If you are thinking about getting a degree or a certificate as an ESL teacher, you probably are thinking a lot about your future career as well. While there is nothing at all wrong with becoming an ESL teacher, did you know that there are many other cool career paths for ESL students! Read on to learn what seven of them are.
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1. Foreign Service Officer: If you are chosen to work for the US Foreign Service, you will be employed as a diplomat for the US Department of State. This is without a doubt one of the coolest, and most interesting careers an ESL student can have. You will have the chance to travel the world and be an official representative of the US government. Having multiple language skills, as well as teaching skills, can definitely give you an edge in this highly competitive field.
2. International Corporate Trainer: As an ESL student, you can one day become employed by international corporations in other countries. You can help foreign workers to become more proficient with their American English skills. This is becoming extremely important as more US corporate support staff is being located abroad to cut costs. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?
3. ESL Department Director: This is a higher level ESL position that you are not going to land right after you get your ESL degree or certificate, but it’s a pretty cool long-term goal! If you are an ESL teacher in a district with many ESL teachers and students, you might become a supervisor of an entire ESL department eventually. You would then be the manager of all of the teachers, operations, curriculum development, and budgets.
4. Linguist: A linguist studies how people acquire the ability to speak their language, and how this knowledge works with our other cognitive abilities. Also, you will do research on how people learn to speak differently across different areas of the country and the world. You might do a lot of fieldwork about how people in a certain area have learned to speak the way they do.
5. Private ESL Instructor: One cool thing that you can do with your ESL education is to become a private tutor for either a child or an adult, or possibly a small group. What is cool about this is that you can do this as a side income to your main teaching job. This is a great way for you to do your own thing and to supplement your income in the summers and on weekends.
6. Teaching Overseas: Teaching Overseas: Teaching English overseas is one of the coolest jobs that many with an ESL teaching certificate can think of. You will be able to live and work in all sorts of different countries, and you will be able to see a lot of the world in only a few years. Most cool.
7. Translator: If you know more languages than English, you may be able to become a translator of documents, books, articles and more. This is another cool job that you can do in your spare time as a second income, or you may be able to do it full time in some situations.
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Eddy Ayala is a freelance writer who focuses on education, teaching and technology. Most recently he has highlighted 10 online Masters in TESOL programs from a multitude of US and International based schools in addition to the Top 25 Exciting TESOL Jobs for new grads. Eddy welcomes feedback on all his articles.
