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Job outlook for esol instructors in the United States
Are esol instructor jobs in demand?
Esol instructor job and salary trends over time
Esol instructor jobs over time
Esol instructor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,623 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,820 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 2,203 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 2,449 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 2,573 | 0.00% |
Average esol instructor salary over time
Esol instructor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $61,496 | $29.57 | +1.8% |
| 2024 | $60,385 | $29.03 | +1.3% |
| 2023 | $59,585 | $28.65 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | $57,885 | $27.83 | +2.9% |
| 2021 | $56,274 | $27.05 | +0.7% |
Esol instructor jobs by state
Most common states for esol instructors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 488 | 9% |
| 2 | South Carolina | 5,024,369 | 377 | 8% |
| 3 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 79 | 8% |
| 4 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 46 | 8% |
| 5 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 730 | 7% |
| 6 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 617 | 7% |
| 7 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 276 | 7% |
| 8 | Delaware | 961,939 | 66 | 7% |
| 9 | Alaska | 739,795 | 51 | 7% |
| 10 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 657 | 6% |
| 11 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 467 | 5% |
| 12 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 315 | 5% |
| 13 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 280 | 5% |
| 14 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 160 | 5% |
| 15 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 37 | 5% |
| 16 | Vermont | 623,657 | 30 | 5% |
| 17 | California | 39,536,653 | 1,675 | 4% |
| 18 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 232 | 4% |
| 19 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 58 | 4% |
| 20 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 38 | 4% |
Most common cities for esol instructors
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Woburn | 1 | 3% | $63,349 |
| 2 | Boston | 4 | 1% | $63,509 |
| 3 | Lawrence | 1 | 1% | $63,107 |
| 4 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $38,979 |
Esol Instructor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of esol instructor experts
Tiffin University
Union University
Macalester College
University of Iowa
Slippery Rock University
North Central College
The University of Vermont
Arizona State University
East Los Angeles College
Concordia University
Southwestern College
Pennsylvania State University Altoona
Grambling State University
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Saint Mary's College of California
DePaul University
Northeastern Illinois University
Dixie State university
Muhlenberg College
University of Illinois at Chicago
Dr. Stephanie Opfer
Associate Professor of English, Assistant Dean of the School of Creative and Media ArtsTiffin University
Visual And Performing Arts
What will help Esol Instructors increase their earning potential?
Dr. Stephanie Opfer: Unfortunately, teaching as an adjunct does not pay well. Students should keep their full-time jobs and teach part-time until they find a full-time job at a college or university. That part-time teaching provides them valuable experience and connections that make them more competitive candidates for full-time positions because they'd also be competing with candidates who have PhDs. So adjunct work is more of a long-term investment rather than an immediate return. Also, even full-time teaching jobs don't pay particularly well, so they'll really need to love teaching if they want to do it full-time. If they don't like teaching as an adjunct, they won't like doing it full-time.
What soft skills should all Esol Instructors possess?
Julie Glosson: -Positive attitude
-Adaptability
-Ability to be a team player as well as work independently
-Willingness to grow and learn from mistakes
What skills will help Esol Instructors earn the most?
Julie Glosson: -Completed Terminal Degree (professors)
-Publications (professors)
-Other scholarly material (professors)
-Specialization in another area (either professor or K12 teacher)
-State certifications (K12 teachers)
-Other types of certifications or affiliations (either professor or K12 teacher)
Nanette Scott Goldman
Senior Lecturer in the Classical Mediterranean and Middle EastMacalester College
Department of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East
What skills stand out on Esol Instructor resumes?
Nanette Scott Goldman: Language fluency and teaching experience.
Dr. Irina Kostina
Associate Professor of Instruction, The Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Russian ProgramUniversity of Iowa
Division of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures
What skills stand out on Esol Instructor resumes?
Dr. Irina Kostina: Traditionally in Russia, we had this very important info in our resume: 1) education, 2) work experience, 3) publications.
Today being the Director of the Russian program at the University of Iowa, I would appreciate my colleagues who have the skills:
Critical thinking, patience, and leadership.
