As a beginner teacher, you need to be on your guard when it comes to certification programs and what to expect from them. The issue that I have with most of them is the fact that they almost always promise great jobs and require a lot of money upfront, and are considered universally as a requirement for entering the teaching English profession.

In actuality, there are plenty of teaching jobs you can do without this kind of certification, although they are getting less and less numerous. You should definitely have a certification if you are planning on getting into the TEFL market (meaning outside of certain programs) but you should know a few things about how these programs operate, which no beginner teacher actually knows.

A certification program, for all intents and purposes, exists to provide a teacher who would otherwise have no experience with at least a background in the field. Most importantly, classroom experience is a must- it's what will actually qualify you for a job and what employers will ask about. I am aware that there are online programs, but you shouldn't consider them unless you already have some active teaching experience. They are usually quite a bit cheaper than the ones which involve active practice, but you should never cut corners by taking one as they are pretty much worthless.

And here is one of the most important points I want to make here- a certification program, in itself, will NOT get you a job! A good one, which is widely recognized and has lots of local and international contacts, will be your best bet in this area, but there are lots of other programs which, depending on their size and scope, take your money and run, effectively.

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About the Author Contributed by James Beckley, who is 24 years old and from America. He spent the last two years teaching english and living in Krakow, a city he has grown to love. Very fond of Europe, he has been coming there since he was 13, speaks several of its languages, and has lived in many of its countries, including France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland. He has decided to write a guide to help anyone like him who is interested in coming to Europe and making a living by teaching english, as well as many other things, and in helping people relocate to many countries there, which can be found at: europeonmymind.com.

First Published: Nov 24, 2007