Teaching English in Barcelona

"A qualification (such as TEFL or CELTA diplomas) is now considered essential for teachers, and most employers prefer teachers to have some experience too.

This does not mean that you will not get a job if you are not trained and have no previous teaching experience. However, if you have a training course behind you, not only are you much more likely to find work, particularly in the more established and reputable schools, but you will be in a postion to request a higher hourly rate.

If you’re thinking about coming to Barcelona, or already here and wondering what the options are, here’s an overview of the most common English teaching opportunities the city can offer.

Private language academies
When they arrive, most English teachers start off working for one of the many private academies in and around Barcelona. They can vary from small, family-run schools to branches of big worldwide chains.

The main benefits of working for an academy is that they provide block-teaching hours, free didactic materials, and unlimited photocopies. Unlike private teachers, who run around from class to class throughout the city, academy teachers return to the same classroom on a daily basis. Not only does this creates a sense of stability, but with other teachers and staff readily available for quick advice and support, academy teachers do not feel like they are "going in alone."

But convenience has its drawbacks: academy teachers are paid much less per hour than private teachers. Even so, unless you want to jump from train to train trying to make it to your next class, teaching at an academy may be the best option for you.

Some schools treat their teachers well, others are cowboys exploiting both teachers and students. Classes at academies are mostly in the evenings, sometimes until 10pm, and you will often be expected to teach on Saturday mornings. In many academies you will be teaching both children and adults. You should be given a contract, and your employer should pay social security.

Universities (article by Bcn Teacher)
There are a number of public and private universities in the area, offering better-paid work to experienced well-qualified teachers. Classes can be morning, afternoon and evening, and you may well find yourself working a split day, and travelling to different sites.
English medium schools (article by Bcn Teacher)

If you are qualified to teach a subject other than English, or prefer teaching children, you could look into working at an English medium school. There are nurseries, primary and secondary schools where the teaching is partly or wholly in English. Catering to expats and to local parents who want their children educated in English, these are private or grant-maintained schools. However, don’t expect necessarily to land a great job – in some schools classes can be big, hours long and pay surprisingly poor.

Company classes (article by Bcn Teacher)
Many teachers make some or all of their income from company classes, which they get through agencies such as go-English, word of mouth, or by putting their details on bcnTeacher. Classes can be early morning, lunchtime or evening, and are typically held in a meeting room on the company’s premises. Pay is much higher than the typical rate offered by academies, but you will be working on a freelance basis and expected to take care of tax and social security payments yourself.

Private classes (article by Bcn Teacher)
A good way of supplementing your income, private classes can be found by advertising, word of mouth and adding your profile to bcnTeacher. Classes are held in yours or the student’s home and the rate of pay is whatever you decide to charge. There is often a degree of flexibility (you or the student can rearrange a class to a mutually agreed time), but be aware that students tend to cancel classes, so unless they’ve agreed to pay anyway your income can vary drastically.

Online tutoring (article by Bcn Teacher)
You don’t need to actually be in Barcelona to do this, but there are at least two Barcelona-based organisations employing online tutors. The UOC (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) has a large team of English teachers, and NetLanguages employ tutors for their online courses. You work from home, and have to provide all the necessary equipment and internet connection yourself, but its flexible nature means that online tutoring fits in very well with face-to-face teaching.

State schools and EOI "Escoles Oficials" (article by Bcn Teacher)
The state system pays well and conditions are generally very good. However, it’s not easy to get into the system. You have to get your qualifications convalidated (officially accepted as equivalent to Spanish qualifications) and pass “oposiciones” (professional exams that all would-be teachers have to sit) to get one of these coveted ‘jobs for life’. The Escoles Oficials (state-run language schools) do, however, employ freelance teachers for summer intensive courses (when the permanent teachers are on holiday).

Working for an academy
If there's one thing in Spain that sells more than jamón serrano, it's the English language. If you're not afraid of speaking in public, you can try teaching group classes at an academy.

Where to start looking
Throughout Spain, the English-teaching market is soaring. These days, academies are caught up in recruitment frenzy. Teachers applying for jobs are often hired on the spot, and classified ads are full of job offers from schools.

- BcnTeacher : Register with Bcn Teacher, a new site but growing in reputation.
- Info Jobs : Select appropriate fields eg: education and as keywords try "native" or "english" or "ingles" etc.
- Loquo: Enter english or ingles as your keyword

Directory of Private Language schools in Barcelona
Below is a link to a directory of language schools (all languages).
Note: not all of those included are either (a) the sort of outfit you might want to work for or (b) entirely reputable. In fact, several are included which we happen to know are distinctly disreputable. OK, now that sufficient caution has been given..here's the link.