What soft skills should all Esol Instructors possess?
Dr. Irina Kostina: Some of the soft skills are listed above. I would add to the aforementioned skills organization, communication, and teamwork.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Esol Instructors?
Dr. Irina Kostina: Certifications, computer skills, writing, language, and presentation skills.
Dr. Matthew Erickson
Chairman and Associate Professor of Special EducationSlippery Rock University
Special Education Department
What skills will help Esol Instructors earn the most?
Dr. Matthew Erickson: Ultimately be a good person and work with faculty, staff, students, and their family to put children first. You cannot teach heart, and that is what it takes to be an excellent teacher.
Brian Hoffert
Associate Professor of Religious Studies and History; Coordinator of History of Ideas; Coordinator of East Asian Studies\North Central College
Religious Studies
What soft skills should all Esol Instructors possess?
Brian Hoffert: I would say that cultural competency (being familiar with one or more East Asian cultures) is the key soft skill that employers would look for. It is a soft skill because it is difficult to "prove" this kind of competency on a resume, though the essential thing that students should consider is literally how much time they've spent in the culture in question. A degree in East Asian Studies will suggest that you have a basic understanding of Chinese, Japanese, and/or Korean cultures, but study abroad experiences demonstrate that you have actually spent time in the culture in question. At North Central, we offer short-term study abroad programs to the region (mostly focusing on China and Japan, but sometimes Taiwan, Hong Kong, and potentially Korea); these are helpful, but two weeks is not enough time to gain real competency. We, therefore, offer many long-term (one or two-semester) programs throughout the region, which will allow students to practice their "hard skills" (i.e., communicating in an East Asian language on a daily basis) but will also help them develop a deeper understanding of the culture. In addition, any kind of employment where one is in contact with one of these cultures is helpful, whether that is doing an internship in an East Asian country or working in a Japanese restaurant in Naperville.
What soft skills should all Esol Instructors possess?
Angeline Chiu Ph.D.: Communication, communication, communication. All kinds of communication, be it clear, lucid speaking (whether one-on-one, in small groups, or in large groups), good concise writing that isn't full of jargon and excrescences, or even the seemingly simple but absolutely crucial everyday interactions with the people around you. They can make or break a work or school environment. I don't mean mere etiquette. I mean building a real sense of community and human connection as a base for all the other things the school/company/etc. is trying to do. What can we do that robots can't do? Be human beings in communication and community with other human beings.
Another note on communication: we have all seen situations in which garbled announcements or backtracking/confusing directions have caused all kinds of problems then and later. Focus, clarity, and efficiency in communication are key. And look people in the eye.
Related to this is, of course, the ability to work with others in all kinds of different settings and configurations. Collaboration and cooperation are essential, but they too rest on a foundation of clear communication.
The ultimate soft skill, though, is a little harder to quantify. I'm talking about learning how to learn. Life comes at you fast, at work or school or home, and the ultimate human skill is adapting to situations as they arise and being able to pivot, be flexible, be resilient, be creative in responding, and be able to do all that while remembering that we are working as humans with other humans, and there is much we do not know, and much we do not know as well as we ought to or think we do. Patience, grace, empathy, humility are part of the equation.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Esol Instructors?
Angeline Chiu Ph.D.: What I tell you today might not be applicable tomorrow! Tech changes so fast. The best thing I can tell you is to keep current on what's going on. Also: don't be afraid of new things. At the same time, remember that something isn't automatically better just because it's new. Perhaps the real skill I'm describing is figuring what is useful for your purpose and what isn't, and don't try to apply every single shiny new tech toy that comes along. And for goodness sake, be careful about data and security and those basics that you think everyone knows but so many people don't.
Lorena Cuya Gavilano Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American CulturesArizona State University
Languages and Cultures
What skills stand out on Esol Instructor resumes?
