Hi everyone!

I‘m quite new here, so forgive me if I’m repeating a frequently asked question, but I’m in a but of a pickle and would really appreciate your advice.

I’m Swiss, I don't have a bachelor and, although I grew up nearly bilingual, my first language is Swiss German. I’ve worked in an English bookshop for about 6 years now, so I’m constantly surrounded by English. I’ve been accepted for the CELTA course in Edinburgh at the Basil Paterson college. The course will start in July, but I suspect that there’s not enough time in the world to really be sufficiently prepared for the intensity of the course.

However, the more I read about the job situation and the chances of making a living with ”only” a CELTA (especially without holding a BA), the more disheartened I become.
I’ll invest all my savings into the course and I need to know if I’ll be able to find work in Switzerland after the course?

Will it be a problem not being a native speaker, and not having a bachelors degree?

I’d be very thankful for any advice this community could offer me!

With all best wishes,

Lung

I know three people working as English teachers with CELTA who didn't have a degree when they took the course.

Admittedly, two of them had been teaching English "unofficially" elsewhere before they took the course so they at least had some relevant experience when looking for jobs. The other one just rocked up in Switzerland wondering what to do after she got married, did the course then got lucky on a teaching job.

All are English mother-tongue.

I guess you just have to call them and ask.

I did the Celta in Switzerland a few years ago. It's not easy to find work when you are newly qualified unless you have contacts, even as a native speaker with a bachelors. There are a lot of experienced Celta teachers around as well as a constant stream of new teachers from the Swiss Celta schools. Some students only want native speakers, I'd ask around at the language schools where you'd hope to work if it's a problem.


Is there any way you could do teacher training at a high school in Switzerland so you could teach English in public schools/institutions?

There are far too many English teachers at the moment and even the teacher training schools are warning their students of finding work based on teaching English only.

You may find some work but it might not be enough to exist on and chances are it won't be steady work.

Not to be a crack killer (heard that on Derry Girls), but there are now many good local teachers who have achieved proficiency level English and are able to teach both English and German. Schools rarely hire native speakers anymore unless they are highly qualified or have acquired a sound reputation teaching English.

Sorry to sound so negative but I think it's important to know what you're up against.

__________________
Faith isn't about everything turning out okay. Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out.

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Hi Rayne, thanks for your reply.
Yes there is, but to do that you got to have a matura, which takes two years. After the mature you‘ll need to do the PH, that one takes four years. So you need to have a part time job, money on the side and, most importantly, time.

It seems to me that the CELTA diploma is not for someone who‘s hoping for a secure future and a steady job

Is it even possible to find a job with no experience?

I'd guess you heard craic killer. Craic being an english word appropriated into Irish and used for all sorts of things but can mainly be read as "fun". Not to be confused with crack cocaine which can frequently happen. Common greeting in Ireland, "How's the craic?", or more worringly to the foreigners, "Any craic?". On entering a new town, "where can a person find a bit of craic around here?"

Although it being Derry there probably were a few crack killers up there although I wouldn't recommend asking about them.

Don't you need a qualification that would let you go on to university/higher education before doing the celta? If you do have such a qualification, could you speak to the PH about getting a place without doing the full 2 year matura?


I don't know much about it but a friend has gone down the SVEB route instead to become a language teacher and is getting some of the fees paid for by the government.

I know two also. One is my sis-in-law who taught English in Athens for 5yrs and also worked as a nanny to a Greek family. The other has been teaching English in Hong Kong for 7yrs now. He went over on a 1yr contract, but is now married with a child there and has never been out of work.

A celta is good for kids to earn a bit of beer-money on the side, or a bit of beer-money during travels. Or pensioners to earn a bit of beer-money. But not much more.
Best is when you wave your shiny new celta at a potential employer and they want two years experience before they even look at you.

Is it really that bad?
How can you gain experience without finding work?
Make no mistake - I like my beer-money, but I’d have to make a living with the CELTA.. It‘s rather frustrating to work on a minimum-wage, you cant really cough up the money to do a more time consuming school..

