How to Write a TEFL CV

Updated 23 June 2016

You'll usually see CV and Resume used interchangeably in TEFL job adverts. In reality a CV is much longer and has just about everything you've ever done. CVs also contain personal information. A resume is usually more concise and has 1 or 2 pages. Here are some guides on how to write an amazing CV. You can also find some examples at CV Rite and Open Colleges.

Watch out for too much jargon and too many buzz words. Here's a list of the best and worst resume phrases according to INC. The Muse has 41 of the best resume templates ever. Employers often want a cross between a CV and a resume because they want personal information and a maximum of 2 pages. Keep in mind that requirements vary country to country.

You might also want to try searching online: I found Timothy Day's CV that way.I'd be happy to send you my CV if you'd like just email me at naturegirl321@yahoo.com

Nowadays, there are plenty of online resume builders, such as Canva, My Perfect Resume, Super Resume, and Resumizer. 

Fonts
Although it will vary according to your career field, there are some basic dos and don'ts. Bloomberg has the best and worst fonts to use on your resume. Some people advocate having two different types of fonts on your CV, one for headings and one for everything else. I like to use a sanserif font for headings, such as Arial, Helvetic, Gills Sans, Futura, or Franklin Gothic. Everything else gets a serif font, such as Times New Roman, Palatino, Garamond, or Calson.

New to Teaching?
If you're getting into teaching from another career try reading this article about transferable skills. If you have little teaching experience you might want to consider a Functional Format like those in example 1 and example 2.

At the Top of a Teaching CV

• Photo (For many countries this is the norm)
• Your name
• Date of birth
• Sex, nationality
• Contact information: address, email, phone number with country code, Skype, etc.

In the Middle of a Teaching CV
In general, if you've just graduated then your education goes first. Otherwise your work experience should go first.

• Work: dates, company, city and country, your responsibilities, and awards received.
• Education: dates, title of your degree, GPA, honours received, name of the university, city and country, and any outstanding things such as a thesis, internship or study abroad.

At the End of a Teaching CV
The last sections can be separated if you have enough items or put together "Highlights and Achievements" or "Continuing Development"

• Workshops given
• Conferences / Workshops attended
• Publications
• Professional Affiliations
• Other Skills (languages / computer). The Times wrote about why this is the most important section of your CV.

Dos: Things to Remember When Writing Your Teaching CV

• Update your CV often
• Proof-read
• Look at adverts to see what they require and using similar wording
• Have a consistent layout
• Use your DOB rather than your age
• Include an updated professional picture
• State that you’re a native speaker
• Use reverse chronological order
• No teaching experience? Think about how training employees, creating schedules, or chairing meetings could help you
• Mention experience living in another country or working with people from other culture
• Use specific words, like those mentioned in why your TEFL resume sucks
• Talk about your own language learning experiences
• Get experience working or volunteering with people from the country you want to teach in

Don’ts: Things to Avoid When Writing Your Teaching CV

• Include things they don't ask for such as your driver's license number
• List too many jobs
• Use informal language, bad punctuation and spelling, or contractions
• Crowd the page

Don't Forget Your Cover Letter!
Once you have a great CV it's time to write your cover letter. Cover letters are what an employer sees first so if it gets rejected they will never look at your CV.


This article has also been featured in the ELT Times and mentioned in The Guardian.

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How to Teach English Abroad

Updated 3 October 2012

Dos

• Do your research. Check out books by Raymond Murphy, Jeremy Harmer, Jim Scrivener, Penny Ur, and Scott Thornbury.
• Brush up on grammar. Visit your local library and check out books for students. In the back there's usually a grammar section. There are also online English Grammar tutorials such as English Grammar 101, Guide to Grammar and Writing and Conversa.
• Observe teachers. Your local school, university, or language school might be able to help. Take notes on the different teaching methods that you observe and then try to use them in your own classes.
• Take free courses. The Peace Corps has written a guide to teaching English. Some other sites are TEFL Boot Camp and TESOL EVO.
• Pay for a class. If you're looking for online courses, check out Advanced Methodology offered by Oxford TEFL.
• Talk to teachers. Share your tips on discipline, activities, or things to do in class.
• Join forums. Dave's ESL Cafe is a good place to start. Waygook is good if you're in Korea; Ajarn is for those in Thailand.
• Attend workshops and conferences. You can learn new methods and meet new people.
• Volunteer. Try your local school, college or university.You'll get valuable experience teaching English and get good references.
• Go online. You can find workshops, activites, and lesson plans online.
• <Resources. Ask your institute to create a resource centre for teachers. You can leave material that you’ve made and borrow material from others.
• Keep learning. Lots of language institutes offer classes for TEFL teachers. It’s a great way to learn about new ideas and methods.
• Go for a higher diploma or degree. The Delta, Distance Delta, the Online Delta, and the Trinity Dip are well-known TEFL diplomas. ACTDEC and OnTESOL are other options. Getting a masters degree has more info if you're looking to get a masters degree in TEFL or similar subject.
• Listen to your students. Students are the best form of feedback. Take the last five minutes of class and ask your students what part of your lesson they liked the best and what part they didn't like.
• Ask other teachers. Have other teachers observe you and tell you what you think.

