The Advantages of Being TESOL Certified When Teaching English Online

Teaching English online has long been a popular choice among Filipinos as a part-time job. In light of recent events, however, there are now more people looking for online teaching jobs, both as a part-time job or a full-time one–and it’s not hard to see why.
Online ESL jobs are quite accessible for many Filipinos in terms of qualifications and the necessary “technology investment”. In many cases, having a laptop and microphone is all you need, seeing as some online ESL teachers are students themselves.

If you are looking to teach English as a full-time career, however, simply having the tools necessary to teach English online might not be enough. You’ll also want to develop key teaching skills, accumulate practical teaching experience, and become certified as a skilled professional in your field. Fortunately, you can get all three of those simply by pursuing TESOL certification. How does earning your TESOL certificate help you?

TESOL Certification Helps You Stand Out as an Applicant

Although TESOL certification is not usually a requirement to teach English online, there is no denying that certification is a sign of how serious and committed you are to the craft. Even if a position doesn’t require certification, simply having it makes you a more attractive candidate for an online ESL job than those who do not have it, especially when all else is equal.

TESOL Certification Opens More and Better Opportunities

Sometimes, TESOL certification is required for certain positions. In such cases, these positions often come with better pay (or at least helps you leverage negotiations for better pay) and benefits. There are even times when having TESOL certification allows you to skip third-party platforms and directly offer your services to those who would like to learn English online.

TESOL Certification is an Advantage Beyond Online Teaching

Despite the global situation in regards to COVID-19, we all understand that the world will eventually “return to normal” at some point, even if that “new normal” isn’t exactly the same as we once knew. This means face-to-face classes will resume eventually and international teaching jobs will become available once again. The best thing about TESOL certification is that its benefits extend well beyond online. In fact, TESOL certified teachers are in high demand in other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, and the like. If you are serious about teaching English as a career, it just makes sense to prepare yourself for such opportunities so you are ready to take them once they become available again.