Yeah! I thought so too. Now I have a nice shiny celta but it hasn´t earned me a cent up until now.
You start off in some school where you get a slot of a few hours a week and earn a bob or two, the school stamps your papers and you build up from there.
Or you go to places like china and give it a try there
Take a look at Dave´s cafe and get a feel of the industry.
http://www.eslcafe.com/

Unfortunately, a CELTA will only get you into language schools and even then you might be at the back of the queue due to no BA. However, we are all looking at things as foreigners in your country. I really don't know how it will work for you as you are Swiss looking for jobs in Switzerland. A CELTA is a 1st certificate of teaching, the preliminary, 1st step to teaching. If you want to progress then a DELTA is a must. A CELTA is a good way to travel and to get jobs in various countries. You will for sure get jobs all over the world but they might not be the most "serious" or professional of establishments. Why not call a few schools based in your area of CH to see if you could get a job in the future base don your qualifications?

Also, be aware that the CELTA program fee is all to do with the local economy. A CELTA is a CELTA no matter where you get it from. It's not like a degree where a BA from Cambridge is better than a BA from Daves Uni in a small place no one has heard of! I did mine in Budapest IH and the fee and accommodation was just over half the price of IH London fees alone! Worth thinking about!

Good luck. Oh also check out www.tefl.com Its the main website for EFL jobs. Daves ESL cafe can get a bit weird at times!

https://www.cambridgetesting.ch

I did mine in CH and when I tallied up the whole cost I got to somewhere around five grand.
Still pissed about that.

Hi Ormesome.
Thanks for the very helpful answer.
I‘ll contact a couple of schools in due course. Are you working as a teacher now? If so, how was your experience in finding a job? If you don’t mind me asking. I‘ll be looking for a job in your region I thought I heard at some point that the DELTA isn‘t recognised in Switzerland? I‘f I didn‘t misunderstand, the delta is split up in three modules, the second of which requires 4000h teaching experience. Hard to gather such amount, if all you find are part time jobs.
I‘m deading to spend my savings only to end up not finding any jobs.

Hi slammer.
Thank you for your honest answer.
May I ask if you had to apply to a great number of schools to find a few hours? And would you say that hoping to find a full time job with the CELTA isn’t realistic?
I‘m starting to think that investing in a more time consuming training, although more expensive and energy consuming might serve me better in the long run...
If not for the money I would just go for it. Many people who did the CELTA seem to think of it as an enriching experience. Did you enjoy doing it?
I hope you don‘t mind all these questions

I did the two week “express” and would not do that again. I applied to a handfull of schools in CH but they all wanted their two years experiance. Then I got a singend contract in Hangzhou, China, that got cancelled as I was getting my visa. Then I moved to Malta where there are oodles of schools, but all they offered were a few hours a week at a time that was inconvenient. So I said: “fornicate this” and stopped looking.

OP, if you have your heart set on teaching, why not do a Swiss teaching degree? If you think CELTA is a quick way to an easy profitable working life... I'm afraid you're likely to be disappointed.

Edit: FWIW, DELTA is, I believe, recognised in CH but tends to be undertaken by the more experienced teachers who want to hone and enhance skills.

Hi, yes i am working as a teacher but I have a degree and did a PGCE in the UK before the CELTA so i have never solely relied on the CELTA. Personally, i think you will find it hard in Europe to get work as a teacher with just a CELTA, no wand later on in life. After doing the PGCE and CELTA i went to Korea to teach and then returned to Europe. most EFL teachers do this. It's a good way to see the world and get experience.

You could also check out the iPGCE which is the International Post Grad Certificate of Education. It is delivered online and i see lots of people have this now. As you won't be teaching in the UK state system then perhaps this might be an option for you. Link here:

https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/humanit...ndependentpgce

Just to clarify, the I in that IPGCE stands for Independent not International. I believe the OP would need PGCEi and you'd still need a degree first.

Just out of curiosity I would like to explore the possibility of using this damned hyper expensive and useless celta to finance travels to escape the glue factory and do a bit of traveling when I get pensioned off. Anybody knows somebody who has done this?