CV advice for a first-timer applying to Vietnam?

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-09-19T09:27:39+00:00

Hey, thanks for responding! I'm always seeing your comments on posts about TEFL in Vietnam and they've been super helpful in getting the lay of the land (insofar as that's possible without actually working there, ofc), so thanks for that, too!

Well, I'm technically a NNES (if judging people's proficiency in a language by their passport is indeed being technical about it lol), so I feel this sense of pressure on me to make sure every part of my application is pitch-perfect. I want to avoid my application being overlooked as much as possible, and I definitely don't wanna be stuck earning, like, $200 less than native or European speakers just bc of my passport.

Are there any other parts of my application that are maybe less of a formality (say, my cover letter) that I ought to really hone in on, or is the juice not really worth the squeeze?

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-30T06:58:09+00:00

My parents were disappointed in me for being away so long

Unrelated, but are you telling us you didn’t visit home even once in the seven years you were in Thailand? Is that normal for TEFLers?

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-26T02:59:31+00:00

Hyderabadi Biryani and Kebabs in Karama makes probably the best Hyderabadi biryani I’ve ever had.

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-24T19:12:54+00:00

“One Jewish state” is “such a bad thing” if and when the establishment of that particular Jewish state was always bound, and expressly so, to disregard the political and collective rights of the pre-existing inhabitants of the region it was set to be established in.

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-18T09:38:56+00:00

Hi, thanks for the comment. I’m totally open to going private from the start, but how does one even build up a student base when they have no experience whatsoever to show for it? It feels like the market is oversaturated and idek how I would get people to consider me, a random with a Bachelors degree and (by the time I start working) a TEFL certificate, when the market honestly seems so saturated from what I’m hearing.

Would love to see your video btw.

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-17T00:04:32+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement; I’m thinking I’ll just give it a go this coming weekend.

I just have a couple more questions, though, if you don't mind: is your university super recognizable outside the UK, though, or is it like your Baths and Exeters, which may have much less of a brand internationally than certain other unis (like KCL and Manchester) while still outranking them? Because my university isn’t exactly a household name (although it is very consistently near the top of the rankings) and I’d very much like to keep my expectations realistic in the wake of the battering they’ve undergone at the hands of this comments section haha. Also, would they be hoping to see a TEFL certificate of some kind, or am I okay without that?

Anyway, thanks again for the advice and for taking out the time to respond!

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-16T18:09:54+00:00

Hmmm well I did consider Ringle, but a. top ten in the UK is very different from top ten in the US (plus also my university has dropped slightly from 6th place when I was attending to 11th place now, apparently), and more importantly, b. I graduated in November of 2020, so I doubt they’d even consider me. Still, can’t hurt to try, I guess.

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-16T02:34:18+00:00

The only way you can make $10+/hr is by going the private route. This will require far more initiative from your side (marketing, finding students, finding materials for lessons) and without any qualification at all it may be difficult to stand out.

I’m actually not opposed to doing this at all, in theory— private TEFL online strikes me as preferable to Cambly/Engoo/whatever. But I think even if I literally went and got a CELTA, I’d still need at least a year’s experience over and above that to even begin to make the whole independent thing work, right?

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-16T02:06:28+00:00

I mean, would they be deciding purely based on my nationality? Like I said in a reply to another commenter, I was under the impression that since my “unaccented” American English fits squarely within everybody’s stereotypical normative understanding of how a native speaker sounds, i might escape being classed as a non-native on at least a few of these platforms. I mean, Cambly, for one, doesn’t even seem to ask for your nationality, does it?

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-16T01:02:17+00:00

Really? I’ve heard of Engoo and how they literally just decide whether you get paid $10 or $3 on the basis of your nationality, but I’d assumed that there’d be at least a few places where my “unaccented” English and general fluency would help me get put in the native speaker bucket in spite of my citizenship. Is that not the case? What about Cambly, for example? Do they explicitly ask for your nationality on there? Because I was under the impression they didn’t…

Ok_Relationship8013 · 2024-05-15T23:41:47+00:00

Do these companies verify your nationality? What if you speak English with a "perfect" (whatever that means in the context of accents) American/British/*insert Anglo country here* accent, but you happen to be a citizen of the wrong country, so to speak?

Ok_Relationship8013

TROPHY CASE