TEFL Jobs in Costa Rica

Most of the TEFL jobs in Costa Rica are to be found in the bigger cities such as the capital, San Jose. But teaching English in a big and noisy city like this may not be everyone’s cup of tea or first-class coffee. If that is the case, you may get lucky and find a TEFL job at one of the several schools to be found in beach cities or smaller towns in the country. Competition for these jobs is higher, especially at the beaches. You may have to put in more effort and wait longer to find one of these more sought after positions.

When to find a TEFL Job in Costa Rica

Most schools in Costa Rica recruit between May and September. At this time of year, there is a great demand for English teachers, with more TEFL jobs than teachers to fill them. If you can’t look for work at this time, there are still positions available year round - just not as many.

Provided you have a well recognized TEFL certificate and can present yourself in a professional manner, you should be able to easily get a job.

As with most other parts of the world, Costa Ricans see learning English as a way to get a good job or a promotion and, therefore, a larger salary. Because of this there are a lot of language schools in Costa Rica offering many different kinds of English courses all year and in practically every city and reasonably sized town. This means that there are a lot of job opportunities for you.

How to find TEFL Jobs in Costa Rica

Most schools in Costa Rica prefer to hire TEFL teachers who are in the country. They would rather be able to meet you face-to-face, rather than hire you "blind" because you answered a job posting on the internet. Though this is also an option, because many schools do post their jobs on TEFL websites and other places, it’s best to show up in person, up to date resume in hand and your best professional dress and face on.

Questions to Ask your Employer

Before you accept a position make sure that you ask questions regarding salary or hourly pay rate, whether you’ll have to travel to your lessons and if you get compensated for this time and reimbursed for expenses, what kind of material resources the school has for lesson planning and teaching materials, what kind of administrative and collegial support you will have, whether a visa will be needed and if the school assists with that, etc. This will help to avoid any nasty surprises after you’ve already agreed to take the job.

Costa Rica is a wonderful country to live in with a very interesting culture. Teaching English in this country will give you a great opportunity to really explore everything it has to offer. We wish you the best of luck finding a TEFL job in Costa Rica and wish you a great time!