Twenty-four year-old Paul Phelan from Canada is an English teacher at Qiongzhou University in Wuzhishan City, Hainan, China.  I spoke to him about his cool job for my new book on dream careers.  Here are some snippets from his interview:

How did you start teaching English as a second language abroad?

The first teaching job I had was with a company out of Shanghai, China.  I had obtained a TESOL International Teaching License and Certificate on top of my undergraduate degree.  I posted my resume on Dave’s ESL Cafe and stated that I would go anywhere in the world to teach English.  I choose this position as I thought it would present a great opportunity to learn the Chinese culture.

What in your younger years prepared you for this career?

I was one of a very few in Canada to be selected for two outstanding youth programs, one called Katimavik, and the other called Canada World Youth.  For these programs, I had the opportunity to travel all across Canada and down to Brazil on the Canadian Government’s dime, working in small towns and building up the communities.  My experiences with these two programs showed me how much I loved to travel and wanted to continue!

What skills are critical to your success?

Diligence is most important because ESL teachers work very hard.  Only about 30%-40% of my job is inside the classroom; the rest is filled with preparation, and follow up work.  For example, for each hour-long class I do 20-30 minutes of lesson planning beforehand and at least 30 minutes talking to my students, helping them outside the classroom.  Technically, I only teach 16 hours a week, but it’s a full time job and then some.

Stay tuned for more from Paul next week.