It’s time to get abroad!
Join our Fellowship in Colombia to take the first steps into a career in TEFL teaching. Along the way, experience a fascinating new culture and language, and gain valuable qualifications and skills.
Upcoming intakes:
All upcoming intakes are now listed at the bottom of this page. Read on and join us!
This is a starter job, offered on the YMCA’s charitable programme in Colombian state schools. As a starter job, this means you will be remotely training as a TEFL teacher trainee, along the way working in fellowship with other new teachers, and looked after by a co-ordinator on the ground. The TEFL training will be funded, along with the first month of accommodation, and we arrange a stipend/funding to assist you to cover future rent too. We cover your flights, and the salary will be around $400 monthly. Once you complete this programme, you will be very well placed to return home with fantastic work experience or join one of our projects in Asia to see more of the world and increase your salary. If you choose to remain in Colombia after the programme, you will be well positioned to increase your salary and find a new job – our local team will be able to help with placements
What do you get?
This fellowship in Colombia is your launchpad for a global and impactful career. On the programme, you will receive:
- Full funding to cover your flights, food and accommodation during your initial training and orientation tourism.
- Trinity TESOL training and certification.
- Support to find and cover all accommodation. Stipend to provide food.
- Guaranteed placement in a supportive school in Colombia with competitive salary if you do YMCA’s programme.
- Professional development mentoring and training throughout your time in Colombia, with a focus on teaching and social enterprise. We do this so that your time with us becomes a first step in a lifetime of interesting and impactful living.
- Personal and community support, including 24/7 support for emergencies.
- For placements over 2 months with e.g YMCA, visa and work permit support, including all paperwork, processed by our team.
- This is not intended to become your career job, it is a supported ‘starter job’, the skills and insights you gain here will be transferable and position you very well to take on future employment in the TEFL sector in Colombia – or anywhere in the world. At the end of your placements, we will arrange a chat with a local HR expert for anyone that wishes to transition into well-paid local career pathways.
What does the training include?
Before starting your teaching placement in Colombia, you will join our induction teaching and culture training programme. The training will start on arrival and usually run for a week, and all your accommodation and meals will be fully-funded during that period. The training will include:
- Trinity TESOL training online.
- Spanish culture and language lessons.
- Local host crash course and induction, to ready you for their teaching placements.
- Personal travel time to explore Bogota further before your teaching placement begins.
What does the teaching involve?
You will be teaching English to local Colombian students, usually in a school setting. We invite you to join us a week before work starts, to receive the core teacher training and to give you enough time to explore the country on our funded cultural tour package.
- You will be teaching English to local Colombian students, usually in a school setting from Monday to Friday.
- You will be in a great location, in Colombia’s capital city of Bogota, with at least four members of your training cohort and continuous community support from our team. Or you will be in Chinchina in the beautiful coffee region, teaching and also having cultural exchange and opportunities to work on a variety of social projects
- In Bogota,you will earn a competitive salary and be supported with finding comfortable accommodation. In Chinchina, your programme is fully funded instead of stipended.
- You will receive continuous professional development support and mentoring to support you in your teaching and with your future career plans.
How do you apply?
Please apply 4 weeks before an intake start date. Places filled on a rolling basis.
To apply you need to:
- Hold a high school/A-level or equivalent certification.
- Be an advanced/native English speaker.
- Have the right to work in the UK to be eligible for full Trinity TESOL funding (through citizenship, residency, leave to remain, student visas, et al.)*
- Be available and excited to travel to Colombia
- Holding a prior TEFL certificate is a bonus, but not required; Trinity TESOL training and certification is provided
This programme is ideal for recent graduates from UK universities and colleges, but is open to anyone, including mid-career changers! There is extra support available for applicants from widening participation backgrounds, including all funding you may need to make this happen. You will be able to indicate if this applies to you on your application form.
*We are keen to welcome candidates with ‘non-traditional’ educational backgrounds (e.g university isn’t required).
**If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you won’t be eligible for our funding and so we cannot welcome you into this programme. If this is you, please email us and we would strive to offer something or atleast give advise on other opportunities.
You can apply right now, just login!. If you don’t have an account yet, you can apply now on this page!
FAQs
As part of the application process, you will have a video interview with our team, giving you the chance to ask any questions that you have. For now, please find answers to common questions below and feel free to email us at recruitment@go-to.co if your question isn’t answered here.
Your Fellowship in Colombia will set you up for a global and impactful career, while helping you make the most of the here and now.
Whether you want to work in education or are unsure what you’d like to do longer term, our teaching and professional development programme will boost your CV, make you stand out in any recruitment process and help you work out what steps you want to take next on your career journey.
