Inverness language school TEFL Org sees interest surge as workers seek post-Covid career change
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Workers rethinking their career options in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis are looking towards new opportunities teaching English as a foreign language.
This has meant a surge in interest for Inverness-based language teaching provider The TEFL Org, which has seen a 250 per cent increase in its virtual classroom courses and on-demand online courses with more than a third of its graduates opting to start their courses because they wanted a career change.
Company co-founder Jennifer MacKenzie said: “We are seeing a massive increase in people looking to start a career in TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) that has been driven by the impact the pandemic has had on people’s lives.
“Those who could perhaps not follow a passion for teaching due to travel restrictions or time constraints, and especially those who found themselves out of work, can now do so from their own home. We can beam our lessons to students from all over the globe.”
One professional who made the move was Yvonne Beckles, who worked for the Bath local tourism board in Somerset before being made redundant during the pandemic.
Having already studied French and German at the University of Glasgow, she completed a 120-hour accredited course with The TEFL Org in 12 weeks before starting her career as a teacher.
She had expected to continue to work in the tourist industry until she retired, but in 2020 she was at first furloughed and later made redundant as a result of the pandemic’s impact on the sector.
“I didn’t know what I would do next, because all I really knew was the tourism industry, and the future there was looking bleak,” she said.
“A chance conversation with a friend led me to think about TEFL and I decided to look into it further. I hadn’t done any language teaching before, but I had trained staff and given talks to tourism students.
“Even though I was slightly daunted by the prospect of going back to studying after so many years, I thoroughly enjoyed the course, and it felt good to be doing something positive and keeping my brain active following my redundancy.”
Through The TEFL Org, Yvonne then went on to secure a job with a company teaching English online to primary age pupils in China. Recent legislative changes in the country mean Yvonne is hoping for alternative opportunities with the online firm, but she is still continuing to teach 40 students each week from the comfort of her own home in Bath.
“A year ago, if anyone had told me that I would be teaching English to overseas children in the future, I would have told them they were crazy, but here I am, enjoying the challenges and satisfaction that each class brings,” she added.
“The saying goes that ‘when one door closes, another opens’ and in my case it’s true. I lost one job that I loved, and I’m so lucky to have found another one.”
The TEFL Org, which began life in a garden shed following the 2008 financial crash and is now a world leader in TEFL accreditation, also found 29 per cent of people took a TEFL course in order to improve their CV. And it found there was a small rise in undergraduate and postgraduate degree holders from 2019 looking to gain a qualification.
The company has seen an 81 per cent revenue growth from 2019 to 2020 and is continuing to grow globally.
