TEFL Or Business Travel?

For many of us bitten by the travel bug, teaching English as a foreign language represents one of the best routes to living and working overseas. The qualities you need to do the job well are not that unique and the qualifications not particularly difficult to attain. But if you feel it’s just not for you and would still like to travel in connection with work, why not consider a job which involves business travel? While you’re at it, check out the Business Travel Logue to see if it’s for you.

Still not sure which is for you? See how business travel and TEFL stack up:

Business Travel: You make more frequent short trips (compared to TEFL).
TEFL: You live overseas and may swing some weekend or holiday trips, but you probably won’t match the business traveler for sheer number of trips or time spent in transit.

Business Travel: Your company pays for you to stay in a hotel where you may have mints or chocolates left on your pillow.
TEFL: You employer may well pay for your accommodation, but if there’s something small and brown on your pillow, its unlikely to be chocolate.

Business Travel: You usually need to be good with people or at selling.
TEFL: You also need to be good with people and perhaps at selling people on yourself or your class activities.

Business Travel: You can put meals and drinks and possibly even excursions on an expense account.
TEFL: Your employer may give you meal coupons for a local grocery store or restaurant, but don’t count on it. If you’re lucky, there will be a canteen nearby.

Business Travel: Your work will mainly involve interacting with local business people.
TEFL: Your work will involve interacting with locals from all backgrounds – plenty of interesting characters with a few oddballs thrown in too.

Business Travel: You generally need a Bachelor’s degree, and while there’s not one clear subject to study, some fields would seem to lend themselves better to being employed in a business setting than others.
TEFL: You generally need a Bachelor’s degree in any subject and a TEFL certificate.

Business Travel: Sales management is a good area to be in for business travel potential, though a wide variety of jobs and specializations may involve travel…it really depends on the job.
TEFL: Other than different locations, many entry-level jobs are remarkably similar and involve the same potential for living abroad.