About Me
Hello, my name is Tom. I have worked in education since 1998.
I have more than 15 years experience working with international students.
Five of those years were in Germany, where I taught one-on-one private English classes and group classes to people from various careers and industries. I later set up my own training business and managed a team of English teachers who provided training to German companies.
In the USA, I have worked in the education field as Academic Director of a Manhattan language school and also as an International Student Recruitment Manager, recruiting students to American universities, colleges and high schools from China, South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia and many other countries.
I find the process of 'how people learn' to be fascinating and I find the process of actually teaching them to be very satisfying.
My qualifications
- Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA). A qualification awarded by Cambridge University.
- Bachelor degree in Business Administration (marketing, business strategy, accountancy, product management, cost accounting, auditing, finance, economics, company law, information technology, personnel management, mathematics & statistics)
My Professional Experience
- [6 years] International Student Recruitment Manager, North America for StudyGroup
- [3 years] Academic Director of Embassy CES New York - English courses in New York, USA
- [3 years] Founder and Manager of a B2B English Language Training company, providing German organizations and high-end clients with in-house company courses from a team of 7 top quality teachers. Successfully delivered 23 programs over a 3 year period to clients including:
--- A member of the Bundestag (German parliament): Marianne Tritz, Green Party
--- TÜV - Product Safety, Testing & Certification
--- E & E Information consultants
--- Concom Consulting & Compliance
--- MQ Software
- [5 years] Freelance teacher and appointed instructor for English language schools (British Council, Germany and Akademie für Fremdsprachen), offering group / one-to-one classes in General English, Business English and English for Special Purposes (public relations, management consultancy, computer technology, marketing, banking, taxation, insurance, architecture, media, hotel and catering, real estate, fashion, law, accountancy and politics). Levels: beginner to advanced levels.
Related Experience
- designed English language teaching materials for Oxford University Press to supplement the widely-known “Headway” ESL series used by teachers and schools worldwide.
- developed eLearning English materials for Cornelson Education, a publishing house in Germany, for use in a CD-Rom product aimed at 14-16 year old students within the high school market.
- launched a successful online marketing liaison between a nationwide network of 41 English teachers, schools and institutions in Germany. Grew the 'Englischunterricht in Deutschland' list by selling it to potential affiliates as a win-win marketing situation using free website promotion. Achieved top 5 ranking in Yahoo and Google search engines.
- conducted series of presentations to trainee English teachers in Cambridge course, advising 80+ teachers on issues ranging from marketing and client acquisition to legal formalities, cultural sensitivity and advice on working in the ESL profession.
- Oral Examiner for the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry examinations in Germany.
Language skills
English - native speaker, first language
German - fluent ('Grosses Deutsches Sprachdiplom' awarded by Goethe Institute)
French - intermediate
Irish - intermediate