Careers advice

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by flaming, Jul 14, 2016.

  1. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    Hello

    What career path should I choose?

    My options are personal training, tesol or counselling.

    Personal training would involve the most time.

    Tesol/tefl the least time.

    Counselling inbetween.

    I'm absolutely bored of life. So I am leaning towards tefl. But my sisters boyfriend did tesol/tefl and he stopped because he is underpaid and overworked.

    Any advice welcome.
     
  2. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    Things to ponder:

    Which do you think you will enjoy the most?

    Which do you think you are best prepared for in terms of prior-knowledge, predisposition to doing what the job entails, etc?

    What actual employment opportunities are likely to be available for you if you go through with it? How much do they pay? What bonuses do they offer?

    How much room do they offer you to grow further within the relevant fields? Will you be able to access, and subsequently apply, continuous education opportunities? Will those increase your job performance, personal and/or client satisfaction, salary/wages, etc?

    Can any of them allow you to in the future form tangible goals related to them, that you could then pursue via them?
     
  3. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    Thanks for the reply

    I think I will enjoy the tefl or tesol course the most.

    I'm probably best prepared for counselling but I want to travel and see different parts of the world because I don't like the place I currently live. Infact I hate the place I currently live.

    I've always had an interest in Japanese culture. But so do an awful lot of people. I wouldn't mind going to China instead as I believe there are better opportunities for work. I am fortunate enough to not have to worry financially.

    A bonus to aiming to do tefl/tesol is that I can hopefully cure my boredom.

    I don't really want to grow in any of the fields. I don't really care about salary.

    After the tefl/tesol course I'd have the option to work abroad; which is my only goal/dream at the moment.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2016
  4. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    TEFL is great. I've done it myself and have had friends who have main a sustainable lifestyle out of it. Look for state schools in South Korea for very well paid work. Always research any langauge schools you get job offers from.

    I'd advice taking a CELTA course within the country or rough geographical area you want to work.

    The JET programme is worth looking into if you love Japan.

    I'd consider getting your mind/emotional welbeing right before going though mate. Living abroad can be an alienating and lonely experience at times especially in the early days :)
     
  5. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    Well, then, seems the choice is pretty clear, at least at an initial glance.

    That said, having alternative options is generally a prudent idea. May be worth looking into doing two of the options concurrently, or maybe even all three, if possible. Even if income is not a concern, having an extra is never bad, and they will provide socialization outlets and social capital (you never know who you might meet, and contacts can be extremely useful, particularly if you can personally befriend them, which itself will be secondary to the fact that you have then made a new friend).
     
  6. Frodocious

    Frodocious She who MUST be obeyed! Moderator Supporter

    Something to consider about working abroad is that you would be away from your support network. Given your history of stress related issues, could you cope with that? As interesting as seeing the world is, working in a foreign country (particularly one where you don't speak the language) will have an element of stress attached to it.
     
  7. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    I'd like to pick up that point as well, but for another reason: Depending on the sort of counseling (might be a language problem here; maybe counseling in the given context is actually clear and I just don't get it), that might be worth a thought as well.

    Helping people with certain problems is very honorable, but might also be stressful for you and at times making things worse.

    I don't get anything done in my life, but offered a friend some help (ironically to tidy up is flat, whereas I don't get it done in my own place at all) - not sure, if that was a good idea or not.
    But the difference is, that I know him personally, and he isn't a job, that has to be done.
     
  8. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    I've got time to mull over my options.
     
  9. Bozza Bostik

    Bozza Bostik Antichrist on Button Moon

    TEFL is great if you're going to do it for a few years max. but long term is a terrible career idea. I've been doing it since '99 (Finland, Japan with JET, Czech Republic and Finland) so have a bit of an idea about it all. The job is very badly paid, stressful and the contracts are often terrible.

    If you do want to TEFL, make sure you do CELTA or the Trinity Cert. as they are considered the best and are the most respected courses. Having said that, some schools in Asia don't care about any papers, as long as you're a native speaker..that's enough.

    Japan, China, and S.Korea can offer good money, but the work is pretty awful there in my opinion. The Middle East (Saudi and UAE) has some nice jobs with good pay and contracts. You could also go and work for some oil company in the middle of Africa and make a killing teaching the staff...It does mean living on a compound and your only form of entertainment is visiting the nearest bar in a hut in a village 200 miles away once a month though.

    And yeah, I agree with Frodo's comment about living abroad. It's not all fun and games and can be pretty stressful. Asia could be incredibly bad for you if you're suffering from stress and anxiety.

