Job Guidance

Whether you’re starting a life long career or just taking a year off, we want to see you succeed! Our job guidance service is lead by highly experienced specialists in the global TEFL job market. This means that we can cater to a wide variety of interests and needs.

Our graduates go on to teach in-company Business English classes, beginner to advanced level classes for adults and kids, summer camps, and private classes.

Wherever your interests lie, our experienced professionals can assist you in finding a teaching position best suited to you.

The current TEFL job market in Spain and Barcelona:

The demand for English teachers seems to be at an all time high right now, and language schools are having trouble finding all the teachers that they need. Our recent graduates have been overwhelmed with job offers. We expect the demand for teachers to remain high throughout this year. Right now is a great time to be a TEFL teacher!

During the Course

During your TEFL course there will be sessions on all of the practical issues related to finding an English teaching job in Spain and abroad. The following are some of the components that make up these sessions:

CV/Resume Writing

We’ll show you how to write a CV and cover letter that generates results. We offer format choices, help with writing position-specific CVs and samples of excellent CVs as well. Our job guidance counselors are very experienced in the TEFL job market and will be able to appropriately advise you on every detail.

Information on Language Schools

You will be provided with lists of language schools in Barcelona and other areas of Spain. TEFL positions are often not advertised but we will keep you update on job vacancies in our network of schools. We have a variety of schools that regularly contact us with teaching opportunities.

Information on TEFL Websites

We will show you the useful TEFL websites and how to efficiently navigate them as well as how to successfully apply for teaching positions online.

Interviewing

We’ll have a session covering each aspect of interviewing. You will be given appropriate sample interview questions to practice with, techniques to help with tricky questions, and the “do’s” and “don’ts” of interviewing with language schools.

One to One Sessions

During the course you will be scheduled for a personalized one to one session with one of the job guidance counsellors. This will give us the chance to analyze your individual needs and address in greater detail any special concerns or interests you may have.

BCN languages

The fact that our TEFL course takes place within BCN Languages means that you will have the advantage of experiencing a real language school while attending the course. Our location provides various other opportunities such as networking, meeting other English teachers, and meeting students of English as well.

 

After the TEFL Course

Even after you’ve graduated we will continue to keep in contact with you to provide advice and support, whether you develop your career in TEFL in Spain or elsewhere. You will have access to a graduate network so you can contact students from previous courses now living and teaching abroad that will be happy to share their experience and give you extra advice. We will also provide prompt and detailed references when requested. Furthermore, on successful completion of the course you may be offered a position right here in Barcelona with BCN Languages!

Testimonials and Letters from Past Graduates

Teaching in Barcelona…

“I have been teaching in a language school for three months. I was lucky enough to be recommended for the job by the Course Director, Erwin Ebens, and actually started teaching before I had completed the TEFL course. I could not have taught without having studied TEFL, the techniques we were taught have proved invaluable, and I still regularly consult my notes for ideas and games. The grammar section has helped tremendously too, equipping me with the skills to teach complicated grammatical rules. I would certainly recommend this course to people considering teaching English in Spain, it is a great starting point.”

–Louise Mackay, UK, ljlmackay@hotmail.com  

“I think Jane did help us quite a bit with job guidance. I used my resume that we worked on together in class and fancied it up a bit more. The sample interview questions were awesome to go through since I had an interview that asked some of the EXACT same questions! The best thing though was to come back from a long summer vacation (not thinking at all about English) and go through all my TEFL notes before looking for a job. That way I was refreshed with teaching methods, grammar points, class management notes, and ideas for different games/practices before doing an interview. Hope all is well. The TEFL course helped me a lot! Thanks Erwin, Jeff, and Jane,”

-Sarah Catchot, California, USA, sarita-cat@hotmail.com

“Hi Erwin,
I just wanted to write and tell you how things have been going. I started work in October with Institut Europeu d'Idiomes.I like it a lot and the resources are wonderful.The directors, James Burnie, and his wife Montse are amazing and the 12 or so other teachers are also nice.I hope you are doing well and that classes are continuing as usual with you.I really appreciated your sensitivity with me and felt very comfortable during my time doing TEFL.I feel that you and Geoff adequately and perfectly prepared me for what I am working with now.Thank you for everything,
Francesca”

-Francesca Galicki, Texas, USA, efgalicki@gmail.com

“Hello Erwin,
So, as you now know I will start teaching here at BCN Languages in October.

I would definitely recommend our TEFl course as I think it must be one of the best ones around. Some of the other courses don’t prepare trainees as thoroughly as TEFL Barcelona does. They only have 6 hours of teaching practice for example, they don’t always go through the grammar thoroughly.... 

I felt really well prepared at the end of the course and I felt confident and comfortable about teaching. The methodology I learned seemed to please when I did a couple of demo lessons.

Having the certificate definitely helped me get job offers and interviews. TEFL Barcelona seems to be well known and respected amongst other schools. Getting a good grade helped too of course!

As for working at a school, I couldn’t think of a better school to recommend than BCN Languages, but I am really biased here! Top marks for friendliness, efficiency, organisation and professionalism in my opinion!”

