 Hey guys, it's Liza here and today we are going to discuss a really crucial issue. So I would like to draw everybody's attention to the problem of getting a job as a non-native ESL teacher. For some reason I get constantly asked about this situation and people usually say like I got TAPL certified but I can't find a job or in general I can't find a job without any reasons and I don't know what to do. So I believe that this point is super important to cover. That is why today I decided to have this Q&A session with you and address your problems and try my best to help you out to overcome this trouble, to overcome this problem. So what we are going to do is we are going to communicate via the chat box. So make sure that if you have a question or if you have any troubles related to this job search, use the comment section. So you can type in your question or you can type in your situation in general and I'll try my best to help you out. I'll give you my advice and if possible you would probably need to give a little bit more detail. So make sure you use this chat box and I will be happy to help you. And also I just want to mention that here on the top right corner of the screen we have this QR code with a 30% discount. So if you are considering to take a TAPL certification or maybe any other courses related to teaching, feel free to scan this QR code or use the comments section link and you will get to the ITTT website and get this 30% discount which is the highest discount in the company. So hope you will take this opportunity and use this incentive. And speaking of the problem we are discussing today, I have already mentioned that you need to use the chat box to share your opinion, to share your stories. So make sure you use it and I'm actually going to show you this comment. It came out a little bit earlier and it is from YouTube and this guy actually says what I was thinking about. So basically job search isn't that complicated if you first have qualifications, have credentials and second you choose the best employer out of many of them because not all employers around the world are trustworthy and just open-minded people. So it is crucial to find your perfect fit in terms of job placement and I would like to share my personal story here. So I've mentioned before that I went to China right after my university. I wasn't a teacher at that time, I was just a translator and I didn't have any skills, I didn't have any qualifications as a teacher. So I went to China and I found the job on my own through an agency. So I believe that all over the world there are many organizations which provide you some career help, some job placement help. So I found a company like that back in the day. So it was like 2016 when all borders were opened and everything was super easy to achieve in terms of international traveling. So I tried to not lose that opportunity and picked out just a random guy who helped me, a random agent who helped me to come to China and to get a job smoothly without any trouble. And that was the first time when I started working abroad. Yeah, hello guys, thanks for coming. Sorry, I actually started so so fast. I didn't infreduce myself, I didn't give any explanation of the stream sessions routine. So I hope that I will get to this point a little bit later, but right now I'm telling about my personal experience of getting a job abroad. So it was China and it was in 2016. I found an agency that helped me to get to China and to start working for an international kindergarten there. They actually didn't check my background that much, although I actually did like a criminal check record, because the kindergarten asked to have this paper that you don't have any criminal record in your background. So that was probably the only legal paper I had at that time. So and the job search wasn't complicated at all because unfortunately, back in the day, and I'm not sure about today's situation maybe because of this huge demand in China, it is still like that. But at that time, they just wanted to see faces which fitted their company style and so on. So I got a job by my picture, well literally. I also had like a phone call with one of the kindergarten representatives, but that was all. All other parts were done by the agency and I would say that this is probably a benefit you get when you work with an agency, when you use their services. So probably one of the first ways to find a job would be to find an agency. I'm not sure how it is done in some other countries, but in China, it is like that. So after a year of working for an agency, I got Tefl certified. So it was on the first year of my work. So right, yeah, in the beginning of 2017, I got Tefl certified. And at that time, I knew that I have to work on my teaching skills and I have to fill my CV with various credentials so that I would look trustworthy and professional. So I started working on my resume on my CV. I also filmed a part of my lesson so that my future employers would be able to see how I do that without inviting me to their schools or to their language centers. And that was really helpful. So number one, work on your CV, number two, work on your demo video and stuff like that. What's next? Yeah, after a year of work with that agency, I kind of understood that they took a half of my salary. So basically I could make I could make much more working directly with the kindergarten. And that is why I decided to find a job on my own. It was much easier when I was there in China because I didn't have to find anything on the net. I just could go from one kindergarten to another and communicate with people there and say like, well, I can come to your kindergarten and do a demo class. Would you consider my candidacy? So that was done like that. But nobody looks for you on their own. You have to walk in there and do what you want. You have to act yourself. And that was my belief at that time. And it is my belief these days. So nothing has changed actually since that. All right. So when I found another