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Trade union work history

Hello,

I am a UK national hoping to move to Bogota this summer (2005) from the UK with my Colombian wife.

We are lucky in that we will have the support of my wife's family to help us get set-up but I will need to start working as soon as I can. This I intend to do by becoming an English Teacher hopefully working for a school or college in Bogota. I do not yet hold my CELTA certificate but will get this either in the UK before we leave or in Bogota once we have arrived. My current job is with a public service UK trade union that does involve a certain amount of tutoring but I do not have any English Teaching experience.

My question is this, could anyone tell me if they think my background in Trade union work will cause me problems seeking a Teaching position in Bogota, seeing as though I will have to put my work history down on my CV?

Or would it be advisable to leave this off my CV all together?

Many Thanks.

By Dreamboy on Mar 1, 2005, 05:43 in Friendly Talkzone.

Roncita says on Mar 1, 2005, 07:14:

teaching experience important Hi and welcome to PHB and Colombia!

I wouldn't have thought your trade union work matters - if anything, it's worth mentioning it because you say you don't have any English teaching experience but your work involves tutoring, so it shows that you do have some related experience. It's becoming increasingly difficult for native English speakers to get teaching jobs in Colombia these days - even if you have a spouse visa - most (reputable) language schools seem to require evidence of teaching experience as well as teaching qualifications, so it's good that you plan to get your CELTA soon.

I am from the UK and married to a Colombian guy, have lived in Medellin on and off for 2.5 years (returning to London next week though for good), so any more questions about living in Colombia, feel free to send me a private message.

Good luck!

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