Lorena Cuya Gavilano Ph.D.: It depends. First, for K-12 instructors, native or high proficiency is a must. Candidates that stand out are those that have deep translingual and transcultural competence. Resumes and letters of intent that stand out typically demonstrate interactive and real-life experiences such as community outreach, study abroad, or virtual international experiences. It is very important to demonstrate experience and personal skills reaching out to and interacting with communities that speak and produce the target language and literature. Why? Because teaching languages and literature is not just about making sure that students understand (decode) reading and aural materials. It is necessary to immerse students in different ways of feeling and thinking. Second, for college-level instructors, resumes that stand out demonstrate organizational and communicational skills. It may seem natural that a language and literature instructor knows how to communicate well. Yet, communicating well may not be the strength of many job seekers. Leaving aside the research skills required in many of these jobs, colleges and universities are looking for candidates with some administrative/organizational experience, proving that they can be creative and make projects a reality.
Moreover, resumes that stand out tell the story of a candidate that is not only knowledgeable in the subject matter but is also a good team player. Being a good team player implies that the candidate is a good intercultural communicator and emotionally self-aware. Today, language and literature classrooms require more interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Therefore, experience in interdisciplinary projects is a plus. Furthermore, colleges and universities are trying more and more to incorporate a professional outlook into their language courses. For these reasons, experience and/or training in second languages are becoming a more prominent requirement for many jobs. At the college level, the perfect candidate demonstrates not only a good research record and agenda; the perfect candidate possesses knowledge of digital humanities, course professionalization, and community outreach experience.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Esol Instructors?
Lorena Cuya Gavilano Ph.D.: Hard skills for languages and cultures are somehow flexible. Instructors need to know about new pedagogies, digital humanities, educational technologies, and social media literacy. But all these requirements change very fast, so instructors should evidence knowledge of all these hard skills and the ability to adapt fast to new ones. The present pandemic had demonstrated how most instructors quickly adapted to new virtual classrooms. We ought to always be ready for any change. For this and other pedagogical reasons, adaptability is one of the most needed values in language education.
Diane Renée Mannone
Associate Professor of EnglishEast Los Angeles College
English Department
What soft skills should all Esol Instructors possess?
Diane Renée Mannone: Working well with colleagues: collaborating, being a team player, involved in the department and campus, etc.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Esol Instructors?
Diane Renée Mannone: Technical literacy and the ability to teach in myriad environments with diverse students.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Esol Instructor job market given the pandemic?
John Norton Ph.D.: A need to communicate clearly and creatively through different medium
What technical skills for an Esol Instructor stand out to employers?
John Rieder: In English, we look for applicants with a demonstrated commitment to the populations we serve in the community college (not just lip service, but proven commitment). Former community-college students and those with peer tutoring experience are always wonderful. We also look for an interest in ongoing professional development, particularly professional development related to "high challenge, high support" classroom instruction, to anti-racist and culturally responsive pedagogy/andragogy, and to overall advancing a culture of care, guidance, equity, and community.
What Esol Instructor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Roselyn Costantino Ph.D.: Most important advice: Take initiative and be productive.
Find practical ways to use skills even if unpaid. Volunteer work is good. Use language skills. Technology skills. Exploit technology skills around the area of interest. If you want to be a teacher find out what software they are using today; what research skills are they utilize. Make sure you log your activities during the gap year especially those that relate to the area in which you want to work. If you want to go into finance, and you're working at a lawn service, understand and learn the business model and the accounting. If you're working at Starbucks (or in any commercial environment), get a chance to do inventories, learn about the ordering process and sources and suppliers for those orders; and how people are scheduled for work. All of that is relevant experience for business.
The CFO and recruiter for Keystone Staffing Solutions emphasized having evidence in your resume of of being productive during the gap time, no matter if it's one, two or three years. Evidence of being productive is what recruiters want to see on your resume: He stresses: "What did you do to expand your knowledge and skills not only in your selected area but beyond. BEING PRODUCTIVE for yourself proves to be an indicator of how productive you will be for me."
Still on gap year. How to go about it? Use teachers, friends, family, anyone in the field or related to it to provide guidance, insight, suggestions. This can lead to projects or experience that will help in learning and growth.
