For those that dream of teaching abroad, Italy is sometimes the first country that springs to mind. Beautiful, historical, and trapped by a feeling of romance, Italy is a dream for most Westerners who plan on traveling for a career.
It should come as little surprise, then, that English teaching roles in Italy are somewhat hard to obtain. There's a large amount of competition and a lot of candidates, and if you're hoping to secure a position you should be prepared to prove yourself.
Qualifications
In order to educate British in Italy, you will need to obtain TEFL certification. This can qualify you to teach in a study room setting. TEFL certification is straightforward to get, and is typically offered as a post-graduate class at school for those planning on teaching abroad. Those without TEFL will have an intensely hard time getting hired.
One thing that sets Italy apart from other foreign nations is the fact that to get a teaching job, an individual interview is a must. You will be needed to sit with your future companies and meet them in the flesh before you are actually hired. This means you should plan your time and your financial position around making a trip to Italy for interview purposes.
If you are brave, you can always move to Italy before you begin searching for jobs. But if you've got any doubts about getting hired, or if you would like to make certain everything is lined up before you really move abroad, you should plan on a few trips back and forth.
You'll also have to obtain an Italian work visa. As in most states, this is a long and often tough process. Be ready to provide any and all documentation of things like marriage, citizenship, and graduation from school. It's best to start this process as soon as possible so that your future plans are not held up by the bookkeeping.
Where to work?
Once you decide to teach English in Italy, you will find various kinds of job available. The commonest, naturally, is teaching in colleges. British in Italy is not as widespread as it is in other nations like Mexico or China, so it is not necessarily taught in elementary schools; however, it is highly well-liked in schools and other high level academic institutions.
One huge market for English teachers in Italy is the area of private schools. If you can get hired by a personal college, you will find yourself in a brilliant position. Personal faculties offer the best pay by far, and supply a specific quantity of job security not found elsewhere.
It is also possible to get hired by a company or language institution, where you will be teaching conversational British to adults. Since British is the accepted language for many forms of world communication, adults in Italy are extraordinarily interested in learning it and are occasionally needed to do so by their companies. Some companies will hire British teachers to train their workers in English. You'll also find an abundance of evening classes that are open to the public.
The overall experience
Lots of people would love an opportunity to teach English in Italy. as TEFL positions go, Italy is one of the most coveted states and for a good reason. Italy is a gorgeous country, rich in heritage and history. The experience of teaching English in Italy is completely worth the effort it could take you to secure a position. So if you're planning to teach British in Italy, you need to prepare yourself for some competition.... And the possible experience of a lifetime.
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