Most of the TEFLers start their journey with a short-term plan, but a majority of them start changing it once they realize that teaching is something they enjoy doing and are good at. You may start your ESL career with a one-year goal but sooner or later it becomes a two or three-year plan, most of which stretches even further than you could have ever imagined. However, there comes a point where despite enjoying everyday teaching in the classroom, you want to ask yourself: What next? What should be the next step in my TEFL career?
Fret no! We have come to your rescue! Have a look at these new career ideas with your TEFL certification for encouragement.
Specialized English Language Educator
It is a fact that most new EFL teachers look for opportunities as educators teaching general English or conversational English in schools and language centers as this is where the demand mostly lies. Though this career choice may be common among many TEFL graduates, however, it is also your best way to learn the trade as an educator and know its nitty-gritty like the back of your hand. As a TEFL trained teacher, you are faced with several situations where you get to develop your skills and learn how to deal with different classroom scenarios.
With time, the next obvious step for many teachers is to find the area that they want to are most comfortable in and want to specialize in that particular area of EFL teaching. The specialized area of TEFL that offers the largest number of jobs is teaching English due to the huge demand for English as mentioned above. There are plenty of English teaching jobs abroad, that you can find in various places of your choice across the world.Teaching Materials Developer
Collecting and developing materials to use for your learners in the classroom is a part of everyday life for most EFL teachers. After gathering some experience as a teacher, if you enjoy being creative and coming up with unusual and original ideas to use in your lessons then becoming a material developer can be your next step as a TEFL graduate.
If you search well, you will find several large publishers of teaching materials who look for trained professionals like you to fill up their vacant positions. You could be engaged in writing course books and resource books for all ages and language levels. On the other hand, you can have your website and create your materials that can be sold to other teachers or other more established online material providers.
Examiner or Test Marker
Most English language students around the world want to achieve one common goal, i.e., is to successfully appear for an internationally recognized English proficiency exam. To name the two biggest and most well-known tests are the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).
Gathering such experiences where you have prepared EFL/ESL students for any of these common examinations might help you to bag a job as an exam marker and/or examiner. This is not an easy career option that you can just choose to pursue but requires pure dedication and hard work, but it is certainly an excellent option that you can consider.
Teacher Trainer
If you are passionate about teaching and want to help others in improving teaching practices, then a career as a teacher trainer might interest you. Those taking up classes on TEFL or a CELTA, to prepare future educators are called teacher trainers. Like teachers who teach students on various subjects, as a teacher trainer your role will include taking class sessions acquainting the aspiring teachers with English grammar subjects, teaching skills, and other areas of the course curriculum.
Another function will involve observing your trainees in teaching practice sessions and offer feedback to improve their teaching. To be eligible for this kind of position, you will require several years of classroom experience and an advanced level qualification such as a Diploma in TEFL course online.
Digital Nomad
At first, being an online education professional might feel outright absurd; but to think of it deeply, having an online might be worth considering, especially in these trying times, when we are amid a pandemic and people are forced to mostly stay indoors. You can decide to either have this as your full-time career or as a sidekick, to make a bit of extra money. However, before thinking of making this your full-time career, we recommend you get some experience by making short write-ups and vlogs to lure your audiences and readers. Your topics could include TEFL, travel, or life as a digital nomad, to name a few.
Your main avenue of income in this field includes advertising revenue and sponsorship deals. It goes without saying that with good content, the right attitude and a bit of perseverance, you could take it to beyond places.
International Student Adviser
As someone who has spent the last few years of his/her life as a TEFLer, with peers belonging to nationalities, you would be an excellent candidate to advise students on their study abroad ambitions.
Since most colleges and institutes provide a student exchange program, you being a certified TEFLer, will do quite well as an administrative staff whereby you can offer some insightful advice on how to adapt to a new culture and explain the upsides of living in a foreign land.
Your role here as an international student adviser will also include looking after inbound overseas students and assist with logistics such as accommodation, visa, insurance, sports, language programs – all of which will be well-known to you.
