Just to clarify, the managers and headmasters of schools are quite familiar with the different types of TEFL certs, how we got them, what kind of training was involved. Some certs pull a lot of weight, others don't.

What you'll find is a lot of kids with brand new BA diplomae in hand, looking for the quickest, easiest TEFL certificate to add to it, then land a job somewhere, waiting for the bucks to roll in. Take a look at ads in travel and adventure mags, geared toward the 20-30 year old set. These kids have basically no life experiences whatsoever, let alone any experience in the business or teaching worlds. But they are being hired.

I heard a story of a 23 year old guy that had a fresh history degree and cert and landed a 9000RMB a month job teaching business English, and the only work experience he had under his belt was as a part time pizza delivery guy. On the other hand, there was a life long TEFL teacher that had a hard time finding a good job only because he was 60 years old. Or the couple of 20somethings that did the weekend online course just to get the certificate, but were wholey unsuited to function in a classroom.

Basically, rules are made up, reasons are made up, decisions are made for whatever reason, as people go along. If somebody doesn't like the looks of you, you won't get the job. Or you could fit their criteria perfectly, not have any valid experience at all, but get hired on the spot. The whole thing is a little crazy.

Essentially the best way to find a job is pound the bricks, the old fashioned way. Pick out a place that you think you would like, suck it up and buy the plane ticket and go there. Go to every different imaginable school or learning center you can find and get a feel for what they are really like. Go to English corners in the evenings and weekends and ask around. Make contacts, assets, friends. The internet is great for sound bites of information, but not for getting to any depth. The biggest hurdle for the employer is seeing you there right in front of them; they don't have to buy you a ticket, and they don't have to worry about you renegging on your contract/agreement. You get the benefit of seeing what the place is like before you sign on the dotted line. Take out a couple of the other teachers to dinner and quiz them about the place. If the manager tries to wave you off from this, you should see a red flag.

In Asia, university jobs are filling right now, and most will be gone soon. "Language learning centers" hire through out the year, as they contract out mostly to companies for English training for their management staffs, do a lot of tutoring, and sometimes do contract work for primary and middle schools. Learning centers pay as much as 50% more than true schools and unis, but the workload can be greater, and the management practices are pretty questionable most of the time, hence the volume of negative reviews in these boards. (There are any number of reasons for those same practices to be questionable, which is also discussed here ad nauseum.)

As I think I mentioned in my other post, if you do a TEFL training program in the country you are interested in working, you'll get a good idea of where to work, what type of situations interest you, and pick up a lot of the cultural stuff you'll need. There are certain basic techniques that can be used in TEFL teaching, and not otherwise. Teaching English to people that are learning it as a second language, at any age, can be a bit of a challenge, especially when you throw in cultural norms and expectations, politics, finance, preconceived ideas of the teacher and the learners, and all the other countless surprizes that await you. With at least an introduction to all that, you'll save yourself some headaches and a few embarrassing situations.

Again, good luck and have fun!