-Nathalie Busin, UK, whismith@yahoo.com

 

“I am a twenty eight year old literature graduate who decided a year ago to apply for a tefl course; my choices were narrowed down to Prague and Barcelona. I was already leaning towards Barcelona when I noticed that the organisation seemed to be keener in Barcelona (email responses were helpful, friendly and clear) and so I decided. I have now been in

Barcelona for nearly a year!The course itself was fantastic and extremely valuable as not only training for teaching, but as an analysis of the learning process in yourself and your peers as well (pretty handy!).We were a small group of trainees and the atmosphere encouraged was one of relaxed focus; the work load is heavy, but the trainers are so approachable you very rarely feel overwhelmed, though challenged certainly.Following the course I was eager to start supporting myself and seeing if I could stay on.I now have a good job teaching an after school English club an hour and a half a day (Mon. to Thurs.) which I supplement with private classes.Barcelona is a fantastic city to live in and I have no inclination to move on yet. I feel like a key factor to my staying here is the support network that I was supplied with through the course, which gave me a foundation and that initial sense of being part of a new city.

I couldn't recommend this course enough. I am delighted by all the doors that continue to open to me here and how it really is possible to develop a teaching career from this short period of qualification. Enjoy!”

-Laura Smith, laura_smells@hotmail.com

 

"I am working as a Mathematics teacher in Sanchez-Casal's TennisAcademy, I also teach one class of English to a lot of Russians! It’s a fantastic school and I love teaching so much. Also hoping to improve my Tennis! Hee hee! But seriously, I would have never got this job if it wasn't for TEFLBarcelona! You helped me a lot… with everything! I am very grateful!

I love Barcelona, especially when we have a day like today and in

Scotland it is miserable and dark! I think that I will remain here in Barcelona for a year or so more, also I have a fantastic new flat and my friends have moved over from Scotland so life is pretty good at the moment!

Well… that's it really!

Hope you and your family are well!! 

I repeat, thanks for all!"

Kirsty Yoxon, Scotland, kess29@aol.com

 

"I'm teaching for two different schools in Barcelona right now.One is Communicative People and one is Luke's friend's school (it doesn't have a name yet).I'm teaching a bunch of teenagers privately, an FCE class, an intermediate class and a group of adult beginners.This leaves me with lots of time to plan lessons, go on runs, chat with people in the park, go to bars, etc.I'm also starting to write for a few English magazines in BCN.

The TEFL course really helped me figure out how to organize lessons and motivate students.

In other news: I started my Catalan classes today.It’s interesting comparing my teacher's teaching methods with what you taught us.You would have totally failed him!Too much TTT.I'm also learning Catalan from my three Mennorcan roommates, so it's not such a bummer!

Nadia El Yousseph, USA, nadia.elyousseph@gmail.com

 

And teaching TEFL in Spain and in other countries…

“Hi Erwin, 

I hope all is well and TEFL Barcelona is prospering, I have very fond memories of my roller coaster ride that month in Barcelona. 

I am currently teaching in Ecuador. I have a job working for an NGO targeting sustainable Eco tourism in Indigenous territories, called the Pachamama Alliance. I am currently living deep in the Amazon jungle in a community of Achuar Indians. It is what you could call extreme teaching, as not only are you teaching people from a completely different culture but you also have to contend with jungle life. No electricity, running water and all that that entails. I am however enjoying it very much and it is a great challenge. I am planning on returning to England for Christmas, and want to get a job teaching, preferably in London. I was wondering if you could offer my any advice, or you knew of any job opportunities teaching in England.

Best wishes,
Daniel Combes”

-Daniel Combes, UK, unzappo@googlemail.com

 

“I'm working for a company in Sweden with their English education and also with their Swedish education for employees from other countries. Right now I have the CEO from Germany and the financial director from France for Swedish classes and for English classes I have 2 groups with 6 people in each. So I do TEFL in both English and Swedish and it works really well. I also work as a freelance teacher and just rent myself out by the hour. I really do like it. I really think it works to use a TEFL course to teach other languages as well, not just English. Next year I hope I can teach in Barcelona, probably both English and Swedish.”

-Lisa Kjellme, Sweden, liselottekjellme@yahoo.com

 

“Hi Erwin,
Hope you are well, thank you for the group email. Just thought I'd let you know what I'm up to - I'm in a small indigenous village in the mountains of La Sierra Norte, outside Oaxaca, Mexico. I'm teaching at the high school, I have 125 students aged between 15 and 18. Their English is very basic and the classes can be quite rowdy but it’s a lot of fun nevertheless! I'm also running a youth centre in the village in the afternoons. I'm leaving here end of December and then traveling down Central America, and may look for work in Buenos Aires, but still not sure! Hope you are well and enjoying life in Barcelona! I do miss the city a lot (living here we are four hours away from the nearest cinema or any other sign of civilisation) and hope to come back to Barcelona in the near future.
Best wishes
Lucy”

 -Lucy Scales, UK, lucy_scales@hotmail.com

 

 

 

If you have any questions about job guidance, please feel free to contact us.