How to land your first TEFL Job

I want to believe you're searching for TEFL jobs because you heard TEFL teachers are highly well-paid.

In truth, those guys are pocketing some cool cash every month, with their salaries sometimes running as high as $2k-$4k per month.

Some lucky ones - who get private lessons and custom tutorials - even net as high as $6k monthly.

So, if you're losing sleep to find TEFL opportunities, I can understand your drive.

But let's face it; landing your first TEFL job can really be a daunting task, seeing as you have no experience under your belt.

As much as there are English teaching opportunities waiting for you in just about every country around the world, you may struggle to fit yourself into one because you have no experience.

However, there are some steps you can take to ensure you're considered despite your inexperience.

Become TEFL Certified

Experienced or not, the first thing most employers will look at before considering you for a TEFL job hire is your TEFL certification.

If you're not certified by a reputable TEFL course provider, like Premier TEFL, it is almost likely that your application will be rejected at first glance.

So, the first step you need to take - regardless of your English proficiency - is to first take some accredited TEFL courses and become certified.

Create an attention-grabbing CV

Like every job opportunity, your CV is just as important as any other component of a job application process.

That said, when creating your CV, you need to pay the closest attention to every tiny detail, including the structure and organization of your CV, as well as grammar and spelling proficiency.

As a teacher seeking a TEFL position, the last things you want prospective employers to find on your CV are basic spelling or grammar errors.

As a general rule of thumb, you can use any modern grammar checking tool, like Grammarly, to vet your CV before sending it to a hirer.

Use your TEFL course provider

Usually, most TEFL course providers - where you took your course and got certified - have links to language schools within their immediate locality.

By speaking with someone in their agency, they might be able to fix you somewhere.

You never know; someone might know someone who knows someone.

This option works best if you've taken your course in a city or country where you aim to teach English as a foreign language.

Use TEFL job sites

Having acquired your TEFL certification and prepared your CV, the next thing is to start applying for TEFL jobs.

And the best place to begin your application is on TEFL job sites because these are the websites where most language schools come to advertise their job openings.

To find relevant job openings, you can just open your web browser and Google search "TEFL jobs" or "TEFL jobs in {name of city/country}"

This will show you results on job sites specifically for the city/country you've entered.

Bear in mind, though, that many of the openings you'll find may require that you have a certain number of years of experience before applying.

However, there will be some that require no experience, or at best just one-year experience.

These types of openings are your best shot to landing your first TEFL job.

Apply to language schools directly

Alternatively to TEFL job sites, you can send your CV directly to a couple of language schools in countries where you know English is in huge demand.

Usually, there are some schools that don't advertise their openings on TEFL job sites but hire teachers based on direct applications or recommendations.

Once you've done your research and pinpointed a couple of language schools in a given region, send your CV directly to their Director of Studies or recruiter via a well-structured email.

Pro Tip: You should find each school email address on the school's official website. Just scour their website, and you'll find their email address somewhere on the About Us page, Home Page, or bottom of the website.

Use a TEFL recruitment agency

Some people have made it their own life ambition to link TEFL teachers with TEFL schools. These people - who are called TEFL recruiters - can help you secure a TEFL job opening, especially if you have no experience in the field.

If you don't know where to find this type of agency, you can simply Google search "lists of TEFL recruitment agencies in {name of city}" and check out each result displayed to you.