TEFL career progression - what does it look like?

Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) gives you the chance to live and work overseas, immerse yourself in an exciting new culture and meet new people. For those who make the leap, it can prove to be a life-changing experience.

But it does come with a few questions: can you make a career out of TEFL? And what does that career look like?

Here at TEFL Iberia, we help launch TEFL careers. As one of the leading TEFL schools in Spain, we specialise in transforming promising TEFL students into best-in-class teachers.

Typical TEFL career progression

Here’s our breakdown of the kind of TEFL career path you could follow. 

Foundational TEFL roles

TEFL teacher 

Once you’ve graduated from your TEFL course, you’ll feel confident to take control of a classroom of real students. Most students find a job quickly after the course, taking TEFL teaching positions in language academies, international schools or even local state schools.

Language teaching assistant

You can also take a role in supporting teachers with lesson planning, helping to manage the classroom, and providing one-to-one guidance for students. This role can help you further develop your teaching skills and understanding of a classroom dynamic before becoming a fully-fledged TEFL teacher. 

Advanced TEFL roles

There are a variety of senior roles that make up a successful TEFL team, as well as advanced roles outside of TEFL organisations. They include:

Specialised TEFL teacher

After you’ve worked as a TEFL teacher and gained sufficient skills and experience, you might consider focusing on specialised teaching. This could mean teaching business English – many startups and companies here in Barcelona hire TEFL teachers to come into their offices and teach their staff, for example. 

Other specialities include teaching young learners, preparing students for academic study in English, or providing blended one-to-one instruction to students of dance, music or other creative disciplines. 

Course coordinator

After a few years gaining experience, you might consider taking up a role as a course coordinator. This involves interviewing potential students, supporting current students and undertaking other TEFL course administration tasks.

Head of TEFL operations 

Many TEFL teachers decide to take on a management role at a TEFL academy, overseeing the daily operations of the organisation. This could involve everything from class scheduling and resource allocation to supporting staff and strategic planning.

TEFL course director

This senior TEFL position involves managing both academic and administrative elements of a TEFL academy. From curriculum development to teacher training and student support, a course director is a key role in any TEFL organisation. 

Additional TEFL career paths

Freelance teaching 

Depending on your location, there could be opportunities for teaching individuals or groups as a freelance TEFL teacher. This gives you the chance to build up your own client base and create your own schedule. 

Online teaching

More and more TEFL graduates are taking the option to teach online once they finish their course. If you’re exploring the possibility of pursuing this TEFL career path, check out our guide to teaching English online.

Materials development

After teaching TEFL for a few years, you might decide to create your own educational resources and materials for language learning. By now, you’ll have a good grasp of the educational process and, with an insider’s perspective, you’ll be well-placed to develop your own TEFL materials.

Marketing

Having experience as a TEFL teacher means that you have first-hand knowledge about the TEFL industry in your area. You can relate your experiences and knowledge to help those starting out as TEFL teachers. What’s more, content creation skills are transferable, expanding your options if you wish to pursue a career in marketing.

Translating

You can use your TEFL teaching experience to pivot into the field of translation, especially considering your specialisation in language proficiency. Translators are frequently in demand and your schedule can be quite flexible. If you’re considering the possibility, we recommend looking into information on how to become a translator after teaching TEFL.

Entrepreneurship

They say the biggest way to predict the future is to create it! So, why not run your own language school or language centre? Yes, it’s a risk and a lot of hard work. But if you’re driven, ambitious and have enough experience in the world of TEFL, it’s definitely possible. Just ask our founder, Richard Davie!  

Read about how Richard founded TEFL Iberia for a little bit of inspiration.

Key factors influencing TEFL career progression

There are a few elements to consider when it comes to building a successful career teaching English as a foreign language:

• Experience: The more TEFL teaching experience you have, the better chance you have to take more senior roles and diversify your career progression. 
• Qualifications: Further qualifications and developing teacher courses can enhance your TEFL career prospects. 
• Specialisation: If you have expertise in a certain area, such as business English or TEFL for young learners, you have an increased chance of landing specialised teaching roles. 
• Location: If you’re teaching English in a country with a high demand for TEFL teachers, such as Spain, you’ll have a better prospect of building a successful TEFL career.
• Networking: Get connected with your fellow TEFL graduates and other TEFL professionals for advice and guidance, and to open up the door to TEFL career progression opportunities. 

TEFL career path FAQs

What happens after you complete a TEFL course?

Most TEFL graduates decide to find a job teaching English in a school or a language academy. At TEFL Iberia, our dedicated careers service equips you with the skills, confidence and connections you need to get paid work shortly after finishing your course.

And with our TEFL & Work Placement package, you can secure guaranteed paid teaching jobs through our trusted global network of partner schools. We even reserve 20 guaranteed teaching spots in Barcelona for our highest-performing students.  

Is TEFL in demand?

Many countries across Europe are increasingly valuing English speaking as an essential skill. This means there’s more and more demand for good quality English teachers. 

Spain consistently ranks as the country with the highest demand for English teachers in Europe. This has led to a large number of people moving to Spain from the US to teach TEFL, as well as those from the UK and Australia.

Can you make a living as a TEFL teacher?

Yes! There’s no denying it can be difficult to kickstart a career in TEFL. Our advice is to enrol in a quality course from a well-respected TEFL provider. This way, you’ll give yourself the best launching pad to pursue a successful TEFL career path. 

We recommend looking into TEFL career and salary guides to get a better idea of what a TEFL career looks like in a variety of locations. 

Is TEFL a long-term career?

It certainly can be. There’s no doubt teaching English as a foreign language can be hugely rewarding – you’re empowering people with a hugely valuable life skill! Yet, beyond teaching, there are so many avenues your TEFL career path can take.

From creating your own language school to specialising in business English, there’s a lot of scope for building a long-term career in TEFL. And there are no borders – think of a TEFL qualification as a passport to living and working almost anywhere in the world! 

Contact us at TEFL Iberia to find out more!