Do we really need to convince you?
Colombia offers something for everyone, from sun-kissed beaches, to rainforests teeming with animal life, to water sports and rock climbing, to temples and cultural sites. And that’s not even mentioning its bustling city centres, delicious food, and a ready supply of Western home comforts.
Colombia is also the ideal launchpad for travels all over the Americas during your holidays and at the end of your year teaching. Your competitive graduate salary coupled with funded flights and training and the modest cost of living in Colombia mean that you’ll have more than enough money to make the most of your time abroad.
Spending a year in Colombia will also increase your understanding of our planet, setting you up for a wide-range of career options and making you stand out in future job applications.
Anything! Your Fellowship in Colombia will give you the time, space, and support to work out what you want to do next: whether that be continuing in teaching, returning to work in the UK, or continuing your travels in another country.
Our professional development programme will support you in working out your interests, values and skills and in identifying what career areas you want to pursue.
There is some flexibility on dates in certain circumstances. If you would like to join the programme but have any issues with the dates below, please email us so that we can discuss your situation and see if you’re able to join the programme (recruitment@go-to.co).
The training will start in mid-February 2022 and run until the end of June.
Along with CELTA, Trinity TESOL is the gold standard in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualifications. The certification will allow you to teach in schools all over the world and will boost your CV and employability if you choose to pursue a career outside of teaching. As the gold standard for TEFLs, the Trinity TESOL is a higher level than most entry-level TEFLs and sets you up for faster career progression. The Trinity TESOL training is delivered by an approved provider.
Two of the absolute best parts of becoming a TEFL teacher after graduating are the freedom it gives you to travel the world and the flexibility that it gives your career, as well as the space it gives you to work out what you want to do longer term. TEFL stands out as the best way to get abroad after graduation, even amid the pandemic.
Flying around the world to start a TEFL/TESOL adventure can be a daunting (and exciting!) prospect, but for many people it’s the best decision they ever made. In six years living in Asia, we (Danny, Richard, and Lisha, the Gotoco Co-founders) have met hundreds of people who flew abroad on a whim to teach, and went on to revel in it: travelling the world, starting their own businesses, teaching in international schools, becoming travel writers, and much more.
To see an interview with three people who did TEFL/TESOL after leaving university, check out our webinar from July 2021 on Youtube here.
Eligible applicants will receive full funding to cover the training and programme costs, including flights, visa, Trinity TESOL training, and pre-teaching tourism.
This means that the programme is fully accessible with no upfront cost to you. You do, however, need to pay a small commitment deposit (£200) when your application is accepted and place is confirmed. This deposit is returned when you start your teaching placement in Colombia.
There is also extra support available for applicants from widening participation backgrounds, including all funding you may need to make this happen. You will be able to indicate if this applies to you on your application form and we will contact you with more information.
Currently, no!
Covid-19 travel restrictions can change quickly and we will always keep you up-to-date if the rules for arrival into Colombia change and will make sure that you’re well-supported.
You do, however, need to be fully vaccinated, or have a valid medical exemption.
For placements over 2 months, with e.g YMCA: We will support you throughout the visa process. You will first enter Colombia as a tourist. Upon arrival, our experienced team will help you throughout the process, including preparing the required documentation. You will be given more information about this process at the relevant point in the application process.
No! But you will be given Spanish lessons during your teacher training to make sure you know enough to get around and have a good grounding in the language. You’ll then be able to keep learning the language throughout your time in Colombia.
We will review your application and get back to you within 7 days about the next steps, including a video interview with our team, giving you the opportunity to ask any questions that you have.
If you’re successful, you’ll be invited to confirm your place by signing our terms and paying a small commitment deposit (£200). The commitment deposit will be returned to you once you start your teaching placement in Colombia.
We will then guide you through the visa and flight booking processand make sure you’re fully prepared for travelling to Colombia.
No! You will be joining a group of Gotoco fellows for your TESOL training and pre-teaching training. You will work with them throughout your placement. You will usually all be in different schools, but will have each other as a social network and receive cultural activities and fun from our coordinator team during time-off. So, you will be socially integrated from the start.
To be eligible for full funding for the programme (such as for flights and the Trinity TESOL), you need to have the right to work in the UK. This could be through citizenship, residency, leave to remain, a student visa, or other kinds of visa that give you the right to work in the UK.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, we can still assist you with obtaining a teaching placement, but you would need to fund yourself if you want to join our Trinity TESOL training. If you are in this situation and would like more information, please send us an email to recruitment@go-to.co.