TESOL stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL courses can be completed in universities, colleges or private courses. TESOL also includes TESL (teaching English as a second language) and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language). There are numerous jobs and opportunities for TESOL teachers at home and abroad.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Many TESOL teachers begin their career by teaching English as a foreign language abroad in Asia or Europe. Many English training companies will even recruit students once they finish their undergraduate degree to teach in their companies abroad. Countries like Japan even have government programs to recruit native English teachers. Having a TESOL certificate or degree gives you an advantage over unqualified competitors.

Teaching English as a Second Language
TESOL teachers may also choose to teach English in an English-speaking country to recent immigrants or minority language speakers. Unlike teaching English as a foreign language, you will be teaching students who are often surrounded by English and may have already learned some English without having taken any classes. These jobs can be found through government agencies, school boards and local English training centers.

Teaching Business English
Teaching business English is a very popular advanced-level course in English. For those teaching English as a foreign language in another country, this is a job that you will find as part of your work in an English training center that includes adult students. Work as a business English tutor can also be found through private tutoring. You can find work tutoring by posting on local Web forums, in language exchange forums and through other online classifieds.

Children's English Immersion
Many recruiters for teachers of English abroad offer jobs in English language day care or children's immersion classes. These jobs require patience, energy and an ability to teach and deal with very young children on a daily basis. Recruiters will consider TESOL qualifications when deciding on whether or not to hire as well as the level of salary.

English Test Preparation
For many students of English as a second or foreign language, a certificate stating fluency in English is important for career prospects. There are many jobs, both as a private tutor and as a teacher working in a company, for teachers of English test preparation. Different countries have different tests for English, so familiarity with the exam is important when teaching this kind of class.

English Proofreader and Polisher
Countries such as China have a need for native English speakers to clean up the official English used on international signs and documents. An English "polisher" -- or proofreader -- reads over the English and edits the work to make it sound more natural and remove grammatical errors as well as non-Native English phrasing. English polishers work in Japan to correct "Engrish" and in China to correct "Chinglish." A TESOL certificate indicates a qualification in the English language that would make you more likely to be hired than someone without a certificate.