employer, it was much more solid than the previous one. We didn't have any agents in the middle like between us. Nobody acted like my representative. I was my own boss. I was my own representative. And we signed a contract. And I started working in another kindergarten. And yeah, it was probably easier than finding a job being outside of China. So when you are in a country, when you are in that location you are interested in, it is much easier to find a job. Yeah. So that's my personal example. And now I see a question in the comments section. So I would like to show it on the screen and read it quickly. Okay. So hello, Joanna. Nice to have you here in the live stream session. Thanks for coming. And yeah, let me ask, let me see the question. All right. So when you have any concerns related to legal issues and related to visa process of a specific country, I would recommend you checking out their governmental websites because all countries have different requirements. Unfortunately, I do not have any information related to job related to employment process in Europe. So we have some information on the website. You can definitely check out this information. Let me send out a link to the comments section. One second. So we have this library, I would say like that, we have this library of jobs by countries. So they are sorted out by countries and you can click on the country you are interested in and check out if there is any information related to the legal issues to the documents process. But generally speaking, you do have to have a bachelor's degree. And what else? If you are not a teacher, so if you have your bachelor's degree but you are not a teacher, you would probably need to show any TAFL certification or something related to teaching. So you have to make sure that you have this teaching credential. TAFL course, TAFL certification may be an option, but there are some other courses related to teaching, so they also might suit your profile. And speaking of what? Speaking of some other documents related to visa process, yeah, as I mentioned, you have to check out each particular country because everyone has different requirements. All right. So Maria asks, hello Maria, thank you for your question. So Maria asks about the possibility of finding a job in Japan being a TAFL certified teacher with 10 years of experience. So unfortunately, I'm not an employer and I can't say for sure if it is easy or if it is difficult to find a job in Japan. However, I would say that if you are interested and if you are really motivated to find a job there, you have to try. So no one finds out without a try. So just try to give it a shot, search for companies in Japan, maybe some agents in Japan who provide those services of job placement and check out with them. So unfortunately, I can't say for sure like if it's easy or difficult. It is always really personal, really subjective. Some people say that it's super difficult to find a job in China, for example, but I say that China is probably one of the easiest destinations to find a job. And frankly speaking nowadays, because of this closed borders all over the world, there in China, they have a huge demand in English teachers and because there are not many of them, they agree to pay much more to even non-native speakers. And they hire non-native speakers if they are in China. So it really depends. Yeah. As Juliana says, there is a jet program and actually my colleague Linda has done a whole live stream session devoted to different governmental programs. So check out this jet program. I believe that a couple of weeks ago, I think last week, she had an interview with two girls from Australia about this jet program. So you can watch that live stream, that live stream recording and see if it helps you. Okay. So if you guys have any further questions related to job placement, just go ahead. I'm glad to answer and I hope that my advice like suits you. All right. And let's see the next question from Tarak. I hope I pronounce your name correctly. So thanks a lot for asking me. So Tarak is interested, is interested to do a TAFL course? Okay. So you want to get TAFL certified in a classroom, in a real classroom. So you actually can do that. If you go to the website following the link above, yeah, let me send it once again. So we do provide in-class TAFL certification and we have a lot of centers all over the world. So if you want to get TAFL certified in a real classroom, no problem. And if you follow the link from the chat box or if you scan this QR code, you will get a 30% discount of any TAFL courses of any ITTT TAFL courses. So just feel free to check out. And as for a paid internship, so you have to understand that this business is on your own. In ITTT, we do provide some guidance. We do provide TAFL employment services to our course graduates. So you can check out this information on the website as well. However, it doesn't mean that you will get a TAFL job without any effort. So probably like 90% on you, 10% on some other companies. So if you want to find an internship or if you want to find a real job, you have to work yourself as well. Hello guys, thanks a lot for coming. I can see that there are 11 people watching or it's nine people watching now, no problem. But we're talking about the job placement and problems related to finding a job. If you have any trouble, feel free to ask me in the comments section. I'm glad to see that there are some people at this time, because I know like in various parts of the world it might be too early or too late. I'm located in Russia, in the middle of Russia, I would say. So it's not early, but it is still morning in my location. And let me know where are you from and what time is it there? Yeah, I can see that there are some people from this Asian part of the world, from India, Bangladesh, what else? Probably Turkey. I believe that in Turkey it's like two hours less than here in my place. So for some of you, it is really early. Let me know if you feel all right. And what do you think