Don’ts

• Be close minded. Don't reject new ideas before trying them.You can learn from all types of people from the backpacker teachers to the lifers.
  
• Be superior. Don't think that you know all there is to know; you can always learn more. Methods are constantly changing as well.
• Get stuck in a rut. If you find yourself running on auto it might be time to change jobs.

This article has also been published in the ELT Times.

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Making a Career out of TEFLing

Updated 2 February 2015

The Holy Trinity
If you're interested in advancing your career you should concentrate on three things:

1. Scholarship, degrees, publications, conference presentations, teacher license, grants, etc.
2. Teaching experience
3. Service to the institution, profession, and community

Scholarship
Employers place a high value on furthering your education. They might be willing to subsidise part of the costs of training sessions. Many master degree programmes will offer credit for completion of certificate, diploma, or license courses. Some companies like Macmillan offer webinairs. You can see their list of past and present webinars on their website. You can find a comprehensive list of certs, dips, MAs, and PhDs at furthering your education. More ideas can be found in how to improve your TEFL career.

• Certificates: In addition to a TEFL cert, there are courses devoted to specific issues, like online tutoring, business English, and teaching young learners. International House has a range of these courses. University of California Riverside caters to primary and secondary teachers.
• Diplomas:The DELTA, Distance DELTA, Online Delta, and the Trinity Dip are popular. Other options are Notting Hill College's TESOL Diploma ACTDEC, and OnTESOL. Oxford has a PGDip TELUS (Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching English in University Settings) and a PGDipLATHE (Post Graduate Diploma Learning and Teaching in Higher Education). The University of California Riverside has some programmes as well.
• Management Diplomas: IDLTM is offered by Cambridge. International House's has DOS courses in Spain or online.
• Teacher Training Certificates: SIT and IH Barcelona have these. IH London also might offer one if there is enough interest.
• Qualified Teaching Status (QTS) or a teaching licenseis necessary to teach an international school. The International Teacher Certification from Cambridge, GDTL with USQ in Australia, and University of California Riverside have other options.
• Masters. Check out TEFL masters degrees for schools around the world.
• Doctorate: ISR has info about distance doctorate degrees. More info can be found at TEFL PhDs.

You should also look into publishing and presenting at local and international workshops and conferences.

Teaching Experience
There are really no shortcuts to take when it comes to experience. Try to teach a wide range or ages and levels. Academic writing, teaching exams pre, ESP, EAP, Medical English, Business English, English for Special Purposes, and English for Tourism are all some examples.

You can also work on focus groups or committees, do curriculum design, curriculum review, materials development, language test construction, professional development, workshops, and mentoring. Staying with the same employer means that you'll be more likely to be chosen for promotion.

Another thing to do is get published. You can start with articles, book reviews, lesson plans, worksheets, games, or try writing a book. You could also try sending material to various websites. Doing workshops are another way to advance your career.

Service
Helping the institution goes without saying. Whether you're creating curriculum, doing placement tests, or workshops, you need to do something.

You should also help the TEFL community. One way to do this is to become a member of a professional association. Not only will you find out about the latest training courses but you may also get discounts on courses or material. In addition, you'll be put in contact with other teachers and be able to share ideas. IATEFL is one of the main TEFL organisations.

Don't forget about reaching out to the community. Volunteering and helping people goes a long way.

Types of Jobs
Being a TEFL teacher isn't the only option. Take a look at the list below to get some ideas.

• Administrator
• ADOS (Assistant Director of Studies)
• Business English Instructor
• Consulting
• Course-book writer
• Curriculum designer
• DOS (Director of Studies)
• EAP Instructor (English for Academic Purposes)
• ESP Instructor (English for Special Purposes)
• Examiner (IELTS, FCE, etc...)
• Government worker, such as a teacher at DLI in the US.
• International school teacher
• Manager: Here's an example CV and cover letter from Using English.
• Material designer
• Owner of a language school
• Publisher
• Researcher
• Teacher trainer
• Teacher trainer trainer
• University professor
• Writer

This article has been featured in the ELT Times.

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10 Reasons to Attend Teaching Conferences

Updated 19 February 2012

1. Going to conferences is a great way to network.
2. Fine-tune your skills by talking to other teachers.
3. Training sessions can be put on your CV and make you more marketable to employers.
4. Learn new teaching methods and tips to help you become a better teacher.
5. Employers often attend conferences so you can learn who's hiring and even get a job.
6. There are often book fairs where they offer great discounts.
7. Raffles are often held so you can get free stuff.
8. Keynote speakers are often world famous and have insight about key issues in teaching.
9. Learn about other teaching events, TEFL courses, masters degree, and PhD programmes.
10. Talk to other teachers and find out which schools are fantastic and which are not.

Need more convincing? Conferences are a great way to network and networking gets people jobs. 

Also published in . . .
This article has also been published in the ELT Times

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Teaching on the most desirable continent in the TEFL industry

Updated 28 January 2012

Latin America is a distant destination that many will visit but only a few will actually get the chance to live in this exotic paradise. With the LA job list you'll have access to coveted teaching jobs at your fingertips.  Best of all: it's free!


Disclaimer
The LA job list does not endorse any of the schools listed and will not be held accountable for the outcome of any applications. It is your responsibility to research every opportunity carefully! 

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