How hard is it to get your TEFL certificate and actually be qualified to teach overseas?

Where do you want to teach?

Western Thailand: No certificate required

Europe: You'd need a Celta + a couple of years of experience

Thailand: No certificate required

Korea: No certificate required

Japan: No certificate required

Taiwan: No certificate required

China: No certificate required

*These are standard requirements, a TEFL cert. is not required legally by the governments of the above mentioned countries in Asia to process your work visa. Schools can add their own requirements as well.

A 'TEFL' certificate will only get you a job in a couple of places. The more expensive certificates, eg CELTA will get you a job just about anywhere.

This depends on which certificate you are taking. If you are going for a top-end certificate like the CELTA then a certain percentage of students will fail and many regard it as the most intensive and difficult four weeks training they have ever undertaken.

Conversely, if you are looking at an entry level job you can take the certificate online in your own time and work with your tutor to pass each module.

Remember, along with a certificate you will also need a degree to teach in most countries.

Aside from CELTA many TEFL providers are out to make money, so after you pay it's easy to obtain. It's also not difficult to teach overseas in Asia without a TEFL certificate, especially if you have a degree.