16 Oct 2026
Outstanding Alumna Scarlett Yuan Returns to Share Extensive Experience in Education, MA TESOL Learning Insights, and a TESOL Job-Hunting Guide
With strong support from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Applied Linguistics and Language Sciences, Dr. Wan Hu (Victoria), Head of the Department, announced the official launch of the MA TESOL Career Talk Series in her opening remarks. She highly commended this career development initiative aimed at enhancing student employability and emphasized that in the age of AI, students should develop a career perspective early and pay attention to cultivating soft skills. The series is organized and hosted by Dr. Qianqian Zhou, Programme Director of MA TESOL. The first session featured outstanding alumna Scarlett (Yuan Zi), an MA TESOL graduate with Distinction and Regional Academic Training Manager at EF Education First. The event was warmly received, attracting active participation from undergraduate and postgraduate students across different schools and at different stages. During Q&A, students asked questions enthusiastically and interacted actively with the guest.
1. From Course Consultant to Regional Academic Training Manager: Career Development as a Journey of Continuous Exploration
Drawing on over a decade of experience in the education sector, Scarlett shared her career path: starting as a course consultant, proactively transitioning to become an English teacher, later being promoted to Academic Director and managing two campuses, and eventually moving into teacher development and academic training. She candidly noted that career choices are not a straight line, but a process of self-discovery and realignment. Rather than pure management and operations, she is more passionate about teacher development and TESOL-related practical guidance, which became a key driver behind her later career transition. She advised students not to treat their first job as the final destination, but to continuously reflect on their interests and strengths in practice, take the initiative to try new things, adjust in a timely manner, and find the direction that truly suits them as early as possible.
2. Returning to MA TESOL: Actively Seek Resources and Turn Challenges into Springboards
Looking back on her MA TESOL studies, Scarlett did not shy away from the academic English gap she once faced. By actively participating in academic workshops, proactively reaching out to supervisors for feedback, and using tools such as Zotero, the Pomodoro Technique, and PaperPal, she gradually mastered literature searching, critical reading, and academic writing. She also encouraged everyone to stay open-minded, actively pay attention to university emails and various resources, and get involved in student representative roles, community contributions, student societies, and summer school programs. In the end, she not only received the Academic Excellence Award but also won the Best Thesis Award, becoming a vivid example for the audience of turning weaknesses into springboards. She encouraged students to make the most of university resources, actively seek help when facing difficulties, treat every academic challenge as an opportunity to upgrade their skills, and accumulate soft skills and career capital through experiences such as student societies, summer schools, and student representative roles.
3. TESOL Qualifications, Industry, and Job Search: Different Tracks, Different Strategies
In the session on qualifications and job searching, Scarlett outlined core TESOL industry qualifications such as TKT, CELTA/CertTESOL, and Delta, and reminded students to prepare differently according to their career goals. Public schools require China's teaching certificate; international schools vary widely in their requirements, so it is advisable to check the official websites of target schools in advance; IELTS and TOEFL teachers need to achieve high scores in the corresponding exams and continuously maintain their competitiveness. She also noted that despite industry divergence amid declining birth rates, English teaching materials are becoming more challenging and more oriented toward intercultural communication, meaning outstanding teachers remain scarce. New directions such as AI education companies and self-media teaching are also expanding career boundaries for TESOL graduates. She advised students to identify their target track early, obtain relevant qualifications, accumulate high scores and hands-on teaching experience, and keep abreast of industry changes while actively exploring new directions such as AI education and self-media teaching.
4. Q&A Highlights: How to Use AI? Are Scores the Only Standard?
During the live Q&A, students actively asked questions about academic reading, AI tools, teaching evaluation, and career choices. When facing a large amount of English literature, Scarlett advised against using translation software to translate entire sentences into Chinese. Instead, students should interact directly with AI in English, asking it to provide English explanations or rewrites, so as to develop an English-only context and judgment. On whether student scores are the only standard for evaluating teachers, she said that while scores are indeed important from the perspective of Chinese parents, they are by no means the only standard—teachers’ qualifications, teaching skills, and overall competence are equally crucial. She reminded students that AI is a tool, not a shortcut; the key is to cultivate independent judgment and English thinking. Similarly, teaching evaluation should not focus solely on scores; instead, one should continuously refine one's qualifications, skills, and overall competence.
The first MA TESOL Career Talk Series concluded successfully amid lively discussion. This was not only an alumni return-sharing session, but also a real connection from study to industry and from campus to career. In the future, the series will continue to invite outstanding alumni and industry guests to bring more career development inspiration to students. Stay tuned. See you next time!
Content from: Qianqian Zhou, Wan Hu
16 Oct 2026