When GE graduate Kerry Edwards offered to share the story of her TEFL journey we jumped at the chance to hear it. Kerry trained with Global English in 2003, so we started by asking her how she stays motivated teaching English more than 12 years on - and it seems variety is the spice of life. Just check out the wealth of experience she has enjoyed over the years:
Key facts
- Who: Kerry Edwards, Global English TESOL graduate (2003)
- Where: based in Spain, after a first job teaching business English in Caen, France
- Course: Global English TESOL certification, completed online
- Outcome: 12+ years of varied work – business English, summer schools, hosting, online teaching and a published ELT e-book
What can a TESOL career look like 12 years on?
"I’m lucky I live in an amazing country (Spain) where the sun is always shining and I can take long breaks and decide my own working hours. I don’t teach more than 20 hours a week and prefer working from home while enjoying some classroom teaching on short term contracts. Here’s some of the teaching work I’ve been doing since graduating with Global English:
Business English France: my first paid teaching job in 2003 was teaching business English with the French Chambre of Commerce teaching school in Caen. I was going on-site to companies such as Philips and Renault and given responsibility for the Renault Resource Centre along with teaching classes.
UK summer school: Concorde School in Bath where I was a residential teacher. I loved teaching children from around the world and guiding them around places of interest.
ELT writer: in 2012 I wrote my own student book* which was published as an e-book on Amazon.com. I am still selling this book to teachers looking for a short revision course for teenagers with levels B1-B2.
Online teacher: for companies based in Spain, UK, Ukraine and France.
Spain - teacher, host and more: I managed to get a job quite quickly in a summer school teaching children up to age 16. From there I was given adult students to host and teach at home and I’ve been doing both ever since. I then set up a summer school where I taught and hosted teenagers. I’ve also enjoyed my contracts teaching English to the hospitality sector which focused on conversation, helping them to talk to and understand the guests."
So we asked Kerry some questions about her working life now she is fully qualified and experienced.
How do you find and keep teaching jobs in Spain?
How did you get these jobs and what helped you keep them?
"In Spain the first jobs I found were in the local English newspapers, the main one is Costa Blanca News. After that I applied for jobs from TEFL.com. There are some amazing jobs on that site. It seems the world is your oyster with a TESOL qualification. After being in the same place for 12 years people know me and recommend me so it’s much easier to get teaching work and keep the contracts."
“It seems the world is your oyster with a TESOL qualification.”
- Kerry Edwards, Global English graduate teaching in Spain
Who are the most rewarding students to teach?
Have you got a favourite teaching group?
"Upper-intermediate teenagers. They can be difficult but with experience you can achieve so much and they are so creative and amusing."
What is the TEFL job market like in Spain?
What is the TEFL market like in Spain at the moment?
"Teaching jobs have really picked up in Spain for the past 6 months. There is a lot of freelance work. The problem is that to be self-employed is very expensive but I have been lucky to get contracts and I would recommend this way of working as a teacher."
* See Kerry's Short and Sweet English Course eBook on Amazon
Thanks for sharing, Kerry and hope you keep the same love of English teaching through the next 12 years...
Kerry gave this interview in 2016, and her portfolio approach – mixing classroom contracts, home hosting, online teaching and writing – remains one of the most reliable ways to build a sustainable TEFL career in Spain and beyond. If you are heading that way, start with the gov.uk foreign travel advice for Spain for entry and residency rules, and see our teaching English in Spain guide for the job market, visas and typical pay.
How do you keep a TESOL career fresh for over a decade?
Kerry’s story shows the pattern we see in our longest-serving graduates:
- Mix your settings. Kerry combines home-based online teaching (capped at 20 hours a week) with short classroom contracts, summer schools and hosting.
- Specialise where the work is. Her business English start in Caen and her hospitality-sector conversation contracts both came from matching a niche – a business English specialism opens the same doors today.
- Build a local reputation. After 12 years in one place, recommendations bring the work to her.
- Create your own products. Her B1–B2 revision e-book still sells to other teachers years after publication.
Frequently asked questions
Can TESOL be a long-term career rather than a gap-year job?
Yes. Kerry Edwards qualified in 2003 and was still enjoying full, varied teaching work more than 12 years later – business English, summer schools, hosting, online teaching and ELT writing. The teachers who last combine several income strands and build a local reputation. See more TESOL career options.
What is the TEFL job market like in Spain?
Kerry reports plentiful work, especially freelance – from local English-language newspapers such as Costa Blanca News to international job boards. Self-employment costs in Spain are relatively high, but steady contracts, hosting and online teaching make it viable. Our Spain guide covers requirements and typical rates.
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What next?
Hear from our TESOL graduates who are:
- teaching English online
- teaching English in France
- working as a homestay teacher
Global English graduates, check out the latest English teaching jobs online, in Spain and more…
Got a TEFL question? Ask Louisa Walsh, Global English Course Director.