When to start looking
As expected, the big recruitment drive for English teachers is at the start of the academic year, ie: September. Although a large number of classes only begin in October, schools start looking in September to fill teaching vacancies to the upcoming academic year.
The ripeness of the English teaching market is such though, that you are likely to find work in October and maybe even mid-term.
If you miss the September crunch, other good times to look for work are at the end of semesters, which is a time when schools receive new contracts, or contract extensions and hence need more teachers. The end of the terms are: Mid December, (for a January start) and mid March (for a post Easter start)
.
What do employers want?
Two Directors of Studies for the qualities they look for in new teachers:

Judith: "I would like my teachers to be reliable, punctual, friendly, able to work in a team, self-aware, eager to leam, interested in the profession, willing, well-organised, in short: the impossibly perfect teacher!"

Evelyn: "They should be friendly, confident, mature, someone that comes across as competent, caring and warm in the classroom. CELTA qualified, with some experience. Someone I sense is keen to work in a positive EFL environment, is punctual, comes to meetings, will participate, is prepared to share their ideas in the staffroom. Someone that has an acceptable, non-offensive appearance."
What questions should you be asking?

What's the going rate?
How long is a piece of string?! This is a tricky subject as rates vary drastically. In Barcelona, the lowest I've seen is 10euro per hour. On the higher scale other agencies offer between 25€ and 30€ per hour for experienced teachers to teach at prestigious companies.

Rates vary depending on: demand, experience, legal status, age and a lot of it...confidence. I have "upped" low rates quite considerably arguing my worth. But the reality is that you'll have to pay your dues. Don't expect to come out of your TEFL course and get the higher rates. The higher rates tend to go to teachers who have been around, know what their doing, and have the correct image.

The big money is in "in-company" business classes. The drawback is that this means running around Barcelona to the various companies to teach for 90 minutes. So, depending on your circumstances, 15€ per hour may not seem that bad if you stay in one place and they give you 4 consecutive hours.

The going rate for the 2007-2008 season for teaching at companies through agency hovers around the 19€ p/hr mark even for recently TEFL certified students.

Questions to ask a prospective employer
English First, one of the world’s largest TEFL employers recommends that you ask the following questions:

1. Working hours
2. Non-teaching duties
3. Class sizes
4. Professional development
5. Materials / teaching resources
6. Contractual issues – breaking contract
7. Management structure
8. Salary / hourly rate
9. Tax issues – salary after tax?
10. Visas – cost 11. Flights – paid? Reimbursed?
12. Holidays / National holidays
13. Accommodation
14. Utility bills
15. Health insurance
16. Local language classes
17. Career development opportunities
18. Start date
19. Cost of living
20. Cost of local transport
21. Research the country and city you are interested in.

TEFL TEACHING PORTALS

TEFL.com
TEFL.com carries an impressive number of TEFL vacancies and a variety of tools for searching and applying for jobs. Probably the best site for finding yourself a job.
English Job Maze
Lists jobs - which happily look very recent postings - allows you to upload your CV), receive job offers by email and provides, among other things, information on how to supplement your income...
International House
With well over 100 language schools around the world, IH is the sort of reputable organisation that will look good on your CV. A well organised site, allowing you to search for TEFL vacancies in different countries, different times of the year, etc. I know for a fact that at the time of writing this, IH Barcelona was crying out for teachers, however, the vacancies did not appear on their official vacancy page. So regardless, contact them directly and ask if they are recruiting. Click to visit IH Barcelona website.

The best of the rest (alphabetically)
Dave's ESL Café
Dave's ESL Café has an "international jobs board" which posts new EFL vacancies daily. Ghastly design, but still one of the most popular English language teaching sites on the Web. The international jobs forum is somewhere you might want to check out for the lowdown on countries, schools, etc, around the world.
Edufind.com
"Jobs and resources for TESOL professionals" (the former the more impressive set).
EFL Web
Not that many jobs, but some worthwhile advice on writing your CV and and the "Travel Zone" has basic information on countries round the world.
ELT Jobs in Japan
Calling itself the "web site for English teachers in Japan" this one offers quite a lot more than jobs - all of which are, surprise surprise, in Japan.
English International
Information and advice on teaching English overseas (especially for US citizens). No jobs on offer on this site, but some useful advice (FAQs about TEFL, TEFL job search tips...)
ESLemployment.com
Neatly divides its job offers into geographical regions (Europe, North America, etc), which you can also receive weekly in your mailbox. As with all the other sites, treat job offers with due circumspection.
GoUK.com ELT Guide to English Language Schools in the UK
Not a site on which you will find jobs advertised, but lists over 480 English language schools in the UK, which you can narrow down by region, courses offered and so on.
Internet TESL Journal
The Internet TESL Journal has an extensive list of links to other TEFL jobs sites.
TEFL.net
Carries a number of TEFL jobs, though nowhere near as impressive as tefl.com. If you are completely new to TEFL, check out its TEFL FAQs page.
TESOL.net
"Warning! Jobs posted here are NOT researched (...) Please be extremely careful before accepting a job outside your native country". Good advice - and not just regarding the jobs on this site, from Linguistic Funland.