I've heard about TEFL. What does it consist of? Is it hard to obtain, and would it be better to earn one in-class or online seeing how cost varies from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars.
Thanks
I was going to suggest teaching in your recent thread. I'm 32 and gave up a cube career to move to China. October marked one year for me and I can't say I have any regrets. I work 2 days a week and have a 2 month vacation coming in January and then again in the summer. I make a fraction of what I used to, but that's not really an issue for me. You can pretty much craft your own lifestyle; if you want to put in some hours and make bank you can do that, or you can live pretty comfortably with minimal hours. I'd say it'd be a huge improvement over working retail if you can handle the culture shock and being far from friends/family. You certainly won't be shamed but definitely gawked at, but it's harmless and usually amusing.
As far as TEFL goes, it's better to have one than not imo. It's not a requirement everywhere but it's easy to get and I can't think of any good reasons not to get one. Mine was a combination of in-class and online, but I don't feel that I got a whole lot out of it honestly. It's good for getting your feet wet but not much beyond that in my experience. Online only certs are good enough for most, but if you have the option to do something in a classroom I'd say go for that as it looks better to potential employers. Give some job ads a look in places you're interested in and that should give you a pretty good idea of what is generally looked for.