When Ricardo Dollero graduated from UCLA last May with great grades and a robust resume of extracurriculars, he wasn’t expecting a particularly difficult job search. After majoring in anthropology, he looked for jobs at museums or nonprofits, but after months of scouring online job boards and applying for everything he felt qualified for, Dollero still hadn’t found a job.
“That’s when my partner and I decided, let’s leave the United States and live an adventure and start our careers in another country where our degrees actually have value,” he says.
By February, they had secured positions teaching English in a school in Thailand. It’s a path recent graduates looking to experience a new culture have chosen for decades. The agency Dollero used, Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), has been around since 1947. In recent years, though, grads from U.S. universities have increasingly been choosing to go abroad to escape the challenging job market at home.
Although June data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a rosy picture of the current job market, with 147,000 jobs added and unemployment falling to 4.1%, entry-level jobs are becoming ever more elusive.
Starting in September 2018, the percentage of unemployed recent graduates has consistently been higher than the overall unemployment rate. As of March 2025, the percentage differed by nearly 2%, with 5.8% of recent grads unemployed compared to 4.0% of all workers. This means young college-educated workers have spent years facing an especially competitive and difficult job market. And these challenges are only growing as more companies remove entry-level jobs in favor of using AI. In fact, 40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce and automate tasks with AI.
With so few opportunities available, many recent graduates struggling in their job search are seeking alternatives to traditional nine-five office jobs—including opportunities to work abroad.
“We have indeed observed a notable increase in interest from recent college graduates seeking TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification and opportunities to teach abroad,” says Ian O’Sullivan, owner of the TEFL Institute. “The appeal of gaining global experience, developing transferable skills, and making a meaningful impact has driven more young adults to consider TEFL as a viable and exciting option.”
The TEFL Institute is one of hundreds of organizations providing certification courses that teach people how to teach English as a foreign language. Many of these courses require no prior teaching experience and many of the companies offering them also guide new teachers through the process of finding a job abroad. The extra support makes these programs ideal for recent graduates, many of whom have never traveled outside their home countries or worked a full-time job before.
For Dollero, having an organization help with the process of getting set up in his new home made it easier to jump into his role as a teacher—one that he describes as very fulfilling.
“One very specific thing that has marked my time here in Thailand is the respect that the students have for the teachers,” Dollero says. “It’s just heartwarming that they want you there.”
These positive experiences differ from teaching in the United States, where teacher shortages prevail not because there is a lack of passionate new teachers but because of low salaries, difficult working conditions, and a lack of support at work, according to a recent analysis from the Learning Policy Institute.
A typical contract for teaching English at a school or language center abroad lasts one academic year, typically 9 to 12 months. Many teachers choose to renew their contracts or find a new TEFL job in yet another country. Others choose to use their experience in education to find teaching jobs closer to home.
While he isn’t yet sure what the rest of his career will bring, or whether he will choose to extend his time in Thailand, Dollero notes that his teaching experience has already helped him grow as a person. He’s learned to effectively manage people, organize his time, and become more adaptable.
While the need for technological skills in the labor market is expected to grow the fastest, many soft skills are also expected to rise in importance over the next five years, according to insights from the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report. Creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, and curiosity have all become increasingly important as the workforce adapts after the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of innovations like AI.
These skills, and many others, are the type one can learn from taking on new experiences, such as navigating a new culture and managing a classroom. Regardless of whether recent graduates choose to remain teachers after their TEFL experience, the soft skills they develop can open doors.
“Many of our graduates have shared inspiring stories about how TEFL has transformed their professional and personal lives, opening doors to international careers, remote work opportunities, and lifelong friendships,” O’Sullivan says. “The experience not only enhances employability but also fosters a global perspective that is highly valued in today’s interconnected world.”
Back at home, many graduates are pessimistic about the job market. Over half (56%) of the class of 2025 reports feeling somewhat or very pessimistic about starting their careers according to a recent report by the job board Handshake. For students having trouble finding a job after college, like he did, Dollero highly recommends a TEFL job.
“I’m 100% for others doing what I did,” Dollero says. “Just because you’re being rejected from hundreds of jobs in the United States doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same thing in another place.”
