The International Schools Review Forum

My vitals:

* Bachelor's in religion with a high GPA from a lower-tier private college
* Roughly three years of freelance web design experience
* Four years of EFL teaching experience in Korea
* Pursuing master's degree in ESL
* Working towards a teaching certificate (generalist mid-grades plus ESL)
* No family obligations

I am a year and a half out from completing the master's and teaching certificate. I am currently seeking an ESL teaching position, but without a master's or certification I am finding it quite challenging. I have no education experience outside of that listed above.

My goal is to teach at international schools. I would prefer to teach ESL, history, or technology. I would prefer to start a position overseas the school year following my master's (i.e., Fall 2013). My first preference would be East Asia, but I will consider other locations. I am open to decent "lower-tier" schools. (That is, I want a school which pays a livable salary, does not abuse teachers, and counts should I decide to move on.)

With all this in mind, my question has to do with becoming competitive. What can I do between now and graduation to make myself more competitive?

Before everyone tells you that your ESL/EFL experience doesnt count at international schools, or that your Masters is nice, but without real teaching experience doesnt equal much, and that the most important thing you can do is complete your certification (and all those things are true). My answer is:

1) Generalist certifications are really only qualifications for teaching primary school. If you want to teach technology or history you will need to be certified in computer science and social studies (respectfully).

2) Get some teaching experience outside of EFL/ESL or if your going to stay in ESL/EFL at least get your experience in a real general education, K-12 school environment not at a language school.

3) If you can try to get some IB experience, preferably at an IB school.

Thats it, dont want to break my retirement too long.

You answers have reinforced what I had already been planning. :)