A guide to securing your first TEFL interview

So, you’ve dusted off that 120-hour course and now you’re champing at the bit to get started as a teacher. But first there’s that small issue of getting a job. Well, we’re here to help. This guide runs through five top tips on how to score your first ever interview, with hints on how to present yourself and some things that will set you apart from the crowd.

Check requirements carefully

Schools list teacher requirements for a reason. They aren’t there as fodder to make the job descriptions sound fancy. They are there because those are the things that your would-be employer is actually searching for in a candidate. The good news is that a 120-hour TEFL is usually enough to make you eligible for the vast majority of jobs around the world. Now, it might be that you don’t quite meet the requirements. That’s okay. It happens. If it does, then we’d recommend contacting the school to ask if what they require is a red line, or if there’s a chance that they’ll consider candidates with similar experience and qualifications.

Make it personal

We don’t mean in the Arnie Terminator sense. We mean personalize all your correspondence with potential employers. Trust us, we’ve seen reams of application letters in our time, and we can tell a cookie-cutter one from a mile off. The same goes for school heads and heads of study. They’ll be able to notice if you’ve really thought about what you’re writing or if you’ve just copied and pasted a placeholder cover letter within the first sentence. Bear in mind that you don’t need to write War and Peace whenever you come to put together an application. This doesn’t have to be poetry. In fact, short and sweet is better. Chances are that the interviewers are busy, too, so they’ll appreciate a terse introduction and CV.

Get good references

In a world where everyone and their grandmother is competing for the top teaching jobs, it’s super important to make sure you stand out from the crowd. That’s why you should let your references do the heavy lifting. Anyone can write how amazing they are in their own cover letter. But the testimony of someone else has the power to set you apart from the crowd. The best part is that they don’t even have to be references from the world of TEFL. They can be any professional contacts that are willing to wax lyrical about your abilities.

Be persistent…but not too persistent

It’s important to hit the sweet spot when it comes to tenacity on the chase for that first TEFL interview. To put it another way…determination is good but too much is annoying. You do want to make sure you come across eager and raring to go. You can do that by sending regular emails, contacting would-be employers by phone, or – better yet – heading to the school to say hi and ask about potential positions in person. Don’t push it, though. Daily emails will cross the line to spam and sometimes you simply have to accept that certain opportunities aren’t going to happen.

Make a video

With so much teaching now online and digital interview techniques coming more and more into the mainstream, it helps to communicate a little about your persona and mode of delivery. You can do that by making a short intro video to go alongside your written application. We think it adds another dimension to it all, helping would-be employers get a handle on your accent, your demeanour on the camera (especially important if you’re going for online TEFL jobs), and the energy you can bring to teaching.

This guide to getting your first TEFL interview runs through a handful of hot tips to help smooth out the process from graduation to work. If you can think of any more then be sure to drop your thoughts in the comments below. Or head over to our jobs page for more information.