about this time for doing streams? I was curious, that is why I scheduled this live stream for this time. And let me move on. I would like to discuss this question actually. So I have already partially said that when you look for a job, and even if you're a TEFL certified teacher, even if you're a qualified teacher, it is you who is responsible for finding a job actually. So make sure you're motivated and you're committed to finding a job. Because usually, especially on YouTube, you know, on YouTube, we have a pretty huge channel. And every time I go to the comment section on YouTube, I see questions like, I got TEFL certified, but I can't find a job. I don't know how to find a job, what to do to find a job. So questions which do not show any interest in being active, in being proactive, even I would say. So the thing is, this is a real world and you have to work yourself as well. So make sure that you don't put this responsibility on anybody else but yourself. It is probably some, you know, not the truth you would love to hear, but this is how it's done. Okay. Yeah, let me check out the questions from the comment section. And I will move on with the next frequently asked question. So I got prepared a little bit, but I also would love to answer your questions from the chat box as well. So if you have any trouble with this job search process, or if you're not sure about getting TEFL certified, let me know. I'm here to help you. Okay. Do you provide some courses to prepare for the TOEFL test? No. Unfortunately, we do not work with international language tests. We certify English teachers and we provide TEFL certification. But well, I am doing it on my own. So I'm an English teacher and I'm specialized at preparing students for international exams. I usually work with IELTS. So if you need any guidance on this point, you can direct message me on Facebook. So yeah, just let me know if you need any help with that. You can use the chat box and I'll send you the link to my personal profile on Facebook. Okay. So right, Juliana is watching from Illinois. So it's really far from here from Russia. And it's 11.24 p.m. So it's really late. I think you have to go to sleep. Okay. And Mateur, I hope I pronounced the name correctly, answers, asks about the demand in Russia. So actually, I don't know about the situation with English teachers in Russia for sure. Like here, we have a lot of Russian English teachers who are qualified, who studied in different Russian universities and got this teaching degree. Usually, such people work in public schools, in different language centers. So there is no problem finding an English teacher. And I would even say that many Russian speakers prefer to work with Russian native teachers with native Russian teachers. I can't explain it, but there is this prejudice that you can't learn English if it is not explained in Russian. It happens in countries like Russia, I believe. But I also know that some companies try to hire international teachers as well, not necessarily native English teachers. I saw even in my district, there is a small language center and there is a teacher from India. So I believe that the hire non-native speakers as well. But again, you have to research and you have to make sure that you fit in terms of your qualifications. So probably here in Russia, they look at your resume even more than at your nationality or your native language. Yeah, it really depends. It depends on a country, it depends on an employer. So you have to make sure that you check everything out, that you Google everything before actual application process and stuff like that. Okay. And also, I would like to address this question related to the actual job search around the world. So I have mentioned that every country has its own requirements. And at the same time, in every country, they have their own resources where they list different jobs, where they post ads related to teaching jobs or any other jobs. And I would like to share like a trick on how to search jobs on the net when you don't have access, when you don't have access to, like local groups or you just don't have any friends in those locations you're interested in. So basically, you would have to use Google Maps. This is the way I do myself sometimes. Sometimes I try to find jobs in other countries. And I open the Google Maps. And then I scroll to those specific areas I'm interested in. And type in using Google translator, some key words related to the job. For example, ESL teaching, I kind of like, sometimes I try it in English. Sometimes I use Google translate and translate it into the local language of the area. And this is the way you can actually find positions or you can find possible employers, prospective employers. So you can try out this tool. Also, you can use Google translate solely. You can type in some key words and then input in Google search and see the results. So basically, what you have to try is to work on your searching skills, because they are crucial for this new world, you know, when we use internet and stuff like that. So I hope that these ideas might help you. But also, once again, just let me mention that on the TEFL course.net website, on the ITTT website, we have this job section where we post different jobs. And yeah, we sort out everything by countries. So if you are interested in finding a job offer, a job ad, you can also check out our website. We also post jobs on the Facebook group from time to time. But they might be duplicated from the website. So make sure you check out the website page. Let me send it to the chat box once again. Okay. Yeah. So here you go. This is the section which contains all information related to jobs. And yeah, once again, ITTT provides job assistance to graduates. So if you've got TEFL certified with ITTT, you can email us. You can use this email. Let me write it down. Yeah. Let me send it to the chat box one second. Yeah. So here you go. If you are TEFL certified with ITTT, you can send a message to this email and request