I'm gonna have to disagree. I think the TESOL diploma, at least for me, was/is a waste of time. You see, I like to have "good" jobs in TESOL, meaning high pay and NO brats. No, I don't like being stuck with those hogwan jobs in South Korea or those jobs that pay chicken feed in Thailand. If I myself want to make sure I get what I want, I will have to get a master's in TESOL. A diploma will get you a job at a college or a uni in Thailand, and it may even get you a job at a college or uni in South Korea, but the odds are against you.

I see clearly now that if I MYSELF want to be happy in TESOL, I will have to follow the herd and aim for the colleges or unis in South Korea, the Middle East (yippee), or Europe. I will do like my brethren and avoid teaching at places like the 'wans in SK--jobs that are easy to get. Why are they easy to get? Because nobody wants them. Why does nobody want them? Because at those jobs, teachers are expected to teach brats. Nobody wants to teach brats, me included, which explains why 25 (or even more) jobs advertised on Dave's Korean job board is a hogwan job teaching brats, while 1 job is at a uni.

When and if I get a TESOL master's, I'll use my then-worthless TESOL cert/diploma as toilet paper and grab that job I actually WANT, the job that is hard-as-shit to get, at least for those who have only a TESOL cert or diploma.

Who wants to be stuck in Thailand teaching unappreciative students or in Korea teaching rich kids at the hogwans? I sure as hell don't. A master's in TESOL will make sure I don't.