8 Tips on How To Find a Job as a Fresh TEFL Graduate

The vast majority of ESL teaching job adverts ask for a ‘TEFL or CELTA qualified teacher with at least one year’s experience.’ If you’re a recent TEFL graduate, you’ll have read this sentence again and again, and it’s a Catch-22. How are you supposed to get experience if you can’t get a job? And how can you get a job without any experience?

However, in our experience, most academies are willing to take on a new teacher who seems bright, engaged and on the ball. Selling yourself as a confident professional is half the battle, so we’ve put together some tips on how to up-sell yourself as an English teacher – even if you only graduated last week!

Do some volunteering or a language exchange

If you’ve studied for your TEFL certificate in the UK, there are organisations like EITC where you can volunteer to teach English to refugees and gain experience at the same time before applying for TEFL jobs.

If you’re already in Barcelona, there are organisations such as Serveis Linguistics de Barcelona that are looking for volunteers to teach English classes. Volunteering will give you more experience and, most importantly, the confidence to apply for teaching jobs.

Make the most of your transferable skills

You might not have taught a class before, but the odds are you have some form of training or mentoring experience. It could be tutoring at a secondary school, coaching a kids’ football team in your hometown, or even training new members of staff in your previous job. Employers want teachers with motivational and leadership skills, so use examples from previous experience which demonstrate these qualities.

Get started with a couple of private classes

It can be difficult to get work in academies without any teaching experience, but private classes are a bit different. It’s a personalised learning experience as students are more interested in a personal connection rather than in your CV.

Create profiles on Superprof, Tutoroo, Tusclasesparticulares, Lingobongo – and once you’ve been teaching privately for a couple of months, you’ll be able to go into an interview with more paid experience to talk about.

Browse through job portals

Go through job portals such as Indeed and LinkedIn Jobs on a daily basis! New English teaching positions pop up all the time, you could be only a step away from landing your next teaching position.

Get in touch with language schools

Do your research, make a list of language schools in Barcelona or anywhere else in the world you currently reside. Contact them directly and attach your CV. Talk about your skills and who you are as an individual.

You can also level up your job hunting game and visit these schools in person. You will definitely set yourself apart from the crowd by doing so.

Talk about your qualifications in detail

You will have gained classroom time and teaching hours on your TEFL course, so talk about those classes – your lesson preparation, your classroom management techniques, challenges, and rewards of teaching. Giving detailed information about your training will show that you understand and are enthusiastic about the role of a teacher.

Specialise and stand out from the crowd

What’s your educational background? If you studied economics, then you can now market yourself as a teacher of financial English. Did you work in a bar? Then you can teach English for hospitality purposes. Is your background in law? Then you can teach legal English.

Combining your previous experience with your new teaching skills can make you stand out from the other candidates and give a language academy the opportunity to attract a new customer base.

Put yourself out there

Going to industry-related and networking events can highly increase your chances of finding your next gig. You never know who you will bump into, so talk to people, talk about your skills and expertise, and see where that takes you.

Let your network know you are looking for a TEFL job. Publish it on your LinkedIn. Join Facebook groups like TEFL Teachers in Spain, Barcelona TEFL Teachers Association, or join our own TEFL Iberia Private Facebook group, where as our graduate, you will have exclusive access to the latest job opportunities.

Did you land a teaching job without any experience? Share your comments in the group!