5 things TEFL employers love (that aren’t on a CV/resumé)

When it comes to TEFL job applications, there’s a lot of amazing advice out there. You can primarily find it on our website, it must be said - we’ve covered everything from writing a CV/resumé, crafting the perfect cover letter, nailing your interview preparation, asking the right questions to TEFL employers and loads more. 

There are limitations to the application process, though. Yes, a CV/resumé can say a lot, but in many ways, it’s limited to your career experience, and how you’ve tailored what’s written to a specific job description. A cover letter, too, can be a great way to express yourself, but you only really have adequate space to write about specific job skills. 

A real test is conveying the stuff that doesn’t immediately leap out from the page. Important attributes like organisation, compassion, and empathy - the things that don’t just make you a great TEFL candidate, but the kind of person that others want to work with and the kind of teacher people want to learn from.

So, let’s talk about the “soft skills” - a misnomer if we ever heard one - that TEFL employers absolutely adore, and how you can best put them into your next TEFL job application!

1. Organisation

TEFL employers love a teacher who doesn’t easily get into a muddle. A teacher who’s able to plan out a day, organise lessons effectively, prioritise their workload, manage a class without any issues and keep students motivated and progressing is worth their weight in gold. 

So how do you go about demonstrating your organisation skills on a job application? It’s fine and well to outright say “I am organised”, and it may well be true. However, it’s another thing to actually prove it.

When you’re writing a CV /resumé for a specific job application, try to give examples of when you changed your processes - or that of a place you worked - in order to be more efficient. Or, when writing a cover letter , think about how your organisational methods set you apart. Have they helped your students to reach learning outcomes ahead of schedule? Did your processes allow you to take on more freelance work? 

It could be that your organisational skills helped in a high-pressure situation. Talking of which…

2. Stress management

If there’s anything as valuable as being organised, it’s having a cool head. Clearly, losing your composure with students, colleagues or superiors isn’t ideal, and it’s the kind of thing you want to avoid. Stress management is also a difficult thing to convey in a job application, it’s not as though you can write “infrequent screamer” on a cover letter.

Your potential employer needs to know they can be confident adding you to their ranks, though. You can usually expect an employer to ask about stressful situations at the interview stage , for example, “How might you deal with an unruly student?”. This is a really good opportunity to honestly answer how you might handle a difficult situation in a cool, composed manner. If you don’t have teaching experience , there will surely have been a time in your career or your life when you’ve had to manage a stressful situation that you can talk about.

Now, let’s be clear, everyone gets stressed sometimes. Nobody is expecting you to be robotic. There will be moments when you need to pause and reflect before moving on to the next task, and there will be times in everyone’s life when you need to think about your mental health , your workload and what you’re capable of. That said, to make it as far as being a qualified TEFL teacher, you’ll have handled stress before. You’ll have had to have handled a workload, worked to deadlines, and managed your work under pressure. So you’ll have plenty to talk about.

Also, there is a balance to be struck. Conveying your ability to be cool under pressure needs to be tempered with a level of enthusiasm. You don’t want your employers to think you deal with stress by not caring enough! 

3. Enthusiasm!

Ah, now, talking about enthusiasm!

You don’t necessarily need the energy of a children’s TV presenter to be a TEFL teacher. Don’t get us wrong, if you have that level of energy and you can maintain it 24/7, then great, but it’s not mandatory. What employers do want is a teacher who cares, who makes the job look fun, and who adds an infectious can-do attitude to the workplace.

How do you convey this in a job application? Well, avoid using a million exclamation marks if you can, but in your cover letter and interview, it should come naturally if you really care about the role you’re applying for. While you don’t want to come across as over-eager, it’s actually fine to look and sound excited about the opportunity. Employers like enthusiastic candidates , shockingly enough.

Outright saying that you want a role you’re going after is a good thing. Replying to emails quickly is a good thing. Being adaptable and flexible for interviews is also a good thing. Employers will trust that you’ll bring that kind of attitude into the workplace because chances are, you will.

4. Creativity

Enthusiasm and creativity go hand-in-hand, we think. Teachers who really care about their lessons tend to have a million ideas about how to make their classrooms places of curiosity, excitement and fun. There are ways to use music and drama in the classroom to excellent effect, and that’s just scratching the surface of what you can do with English.

When you hear from endlessly creative teachers, like Betsy Potash, who starred in our podcast ‘I Taught English Abroad’ , it’s palpable how much satisfaction can be derived from creating dynamic, innovative lesson plans. TEFL employers love it because they want to be seen as cutting edge, the type of school or institution that sees beyond a cut-and-paste curriculum. Parents love creative teachers because they want their children to be intellectually stimulated beyond learning English by rote . Students love it because they want lessons they can remember, and teachers they’re inspired by.

You don’t have to think too far outside the parameters of a “usual” lesson to be creative. Debates are a great way to learn. Presentations, drawing posters, analysing videos, writing lyrics - there are so many simple ways to be creative in the classroom. If you’re a new teacher and you want to innovate, express this in a cover letter or an interview. If you’re an experienced teacher, talk about how your creative lessons have had tangible results and lasting impacts on students. 

Essentially, if you’re getting the best out of your students by doing things a little differently, an employer looks good for hiring you. Remember that!

5. Compassion and empathy

Finally, here are two vital “soft skills” in one, because they’re similar - but not the same.

Any employer worth their salt should want to employ a teacher who cares about their students, their colleagues and, in general, the people they come into contact with at work. It may sound like a basic requirement, but it’s crucial. You’ve got to care. 

Your students are human beings. Whatever age they are, they have lives beyond your classroom and you need to treat them with the respect they deserve. This is especially true if they’re having a hard time. Try to give a student the time or the impetus they need to shine, and try to understand their situation. It’s great being able to provide an environment where students can confide in you, but this isn’t always possible - at least, you can provide all of your students with a safe space in the form of your classroom. 

If parents come to you with a concern, try to relate and empathise with them. Similarly, if your colleagues come to you with a problem, try to help them where you can. The best thing you can be as a TEFL teacher isn’t a great teacher, it’s a great person. Being a fantastic educator on top of that is a bonus.

How do you demonstrate compassion and empathy in a job application scenario? Perhaps it’s best conveyed in the questions you ask . Ask about the support available to teachers. If you’re applying to a school, see what kind of support is available for pupils and families. Perhaps, you can ask about meet-ups and get-togethers with your colleagues. It’s fine to say you care about people in your cover letter, but it’s how you demonstrate it that matters. Compassion and empathy are very much “show, don’t tell” traits, and they’ll come across. 

Soft skills are perhaps the most crucial

They may be colloquially known as “soft skills” , but take it from us - these are 5 (well, 5 and a half?) traits that matter a great deal to TEFL employers. Whether it’s your ability to plan effectively, how cool you can be under pressure, your ability to relate to people and understand their problems, the enthusiasm you bring or how you exhibit your creativity as a teacher, it all counts for as much as anything else on your application.

Maybe, one day, emotional intelligence resumés will be a thing, and you’ll have to send both a summary of a career, and some kind of personality test to a prospective employer. Who knows? Until then, we hope we’ve given you some useful ways to show off your most useful attributes alongside your TEFL certificate and your other qualifications.

Looking to get started in the exciting world of English teaching? Don’t delay, start a TEFL course today!