Hello from the Philippines!
I’m planning to apply for the JET Programme this year in hopes of making it to the 2024 batch. I’m making preparations that can increase my chances and one of those preparations is obtaining a TESOL or TEFL certificate via online courses. I know it’s not exactly required but I did hear such certificates can help beef up your chances. So my question is, to anyone who submitted a TESOL or TEFL certificate they got from online courses, do they just accept any certificate obtained online? Are they picky about where you get it? Or is this an ESID per country thing?
PS. I’m planning to get mine from PremierTEFL after learning that World TESOL Academy isn’t as above board as they make themselves seem to be. But I just want to make sure first that JET will accept a certification from PremierTEFL before I commit to enrolling. And before anyone asks, I work full-time so online courses are my only option in obtaining the certification.
Thank you!
8 comments
You dont need this for JET. I would wait to see if it’s something you like before getting certified and spending money on it.
JET isn’t picky, after all. If you have something to provide the JET committee that you can teach English as a second or foreign language, It’s totally fine. The certificate may be obtained from Coursera or any free TESOL/TEFL online classes. However, it’s only my suggestion.
Honestly I got a TEFL cert from my US university, but the only requirements were 2 TEFL classes and like 3 other adjacent ones, I’m not even sure if the cert is worth the paper it’s printed on, but I submitted it with my application and they didn’t ask for anything else about it. When you submit it just put the name of the certificate that it says on it and where you got it from and leave it at that, don’t try to embellish it in any way.
With all that said, plenty of people get accepted without a TEFL cert or any experience, so don’t stress about it too much unless you were already going to get it.
Honestly I got one of those 60 hour ones from Groupon because I needed it for the work I was doing for online English teaching in China (which only cared about the hours for the most part). I was upfront and told JET it wasn’t the best and I understood if they didn’t count it, but the Chinese government has accepted it and they seemed pleased with it—asked me about the program, what I learned. I don’t think they’re that picky at all, they just want to know you picked up some skills for classroom language teaching
I got one from MyTEFL for about $200 back in 2020 when I was thinking about how to boost my application, much like you. I have no idea if it helped but it was at least acceptable. Someone asked about it during my interview this year but it was more in the context of what I wanted to do career-wise after JET. I think it’s more of a box to be checked on your application kind of thing rather than anything that will push you over the edge.
I did one through TEFL Academy back in 2020. It was a Level 5 with 168hrs inc 20hrs in-person classroom teaching experience (practiced teaching the other students doing the TEFL). I found it to be quite worthwhile and it helped me build up TEFL work experience as a private tutor which I was then able to talk about in my JET interview – I even did a demo lesson for the interviewers. I’ve carried on teaching TEFL as my departure didn’t happen due to COVID (I ultimately pulled out of the program in 2021 after almost a year of being delayed).
In reapplying last year, I’d had 2 years extra experience of TEFL teaching which they appreciated and I’m setting off in less than 2 weeks, more confident and feeling ready to be an ALT! I’d recommend looking into a good TEFL course that has an actual qualification and one with some in-person training. Paying a bit more is worth it if you’re prepared to do the work and ultimately put those skills to use!
Alternatively, there’s plenty of free resources out there and if you’re accepted into JET, they subsidise/reimburse TEFL certificates. So there’s that option too!
Keep in mind that a TEFL isn’t compulsory for JET but in my experience it worked in my favour to have one, I think! And it’s provided me with lots of work outside of JET!
Send me a DM if you want some good tips for online resources 🙂
Just apply. If you get in and want to get a certificate later, there’s a grant that will reimburse you for getting one, so you can get it for free.
[grant info](https://jetprogramme.org/en/tefl/)
No one I know has that certificate. While I was a teacher the large majority of people I have met here come with no teaching degree or experience. I think I have met one other person with experience before coming. Don’t over think this part because I don’t think its what they are actually looking for in applicants.