There are not enough teachers to fill too many vacant teaching positions
In recent years, a growing and concerning trend has emerged in the field of English —an abundance of vacant positions with a glaring shortage of qualified educators to fill them.
Increased Demand
A key factor contributing to the surplus of English teaching jobs is the surging global demand for English language proficiency. While some 400 million speak English as a first language, some 2 billion use it as a second language—and are in various stages of using and learning the language. No other language comes close to English in terms of second language scope and usage.
The Operating System for the Global Conversation
Today, English is the world’s lingua franca—the one language essential for communication in international business, academia, and many professional fields.
Parents are increasingly demanding that their children be fluent in mathematics, sciences—and English proficiency. There is a modern and global recognition of the importance of these skills in preparing students for a rapidly evolving world.
Consequently, schools, language centers, and online platforms are clamoring to meet the rising demand for English instruction.
It's a lot more than Schools!
There are many kinds of teachers teaching English as a second language. Schools and private academies easily come to mind, but private tutoring, online teaching, and teaching business English within a company are also among your options.
Don’t Give Up
So don't shortchange your search for an English teaching position. Every day, there are thousands of qualified teachers being sought in almost every country on planet earth.
Websites to Find TEFL Teaching Jobs
Below are some great places that list new teaching jobs for TEFL-certified teachers. Remember that there are many different kinds of jobs for English teachers. You may want to take a quick look at the different types of teaching opportunities you with have with your Vantage TEFL Certification.
Many of these sites are free for teachers. That is, you're free to post your resume where it can be included in job searches by employers looking for teachers. Like in a Google search, you are the product. (That's why its free!) The website makes their money by charging employers looking for qualified instructors. Some of these sites are country specific, regional, and others are global in scope.
To effectively use many of the web resources listed below, you should be ready in terms of having your resume and cover letter developed. If you're not at this stage, you may find our article on crafting a Power Resume useful.
Linkedin.com : Once you've developed your Power Resume, you can post it online and reach the world's largest professional network of over 400 million people. Connecting with other educators, administrators, and education-related companies around the world can give you a foot in the proverbial door when it comes to open job positions. Linkedin can help you build your teaching career. You can discover how at 7 ways teachers should be using LinkedIn to help their careers
Thailand Centered TEFL Job Resources
Ajarn.com: Thailand's premier teaching website. Free resume posting for teachers and many Thai employers use this resource to find suitable teachers. Run by Ajarn Phil, he places lots of blog posts, articles and information on ELT in Thailand such as the cost of living, insurance, newbie guides and much more.
Ajarn.com Region Guides: If you want to learn more about what's it like to teach "upcountry" in Thailand's various provinces, Ajarn's Region Guide web page is a good place to start. It also details the regional cost of living differences.
Ajarn Job Space: Browse Thailand jobs by list.
ESL Authority: All the information you'll need to teach abroad. Global in reach, they have sections dedicated to the Thai teaching market.
Jobs DB (Database) Thailand One of the biggest jobs database in Thailand covering every industry including teaching.
Teaching Thailand Jobs: A free Jobs Board for expat teachers in Thailand.
Teaching Thailand - A Comprehensive listing of various types of teaching jobs.
Craigslist Thailand: There are education and teaching sections to the internet-based classifieds. It’s worth perusing.
Jobble: A jobs board for both world wide and localized job listings. Lists both full and part time positions.
Though they're not specifically focused on Thailand, it's also a good idea to post your resume on these two sites:
ESL Teachers Board: A board for all things related to English teaching. Including free resume postings
Daves ESL Cafe: You can post your resume on their Jobs Board...has both international and some country-specific job boards.
Thailand-focused & Teacher-focused Facebook Groups
These are Facebook groups that are free to join. In between all the discussion of the English teaching, you find that recruiters and schools post a number of jobs here. These groups are definitely worth checking a couple times a week. You can even post your qualifications.
Teaching Jobs in Thailand - A FB page created for the sharing of teaching jobs posted on www.kruteacher.com
Teaching Jobs in Thailand - Social group for: www.teachingjobsinthailand.com and www.1a1teachers.com
Teaching Jobs in Thailand - About job vacancies in Thailand for foreigners and people desiring to work abroad.
