Three Reasons To Get Your TEFL Certification Right Now

There are three reasons to get your TEFL certificate now: CELTA, Trinity TESOL, TEFL International, SIT, take your pick, but make your choice soon.

As I mentioned in When To Do a TEFL Course, there are benefits to taking a course at any time of year; some schools, especially those with many business clients, hire year round. Don’t give up just because you can’t take your course in the next few months…but if you can, go for it. Here’s why:

• More jobs
  Lots of language schools and universities, at least in the northern hemisphere, do slow down or stop over the summer and hire people to start in the fall. Being qualified and ready to start in the fall will give you a larger range of schools to choose from.
• A smoother transition
  Given the greater number of jobs in most places, it makes sense to follow a course with a job, rather than waiting around a few months. You’ll be putting what you learned into practice immediately. Time to unwind after an intensive course is imperative, so try to ensure at least a short break…but more than a couple of weeks can leave you in limbo: are you traveling or working?
• Less time to chicken out
  It can be intimidating to move to a foreign country and start doing a job based on one month of training…but you can do it! And it can be great. Downtime between training and working may allow doubt to creep in and dissuade you. Don’t let it – get started right away.

All of these points are based on the assumption that there is more work to be had in the fall. I realize this may not be true in some places, and in those cases it’s quite possible to take your course at any time of the year. But I still say – why not get started now and set yourself up for the most opportunities?