a foot in the door

Post by chaus2 »

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on getting a foot in the door in this market. Some background on me. Early 50's male recently divorced so no dependents. I have a Masters Degree in Political Science/History and a Texas Social Studies Composite teaching certificate (no TESOL certification). My teaching background is 15 years of teaching entirely on the university level in South Korea (no hogwon babysitting on my resume). I have spent the last 1 1/2 school years substitute teaching in various school districts here in Central Texas. I came back to deal with a family matter, that has now been resolved so I'm ready to move on.

My problem is most if not all schools want 2 years of K-12 experience that I don't have. Right now I am lucky to be able to sub in schools outside of ones in "bad" neighborhoods where you pass through a metal detector to get into the school.Does anybody have any advice to get into a lower tier school? So far I've had one interview with a group of schools in the Middle East but based on some teacher reports the school has a so-so reputation. I was looking towards the Middle East, SE Asia or China

thanks
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

You are not a very marketable IT candidate, your passed 50, all youve taught is ESOL. Your certification and teaching area is saturated.

THE GOOD:

Go back to SK or somewhere else in Asia and go back to teaching at Uni. With 15 years you a career in ESOL and if you cant stomach that than look into starting your own ES (either state side or in SK/Asia).

THE BAD:

What else can you comfortably do? You have a lot of ESOL experience and there is a demand for that in the States if your Bilingual. Do you have any FL fluency? You could get a permanent appointment if you were marketable in Bilingual education Stateside (even then you should add the ESOL state certification). Consider picking a country in Asia like Vietnam, China or going back to SK and teaching ESOL this spring and if youre in a large enough city keep yourself apprised of local vacancies at bottom tier ISs that dont advertise except locally.

THE UGLY:

Modify your resume to reflect your substitute experience as TOR/FTE experience.
Post Reply