How can I avoid scams when looking for TESOL jobs?
Navigating the TESOL job market requires caution to avoid scams, as the anonymous nature of the internet can sometimes attract fraudulent schemes. While most teaching job advertisements are legitimate, it is important to be vigilant. To safeguard yourself, consider the following guidelines:
- Research the Employer: Conduct thorough research on the school or institution advertising the job. Look for reviews, testimonials, or forums where other teachers may have shared their experiences.
- Verify Contact Information: Ensure that the contact information provided in the job listing is legitimate. This includes checking email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses.
- Be Wary of Upfront Fees: Be cautious of any job that requires you to pay fees upfront, whether for visa processing, training, or other costs. Legitimate employers typically do not ask for payment from prospective teachers.
- Ask Detailed Questions: During the interview or communication process, ask specific questions about the role, responsibilities, and terms of the contract. Genuine employers will be transparent and provide clear information.
- Seek Professional Advice: If in doubt, seek guidance from professional TESOL organizations or experienced teachers who can offer insights or validate the legitimacy of a job offer.
Table of Contents
How can research help me avoid scams when looking for TESOL jobs?
Should I ever send upfront payments when applying for TESOL jobs?
Should I be wary if an employer doesn't request an interview?
Should I ask to speak to a current employee?
How can research help me avoid scams when looking for TESOL jobs?
Research is always the best defense against job scams when looking for ESL jobs online. By spending a bit of time researching the typical salary, expected benefits, working hours, and visa requirements in your chosen destination, potential scams should stand out like a sore thumb. The bottom line here is, if it sounds too good to be true then it is best left alone. Once you have identified any job adverts that you might be interested in you can run a couple of simple checks to check their authenticity. By searching the school name online you can quickly identify any scams that are well known via school blacklists, teacher?s blogs, and other ESL related websites. It is a common scam to use the name of a well known school in a job advert so you might want to check the email address they use by searching on the genuine school's website. Often a scammer will use a similar address with a different domain, for example: [email protected], while the genuine school address might be [email protected].
Should I ever send upfront payments when applying for TESOL jobs?
While there are a few well established and trusted programs that require some form of payment upfront, you should always be a little wary about an employer who asks you to send them money. Many of the simplest scams involve fake schools requesting money upfront for things such as plane tickets, visa fees, or security deposits etc. It is not uncommon for an employer to expect you to pay for your own airfare and then reimburse you upon arrival, but no legitimate school will ever ask for flight money upfront. You should also research the cost of visas in the country you are heading to to avoid overcharging.
Should I be wary if an employer doesn't request an interview?
If you are applying for a job in another country a face-to-face interview is often not possible. However, in this day and age of mobile devices it is now common practice to conduct interviews via webcam. If an employer you are in contact with shows no interest in a video interview or even a chat by phone, then you should probably assume they are not genuine.
Should I ask to speak to a current employee?
Asking to speak to a teacher who is currently working at the school can be a very good strategy. If the employer refuses to allow it then you have every right to be concerned about the validity of the job. If they do allow it it will obviously ease your concerns regarding scams and also allow you to find out more about the working conditions at the school. Speaking to a current teacher who was once in the same position as you is a very positive step in any recruitment situation.
