How to Get a Job Teaching English as a Second Language in Victoria
Victoria, a city of under 80,000 people, has a large concentration of ESL academies. That makes it a great jobs mecca for English speakers with strong teaching ability.
Certification
When looking for a job teaching English, you are advised to have your TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) or TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification in hand. This will show to employers that you have gained the necessary training to be competitive in the field and useful to your students.
If you don't yet have your TEFL or TESOL certification, consider taking a quick course in Victoria through Transitions Abroad, which can not only help you get certified in as little as one weekend, but gain valuable classroom experience that you can list when looking for a teaching job. The VIA Training Centre has a similar program, which is available for Canadian students, international students, or online.
Job Boards
Once you're on the market, start looking at job boards. If you have experience teaching at the elementary or high school level, try and get a job with the ESL program at one of the Greater Victoria School District schools. With a district this large, they're bound to have an opening.
Wow Jobs, an up-and-coming Canadian job site, has quite a few ESL jobs listed in the province of British Columbia. These include being a marketing consultant for an ESL school, an English teacher at a business college, and an instructor at a language school. Keep in mind, when looking at salaries, that ESL teaching jobs typically pay by the hour, and that you are likely to be in the classroom far less than 40 hours a week.
You could always just take the approach of calling up ESL academies in Victoria and asking if they have any openings. For a list of ESL academies, consult English Schools Worldwide. There is an alternative list with some different schools available through the Victoria English Centre.
Additional Things to Note
If you are a citizen of another English-speaking country and you want to come to Victoria to teach your native language to international students, you will have your work cut out for you explaining to Canadian employers why they should hire you instead of a Canadian. This is where teaching experience, as well as certifications and personal magnetism, come in.
If you are lucky enough to get a job as an ESL teacher in British Columbia, congratulations! The typical starting salary for a Canadian ESL teacher, according to eHow, is $33.91 per hour.