Is Doing a TESOL/TEFL Certificate Really That Easy?

Let’s find out! Rach puts our advice to the test. Is doing a TESOL Certificate a viable work online option?

You may have noticed we heavily promote the benefits of getting a TESOL/TEFL certificate as a way for people to get started as digital nomads. But first what is a digital nomad? Everyone has a different idea!

But for us we believe being a digital nomad is having the freedom to work from anywhere in the world, whether that is from your home, or while you travel the world.

Find out why life as a digital nomad isn’t just for hipsters and IT gurus.

Here are 9 Reasons Why Teaching English Online is Perfect for Digital Nomads, but here’s a quick recap:

• You don’t have to have experience
• A TESOL/TEFL certificate can be completed at a reasonable price
• A TESOL/TEFL certificate can be completed in a short period of time while you plan your new life
• There are lots of ESL jobs out there
• Earn up to US$26 per hour, or even more if you work for yourself
• You don’t need a degree
• You’ll have more time to pursue other dreams and goals

Now to be upfront, neither of us have any teaching ESL experience. We have instead worked for years on the other side of things, recruiting teachers for positions all over the world including China, Thailand, Chile, Korea, Japan and France. And of course for positions online!

We know what schools want in an applicant, we know what a good resume looks like and how to help candidates get the roles they want. But honestly, we have no real idea what it is like to try and manage the time to get the TESOL/TEFL course completed while having other commitments. And as much as we have been told by graduates that the TESOL/TEFL course wasn’t too difficult, we really have no idea! We also don’t know what the recruiting process is like as a candidate when it’s time to actually try and find a job.

We get a lot of questions from people who are just itching to start their digital nomad adventure who are considering getting their TESOL/TEFL certificate and teaching English online.

The most common ones include:

• Will it take forever to complete?
• Is it worth the money?
• Will I actually get a job when I finish?
• Do I need to have any teaching experience?
• Don’t I have to go to university to be a teacher?
• Will I get help from my TESOL provider if I need it?
• What if I haven’t studied for a long time?
• Do I really need the TESOL certificate to get a job?
• Should I do it online or face to face?

So we decided one of us was going to do the TESOL course to see what it’s really like!

We talked to our friends at eTEFL Online about the common questions we are asked and they agreed that one of us had to give the course a go to see how easy and worthwhile it is.

They kindly offered to sponsor me (Rach) to do their accredited 120 Hour TESOL/TEFL course!

It’s an internationally recognised online TEFL course and is the industry standard for TESOL certification. 

You could be working online, either from home or from anywhere in the world before you know it!

I know from a recruiting perspective that there are companies out there who take on candidates without a TESOL certificate, but most commonly that is for people who are already teachers. A lot of companies don’t even require a TESOL certificate to get started!

So you can start applying for jobs once you are enrolled, and have your ESL focused resume and cover letter sorted out.

I start my TESOL/TEFL course next week and will be keeping everyone up to date with how I go. My main goals are to answer the questions we get asked most often, and to gain some insight into what it is like for people wanting to become digital nomads who do a TESOL certificate.

We have decided to set some guidelines for the completion of this experiment, as we want to make it as realistic as possible for other prospective digital nomads. The guidelines include:

• I am going to get no special favours from the eTEFL Online team, I am going to rely on their amazing tutoring and mentoring.
• I am going to squeeze the course in around my other commitments which include all the normal things like home life, work and exercise.
• I don’t have any special flash equipment, just a laptop and WiFi.
• I aim to forget everything I know about the industry when studying and then use that information when searching for a job

This is really exciting! I can’t wait to tell you guys all about it, so you can see that it could be the right way for you to become a digital nomad yourself!

Further reading:

Part 2: Is Doing a TESOL/TEFL Certificate Really That Easy?

Part 3: Eliminating the Excuses

Part 4 – I Can Speak English, But Can I Teach It??

Discover Why Teaching Online is Perfect for Life as a Digital Nomad!