some job assistance, some job placement assistance. So our manager will contact you and help you out in the job search. Yeah. But once again, just let me remind you that it is not 100% guarantee that you get a job using whatever services, right? So you have to be proactive yourself. You have to work on your resume yourself. So make sure you put some you put some efforts into the job searching process. And what else? Yeah. I also wanted to discuss the problem of having some issues while searching for jobs and how to solve those problems. So basically, the probably the only issue you might have is that an employer says like, you don't fit this job because you are you don't have some qualities, you don't have the skills we look for. So to prevent this problem, I would suggest to work on your resume as early as it is possible. So for example, you want to become a teacher. And right now, you have some different specialty. What to do in this situation? First of all, right, start a TEFL course, because this course provides you with the most basic skills you need for teaching. And then at the same time, I strongly recommend that you find your first students. It might be challenging. That's that's true. It might be but try your best. You can find students in your local community, you can try to teach your friends, your friends, children, for example, if you want to work with children. Also, there are teaching websites, there are teaching platforms like Prappley, Cambly, italki. So make sure you try this opportunity as well. And even if you don't have this experience, even if you don't have qualifications yet, try to start teaching as soon as it is possible. Because sometimes I notice that people say like, I am taking a TEFL course now. And after the TEFL course, I want to start teaching there or there, or I want to start teaching online after the TEFL course. It's a mistake to postpone starting the actual teaching. It is always better to have a TEFL course and at the same time, to get this first experience of teaching. Even if you don't know how to teach yet, you can check out some video materials on YouTube, or for example, on our Facebook group, we constantly post tips and recommendations on how to start your first lesson, how to prepare for a demo class, and so on. So try to find a student at the beginning. At least one student, you can try to work with various students, like a community teacher, you know. So my recommendation is to start getting this first teaching experience as early as it is possible. Because if you postpone it constantly, maybe after you get TEFL certified, you will have this problem of being qualified, but at the same time having no experience. And this might be an issue for you. Okay, so make sure you try this opportunity, you give it a shot, and yeah, just it might be your starting point. Why not? Okay, that's probably it. I just had like three frequently asked questions. I wanted to discuss with you, but if you have any further questions related to TEFL teaching, what else, related to this job search process, let me know via the chat box. And I also want to say that once again, if you want to ask me anything, you can contact me on Facebook. So if you have any questions for later on after the live session, feel free to contact me on Facebook. I actually have a Facebook group, but for some reason, Facebook disabled the group. So I have already requested to review the group once again. And I hope they will restore it, because there are 70 people on the group. And I actually thought that we have like a community, you know, I counted on it. But unfortunately, Facebook has its own rules. Well, anyways, you can contact me on Facebook if you have any questions after the session. I also have an Instagram account, which I run in English for my ESL students. So you can check out my Instagram as well, if you need it. If you're interested in finding students on social media, it's also a great resource because I show how I do that. So feel free to contact me. And I see that there are no further questions in the comments box. So probably this is the time to finish this session. Oh, no, there is actually a question. Let me see. All right. This question from Matiur is related to TEFL courses. So basically, you don't have to take any, you don't have to attend actual life classes, because the TEFL courses from ITTT are self-paced. If you don't get a tutor help, it is like 100% self-paced. If you request some tutor help, then you will probably be able to communicate with your tutor when you need. But at the same time, all courses, all lessons will be self-paced and you won't need attend any actual classes even online. So you can take a TEFL certification without any attendancy. So you don't need to go anywhere. You don't need to take classes. Okay. So thank you guys for coming to this session. I hope to see you again, probably next week, I will go live with some other topic. I'll think about it. But if you have any suggestions for some future live streams, if you want to get information on some specific topic, you can let me know via the comments section or you can send me a message on Facebook or on Instagram. So feel free to contact me. What else? Yeah, we actually go live every week twice. So today is my live stream. And on Thursday or on Friday, it will be my colleague Linda's live stream. She is a native teacher and she usually gives a lot of information related to teaching in specific countries because she lives in South Korea and she is also from Germany. So she's half German, half American. So she has this international experience as well. Yeah, make sure you check out her live stream as well. And you can also rewatch some previous live streams on Facebook or on YouTube. We have a channel and we have different folders with previous live streams. So check out that information. And if you have any questions, just contact us. I hope to see you next week. Thanks for coming. And this is the end of the session. I'll see you next week, guys. Bye-bye.