Miscommunication can Ruin your Job Search

Miscommunications and Misunderstandings When You are Looking for a Job

It doesn’t need to be a big deal. Pay attention!

If you remember last week’s post we talked about a misunderstanding between a new teacher and his employer. The misunderstanding came about due to some miscommunication when the employer – a non-native speaker – had some difficulty expressing urgency in her message, causing the new teacher to assume he was about to be fired!

Clarify Clarify Clarify

I want to relate another relatively similar story that says “New teachers – pay attention and clarify, clarify, clarify!”

Another newbie English-teacher-about-to-be in the middle of their visa process understood their employer to suggest that everything that cost money during the visa process would be paid for by the school, including things he needed to do in his home country. This, in spite of a contract that specifically said the expenses in China would be paid.

You are dealing with non-native speakers

Please understand, when you are seeking a new job teaching English in another country, that many times your communication will be with speakers of English who are NOT native speakers. And remember that even native speakers can have misunderstandings and miscommunications. So why would we expect our communications with non-native speakers to be problem free?

We should, in fact, assume that those communications might be problematic.

Whenever anything seems to be “too good to be true” or a rather surprising problem, seek to clarify the situation using the strategies suggested in the previous post (#3). Rephrase what the speaker said and ask if that was what was intended. You will often be surprised!

TED’s Tips™ #1: If something upsets or confuses you, ask a colleague to help sort it out.

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What TEFL Training Courses Don’t Teach You #2

TEFL certification courses don’t teach you how to succeed

Those of us with a business education will remember the research that says that only about 20% of people who are fired from their jobs are fired due to a lack of skills in their occupation.

The flip side of that equation says then: 80% of people fired from their jobs are fired for other reasons – usually poor work habits and social skills issues.

So, yes, I hope you study your TEFL training carefully and develop the skills to become a teacher that provides great benefit to your students. But, there are a few more things involved along the way.

A favorite topic of mine is intercultural skills and learning to adapt and thrive in a foreign culture. Add intercultural miscommunication to that 80% of people fired for other than job skills and I think that all of a sudden you will find that 80% becoming 90% or even more – for people living abroad. And that would reflect my experience and what I have seen working in five different foreign countries.

What to do? How to learn more on these type issues that your TEFL Training doesn’t cover? Take a look just below on this page and click on the FREE eBook that says Seven Secrets of Success Abroad. I wrote that book and it covers the essentials and will give you a good overview of the things you REALLY need to know.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get that eBook lower on the page and read it. Intercultural skills can mean the difference between success and a great life abroad or crashing and burning and returning home in defeat, convinced that the wider world is out to get you.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Spend some time on the Internet learning about cultural differences and how to deal with them. It will be time well spent.

What’s up in China? Learn what kind of jobs are on offer if you would like to Teach English in China

How to Teach English Overseas and Secrets to Success Abroad
TEFL eBooks is offering a free download of their new publication Seven Secrets of Success Abroad - and along with it comes a bi-weekly installment and revision of their eBook called How to Teach English Overseas.

Great reviews for the Secrets of Success eBook – in spite of the hokey name – and the How to Teach English eBook is being updated and rewritten and sent out in installments as it is ready.

Here they are – click on the eBooks to get your FREE copies! Great information and the price is right, from our friends at TEFLeBooks.

Please let me know what you think of the ebooks – use the comments section below.