When nearing graduation, many students seem to have the next step of their life all figured out. Perhaps a graduate job, postgraduate studies or even going on to do a conversion course in a subject like law. The often unspoken part of all this is that a lot of students have no idea what they’ll do post university. This can be really overwhelming and may leave you feeling like you need to rush into some professional and long-term post, which you may or may not actually be interested in. There are other options for you though that can buy you some time while you figure out the next steps.

Teaching English as a foreign language (or TEFL) is something you’ve probably heard of, and you may even know some people who have gone down this route. There are a lot of pros to giving this a go, from the opportunity to travel and explore, meet new people, help out those who want to improve their English and in some cases make quite a good living. Of course, it’s not all just fun and games. You do have to prepare lessons in your own time (something which you should take seriously if you want to be a good teacher and of use to your students, although do note that seriously doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend hours on each class), sometimes slog your way through difficult classes and often times teach children who have no interest in learning English!

So you’re now thinking about teaching English as a job upon graduation, but is it really worth it? After all, in a year or two you’ll be back in the same position of having to get on with a “real” job. Well, to this we say yes. A lot of the skills you’ve learned during university are applied in teaching English, and in turn will be applicable to jobs in the future. Skills like time management, showing initiative, flexibility and leadership are all essential for working as an English teacher, as are presentation skills. All of these are likely to be of great use when you go on to find your next job, and it certainly won’t look bad on your CV to show that you can apply these in an actual job role as well as in your academic studies.

If you do think that this is a job that you’d be interested in trying, there are a few things you should consider. It’s a really good idea to do a TEFL training course before you get a job. A lot of companies will require this anyway, but it will certainly help you to better understand how to go about teaching a class and get some feedback from people who have been doing this for years. The CELTA and Trinity Certificate of TESOL are the two main certifications that are accepted. They’re a bit pricey, but it’s probably worth it to get a certification that will be accepted by most companies. Google them to find out more about prices, places where you can study and the various time lines involved (most intense courses last about a month but you can do it part time over a longer period of time).

So while you may have in your mind the idea that teaching English is for those avoiding living in the real world, it can actually lead you to develop some essential skills that will in turn help you progress in your chosen field, all at the same time as giving you a bit of time to think about what that chosen field is. And you never know – you may even find a new, unexpected passion in TEFL and make your next career step right there.