The above first three listings are separate Facebook groups with the same name.
Teaching in Thailand - A place to look for work and to discuss living and working in Thailand.
Teaching Jobs in Thailand for NNES - for TEFL certified, non-Native English Speakers
English Media (Teaching jobs in Thailand) - Lists jobs for both NES and NNES's.
English Teaching Thailand: A public Facebook group with nearly 10,000 members. Postings include job openings, teaching tools and techniques and information specific to Thailand.
Thailand Foreign English Teachers Network Group - 14,000 members strong where all things English teaching in Thailand are discussed--including job postings.
English Community Forum for Teachers: Another good Facebook Group to join. Many schools and recruiters post jobs o the groups because it's free and read by a lot of teachers.
Teachers in Thailand: discussions about teaching in Thailand with many job postings.
Teachers of Chiang Mai - A good Facebook Group with lots of teaching job postings for northern Thailand.
ESL Teachers in Thailand - Another Facebook Group you can join for free. They regularly post jobs.
Thailand Foreign Teachers Association - A good Facebook Group with lots of discussion on all matters teaching...including job postings.
Teaching Jobs In Asia - Asian wide coverage of new teaching positions.
International Teaching Jobs - A group to showcase teaching opportunities in top international schools all over the world.
True Teaching - a page members can use to keep updated on True Teaching vacancies and as a forum to learn about international education.
International Teaching Jobs - Multi award winning UK company.
International Teaching Jobs - A group to showcase teaching opportunities in top international schools all over the world.
Teach Abroad- A group to showcase teaching opportunities in top international schools all over the world.
m2r Education- A UK based company providing teacher recruitment.
Teacher Employment Agencies
Recruiters are often looking to feel specific teaching jobs or a group of positions for a school. It's a good idea to forward your resume with a cover letter to agencies that specialize in placing teachers.
Here are some of the leading education recruiters in Siam:
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Teachers for Thailand (Services schools in greater Bangkok up to 4 hours away from the capital.)
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Essential Educational Staffing – Bangkok
Private Language Schools & Volunteer Organizations
ESL Base have a comprehensive database of private language schools. This is segmented on a country basis. You will also find Volunteer teaching situations listed on this page as well. It's constantly updated.
ESL Language Schools in Thailand
Large Language School Chains
Satit (Demonstration) Schools
n Thailand, many universities operate demonstration schools, also known as laboratory schools.
Called "sathit" schools (Thai: โรงเรียนสาธิต), these were originally set-up as part of a university's teacher-training programmes. These schools provide student teachers with practice-teaching opportunities and are also used by the universities for education research and development.
There are now sixty-four demonstration schools in the Kingdom. List of Thai Demonstration Schools
Thai Universities
There are 170 institutions of higher education in Thailand, both public and private, offering 4,100 curricula. Over half of the provinces have a government Rajabhat University, traditionally teacher training colleges.
Most bachelor’s degree courses are four year, full-time programs. Exceptions are education and architecture that require five years, and the doctor of dental surgery, medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine that require six years of study.
Master’s degree programs last for either one or two years. Thailand has at least 1,000 Ph.D. programs offered at 33 Thai universities.
List of Universities and Colleges in Thailand
Top Thai 100—The Best Private & Public Schools
Pounding the pavement and personally visiting targeted schools is a time-honored strategy for finding a good job.
The Teachers’ Council of Thailand (TCT) has put together a definitive list of some of the best schools in Thailand—both public schools and private institutions.
Their Top 100 Directory is on TCT’s website. They also post some good job vacancies up as well.
Online Teaching
Probably the single best resource for online teaching is Good Air English. Run by Michael who teaches out of Buenos Aires—hence the name.
He's put together a very comprehensive "list" that features North. American, British, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and other European companies. All leading online resources.
Here's a list of some of the better online schools:
11 Places to Teach Online Without a Degree
No degree? No problem!
You may want to take a look at our 11 Places to Teach Online with No Degree article.
It will show that not having gone to college isn’t really a problem—if you are talking to the right companies.
International Schools
International schools have historically been aimed at the children of Thailand expats who wish to continue their children’s education while working in Thailand. International schools also appeal to Westerners who have married Thais, settled down in Thailand, and wish to provide a quality education for their kids as they got back home..
