Barbarians in the building
Teaching English to savages and the great recession
This past July I accepted a job teaching English at a university in Saudi Arabia. I was to teach Saudi males in their 20's and was excited about that opportunity. The tax-free salary of around $3,500 U.S. a month along with a rent-free apartment, return airfare, and long paid holidays didn't hurt either.
There are teaching jobs out there
Postbox letter from Ben Richards
I've just completed my first month at a language centre. I waited for a good job rather than accepting one I wouldn't be happy with and I'm very pleased with my decision. I've earned just over 40k this month, and I am very confident my income will rise in the coming months
How employable are you?
Take our fun quiz
Find out if you're the kind of teacher who any school would be proud to have as part of their team.......or perhaps why no one ever sends you a reply to your e-mail application?
Speechless
Passing the dreaded job interview
There does seem to be one thing that an overseas teacher can do to add luster to the resume... learn the language. Easier said, than done (though language is less done, than said). For those planning on living overseas for a long period of time language skills are invaluable.
Writing resumes 101 for dummies
Postbox letter from Rebecca
Forget my standards of wanting someone with a BA in teaching, a TEFL certificate, a native-speaker of English, and some experience teaching in Thailand - I'm to the point where I will recruit anyone - qualified or not - who will take the time to submit a decent cover letter and resume.
More power to us
I lay myself prostrate at the threshold of your venerable institute
The Filipino teaching community is huge here in Thailand. But as many of them bombard recruiters inboxes with over-formal cover letters and speculative applications for jobs they are sometimes not qualified to do, ajarn.com asks the question 'can Filipinos make it easier for themselves to find jobs?'
The ajarn.com job survey
Some brilliant answers to some frankly daft and predictable questions
We surveyed twenty-five schools and institutes that advertise regularly on the ajarn.com jobs board. Here is a selection of their answers. We fed the answers into the bat-computer and came up with an interesting combination of academic analysis and bullshit that does nothing else if not just fill up web-pages.
Wake up and smell the coffee
Postbox letter from Mr Crazy in Chiang Mai
Come on schools, think about it. You’ve had your time of getting native speakers for pennies. That time is coming to an end.
Racism in the TEFL industry
The Hines-Ward effect
Yes racism still exists in America and other Western nations. But there's a difference. Here in many parts of Asia, there is no classification of racist acts because no distinction is made between the racist act and the racist person.
No Saturdays, no kids, no evenings and no TEFL certificate
One woman's quest to find a teaching job through informal interviews
Kathy Willis from the USA contacted me to say that she was going to spend a whole week interviewing for teaching jobs in Bangkok. Yes sir, she was going to run a finger down all those banner ads on the ajarn.com homepage and hit the mean streets in search of suitable employment.