    As Knee Rider said, If you do decide to TEFL, make sure you check any schools before accepting any jobs, there's a lot of crooks out there. You can simply go on a TEFL forum and ask people what they know.

    But if you need any help with the TEFL thing...
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2016
  10. pgsmith

    pgsmith Valued dismemberer

    Here's an opinion from the outside, since you asked ...

    Please bear in mind what a job/career is for. A great many people in today's society talk about "doing what you love" and "being fulfilled in your career". Personally, I thinks that's all well and good, but mostly new age gobbledygook. The purpose of a job is to give you sufficient money to live the life that you desire. We work to get the money to do the things we wish to do. My personal goals in life are to have a decent house and good food to eat, attend training in my martial art of choice, be able to take a vacation every couple of years, and save enough money to retire without worrying overly much. That is what set my chosen career, not some idea of personal fulfillment.

    Having a career that meets your goals as well as being personally fulfilling would be the ideal, but I feel that too many people get upset and depressed because their work is not personally fulfilling, even though it may admirably meet their goals.

    So, my opinion is that you should try and determine just what your goals in life are, then pursue a career that will enable you to meet those goals.
     
  11. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    I saw a career adviser and I will try different short courses and see what takes my fancy financially and stress management wise.

    The tefl route might be an option for me to consider later in life in hindsight.
     
  12. Bozza Bostik

    Bozza Bostik Antichrist on Button Moon

    Most people who do TEFL are young and straight out of Uni. They do it to travel the world a bit and just mess around until they decide what to do with their lives. It's basically a sort of gap year for most. My friend called them "the happy to be here lot" i.e. they will take any teaching job, bad pay and being treated like rubbish and were just happy for the chance to explore the world. When I did my CELTA course I was told that 90% of people TEFL for one year and then quit due to the salary, conditions and contracts etc...of course, they told us that on the last day of the course. :rolleyes:

    You don't come across many people starting out in TEFL at 30 or 35. And I believe there is a far bit of ageism in Asia (one of the biggest areas for TEFLing) and schools there prefer not to hire people over the age of 28 or so.

    If you are going to TEFL, I'd do it sooner than later. Actually...I wouldn't bother at all. Hah.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2016
  13. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Respectfully disagree.

    My experience of TEFL was that it was split between gap year students, new graduates, 30 somethings with no direction (me), middle age washouts, 40+ hippies and globetrotters and ancient perverts (Thailand) fairly equally :D
     
  14. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Fixed that for you!


    Op - as someone stuck in a financially rewarding job which bores me rigid, but allows a stress free life. Do a few courses, get something standable which pays well, then do tefal afterwards and treat it as a gap year reward after you've qualified.

    from what ive seen personal training is good extra money, but not great full time.

    goodluck!
     
  15. Bozza Bostik

    Bozza Bostik Antichrist on Button Moon

    Fair enough! :)

    Quite honestly, TEFL is an excuse for a bit of sex tourism...I mean...who the hell would want to go to Odessa to work if it wasn't for the stunning women?

    I'm thinking of going to Colombia for a bit myself :whistle: Saint Petersburg is incredibly close to Helsinki and there's tons of work there.

    ------------

    Flaming. If you do decide to TEFL in the future, you could think about coming to work at that summer camp I am on at the moment. It's 3 months and you only do the classes, you don't do any of the stuff after class or have to make sure the kids have gone to bed at night or anything like that. It could give you a bit of insight into the industry and see if you want to go further with it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2016
  16. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    Thanks for all the suggestions. I spoke to an ex tefl teacher today and he recommended just going on holiday to Japan at some point. Because it is so difficult to get a job in Japan at the moment.
     
  17. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Completely off topic BUT....

    I've always assumed that phrase meant prostitution, not just dating the local lovelies.
     
  18. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    I was thinking that. :rolleyes: From a moral perspective though; prostitution is probably a bad thing.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2016
  19. TwirlinMerlin

    TwirlinMerlin Valued Member

    Since money is not an issue, would you enjoy traveling around a bit and observing different places you might want to live and the options they have to offer you? I wonder if you'd like Canada? British Columbia is just north of where I live (Washington) and it's really great. Especially Victoria. There are tons of interesting things to do and see, the people are nice, crime is low, it's clean, etc. I don't know if it's your cup of tea but you might find your utopia if you explore your options a bit more.
     
  20. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    I have a friend in Canada outside Toronto he doesn't rate it very highly. But I like the snow so I could give it a look into. America sounds scary to me at the moment. My Aunt lived in Washington but I never visited

    Someone recommended Serbia today.

    I think people go on holiday on there own for 'wine, women and song'. That and to appreciate art, nature and seeing how different cultures live.
     

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