In Thailand, where the local education system is perceived as lacking, international schools also appeal to affluent Thais, who want their children to receive a more highly-regarded international education. As a result, the student body in many international schools tends to be very multicultural.
Programs at international schools are usually predominantly in English, International schools are thus perceived as the big leagues when it comes to education, and competition to get into the top-rated schools can be fierce.
The Tier System
When it comes to ranking international schools, a loose tier system, separating schools into either Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, has evolved. You can learn more about this tier system in this primer on international schools.
And all the key information about the 90 International Schools in Bangkok can be seen on The International Schools Database.
More Job Source Listings
Looking for more ideas and resources to help advertise yourself to schools and institutions that are looking for qualified teachers? While not specifically Thai-focused, here are some places that may be worth your time.
TEFL Jobs Overseas has many current TEFL jobs for teaching overseas. Before beginning your teaching overseas adventure, you can find any TEFL information you need to help make an informed decision about a TEFL teaching career teaching English overseas.
Study Abroad - is an online directory that caters to both students and teachers. Their "teach abroad" section is worth a look.
https://www.studyabroad.com/tefl-courses-worldwide.
Footprints Recruiting - recruits certified teachers and places them in teaching positions in safe, reputable schools and government-run education institutions worldwide - http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/2h-6
Go abroad – connects certified teachers with teaching programs from around the world. http://www.goabroad.com/teach-abroad
TEFL.com - has over 20 years of TEFL job search experience. An excellent source. https://www.tefl.com/job-seeker/search.html.
Job.ac.uk - links its users with thousands of job openings around the world: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/education-studies-tefl
Seriousteacher - An international site with job postings from around the world. w
TEFL.net - is a great source for job listings. It's also a treasure trove of information and resources for teachers. Everything from lesson plans and worksheets can be found here. http://www.tefl.net/
ESL 101 - has a powerful search engine. Narrow your listing by country, salary range - even the age range of your preferred students. https://www.esl101.com/
ESL Employment - is a TEFL/ESL job and employment resource site. http://www.eslemployment.com/
TEFL Jobs World - TEFL Jobs World is run by EFL teachers. They have over 25 years combined teaching and recruiting experience in the TEFL industry. https://www.tefljobsworld.com/#sthash.X9JTaIse.dpbs
TESall - claims that their "jobs board contains the best jobs from around the world updated daily" http://www.tesall.com/
ESOL Jobs Feed - publishes links to ESL Job postings from a variety of sources including TESall, Total ESL, Yahoo!/Monster, Guardian Jobs, Chronicle of Higher Education, craigslist, TESOL Org, TEFL, etc. http://www.esljobfeed.com/
Reddit - is the 25th most visited website in the world. It has a forum dedicated to TEFL https://www.reddit.com/r/TEFL/
English Online Hub - This site specialized on the growing demand for online teaching. - http://englishonlinehub.com/
Search Associates - More than English teaching, they've been assisting thousands of teachers, administrators, counselors, librarians, and interns to find jobs in quality international schools and have become the largest and most successful recruitment organization in international education. https://www.searchassociates.com/
ESL/EFL/TEFL Jobs Worldwide: Not specific to Thailand, but many Thai-based jobs are posted here. Great site to compare offers across countries.
Region/Segment Specific Teaching Job Websites
Teach Mideast - is a great source of job listings for people who want to teach in the middle east. http://www.teachmideast.com/
Transitions Abroad - job listings for North America http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/teaching_english_in_north_america_top_jobs.shtml
Asia Teaching Jobs - for those interested in teaching in Asia. http://www.asiateachingjobs.com/
The Guardian Jobs - has update to date TEFL listings in Europe. https://jobs.theguardian.com/jobs/tefl/europe/
Indeed - is an excellent source of African TEFL job openings. https://www.indeed.co.za/Tefl-jobs
TEFLSearch - handles TEFL listings specifically in China http://teflsearch.com/job-results/country/chin
TIE Online - UB-based jobs list of international teaching posts. A key site for those looking for positions at international schools.
Teacher International Consultancy - TIC recruits teachers for international school jobs in over 70 countries
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