Teaching contracts

Hello, and thank you to all who replied to my previous post about teaching. I have got some approximate dats and places of where my friend and I are hoping to teach - November to March in Prague, and The following year November – April in Baku. What are the possibilities of short term contracts such as these and will schools be employing at that time of year? I have a TEFL (from I-to-I, 2 day course) and my friend is a fully qualified primary school teacher – but will we both need Celta or equivalent, or can we get away with what we’ve got?
Any recommendations for schools in either of these Cities?

also, how far in advance should we apply for jobs? Alternatively, what other jobs would be good sources of income (yes, we know we can’t rely on getting enough money to fund further travels, but need to survive in Prague/Baku!)

Your best bet for finding recommended schools in these cities is to search the job discussion forums at Dave's ESL Cafe. There are a lot of ESL and EFL teachers there who are willing to share their advice.

Most schools will have the traditional start dates of September and January. If you wish to find a teaching position that starts immediately upon your arrival in November, this will be more difficult because it's half-way through a term.

Yes, it's best to start contacting schools as soon as possible, however, be aware that schools may not know their exact student enrollment numbers until a few weeks before the start date. Therefore, they won't know exactly how many teachers they'll need. Still send in your applications - it won't hurt to let them know that you're interested in working for them. However, until you're actually in the city, it will be difficult for employers to seriously consider you for a position.

A CELTA qualification will open more doors, and better paying ones at that. But is it necessary? Take the course if you are considering a career in English language teaching, if you plan on doing it for several years, or if you'd like to be reasonably competent at it. There is so much more you can learn through CELTA than what you can find in a two-day TEFL course. I have CELTA myself and I've found it to be invaluable in teaching not only English, but for all of teaching in general (as I'm an elementary school teacher).

Good luck with your planning! And keep your blog updated!

A 2 day 1 to 1 course. Yup, well qualified to teach my kids. LOL

The replies here are exhibit A of saying pretty much stating the same thing very diplomatically vs. very bluntly.

#1 states the obvious that your schedule does not match the school year calendar in either case. If so just who do you think will hire you for a Nov. to March stint? From what I have read on these threads, just about all schools generally dislike short term contracts.

Another important fact found in #1 is that, aside from the organized recruiting of the major East Asian schools, employers usually won't consider anyone until they physically show up. In which case you will end up looking for a job once you get there with all the uncertainties that entails.

And your last sentence is baffling. It seems to say that while you know you can't rely on finding short term work on the road to fund travels, you still need this income to survive. So you are assuming that while you won't depent on these jobs to fund further TRAVEL, you are relying on them for all living expenses while you are in Prague and Baku? Just how much are you budgeting for this trip here?

So what happens if you don't find a job after three weeks in Prague? Will you go hungry and be out in the street? Let me put it diplomatically, this idea alone is very unwise.

Try a search for her other posts alexander_vi, you'll get an even bigger shock.

I'm reluctant to even reply because I've read the OP's prior posts and he/she (though I'm guessing she from the lack of common sense) doesn't ever seem to return to the threads and acknowledge the reponses she receives, but I'll toss this out there because someone else might be planning to travel the world by horse while teaching English with sixteen hours of training...

I'd say that the qualified primary teacher stands a good chance of finding work in Prague. Sure, it's not prime hiring season but the bottom-of-the-barrel private language schools that pay horribly (under the table, of course) and can't keep teachers will probably have some openings after teachers started, realized how bad the schools were, and quit. As for the OP, with her weekend certificate, no chance. Not even illegal work.

I don't know much about Baku, but I would imagine there are significantly fewer teaching posts. The qualified teacher may find something, the unqualified teacher probably not.

Were the unqualified OP to upgrade to a CELTA or Trinity Cert, that includes SUPERVISED TEACHING PRACTICE, she might be able to find work in both cities as well. A good place to look is private language schools that do a lot of in-company work, as corporate contracts aren't always aligned with the academic year. Of course, corporate clients want well-dressed teachers... However, the OP doesn't mention her nationality and a lot would depend on willingness to work illegally (and risk deportation, which could be somewhat costly if a horse is involved). From personal experience, I can tell you that as a foreigner in Europe, if you go to the police needing help the very first thing they will do is make sure your immigration papers are in line. Nevermind the man who followed you home and attacked you with a knife, they just want to see your work visa and residence permit.