What Esol Instructor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Cheyrl Ensley: Training to be essential is critical. Increasing skills in using technology are necessary. Keeping students engaged and actively learning through technology is a crucial tool that will be extremely important to a teacher, whether teaching in person or virtually. Additionally, the gap year should be used to identify an area of interest for work. Once the site is specified, the graduate should build professional relationships and learn the site's culture.
What Esol Instructor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Suzanne Kemp Ph.D.: They need to stay engaged in some level of working with people with disabilities. If they do something that isn't relevant to the field, they won't be as marketable as a new graduate.
Elisa Findlay Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Composition CoordinatorSaint Mary's College of California
Department of English
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Esol Instructor job market given the pandemic?
Elisa Findlay Ph.D.: When advising students who are planning for the job market, I encourage them to develop transferable skills and habits of mind-like writing, rhetorical awareness, and critical thinking. This advice is particularly relevant in our current moment, given the precariousness of the job market.
Students should be flexible and open-minded about the types of jobs they might be qualified for and fulfilled from. I graduated at the height of the last recession and found myself moving to the Midwest to work as a sales writer at a healthcare IT company. This wasn't a career move I had planned on, but healthcare IT was one of the few industries still growing at that time. Because of my capacity as a writer and thinker, I learned what I needed to about healthcare and software sales on the job and progress in my role with the company.
Ultimately, this job led me to graduate school and inspired the dissertation research I completed while earning my Ph.D. I encourage students to stay open to the various and often circuitous paths that the job market can take them on and continue to build their transferable skills and habits along the way.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Esol Instructors in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Li Jin Ph.D.: Many people claim Google Translate will make language learning obsolete soon. As a language educator, I'm afraid I have to disagree with this view, which has been around for decades. Google Translate is getting more useful. However, intricate cultural connotations, which are highly dependent on contexts, can only be accurately interpreted, then translated, by well-trained humans. Machine translation makes cross-communication easier but can never bring the joy people feel when communicating directly with people from another culture. Online software that supports language learning, such as Duolingo and various online dictionaries, will get more critical in the field.
What type of skills will young Esol Instructors need?
Timothy Barnett Ph.D.: Flexibility and broad knowledge will be beneficial, even as we are becoming a world of specialists. Things change so quickly that those students who have multiple sets of expertise and the ability to adapt to changing technology, politics, and economics will have an advantage over others. Traditional skills (strong writing, for example) will still be needed. Yet, even those traditional skills are changing as we read and write in multiple ways (and in various languages) today, and will do that even more in the future.
Dr. Lucia Taylor
Associate Professor, Department ChairDixie State university
Department of History, Humanities and Modern Languages
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Esol Instructors in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Lucia Taylor: Online language learning is going to keep increasing. Again, with the pandemic, most higher education institutions have made use of the new technologies to complete their courses, in one way or another. However, I still believe there will be a need for human interaction in language learning. I am a consumer of application where you learn a language on your own, but I still find myself checking my old notes from my traditional classes. On the other hand, we are seeing a lot of jobs being automatized. However, creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to decode subtexts in a language will always require the human touch.
Dr. Emanuela Kucik Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English and Africana Studies and Co-Director of Africana StudiesMuhlenberg College
English Department
How do you envision technology impacting Esol Instructors in the next 5 years?
Dr. Emanuela Kucik Ph.D.: Technology is changing the field of English and writing in many ways. For instance, it is now easier for people to publish their work, as they can post it online in a variety of ways. Social media has also allowed people to publish their written thoughts in a quicker, less formal fashion, which produces think pieces and thoughtful commentaries on a broad range of topics that were often previously reserved for more formal writing venues, such as academic journals. Literary scholarship is also being digitized, which provides more comprehensive access to a broader range of material for a wider swath of people.
There is also a rise in audiobooks and digital books. In academia, this means that students are encountering the material for college classes in markedly different ways, which can lead to vastly varied interpretations of it that are predicated upon how the student is receiving the material (a student listening to a scene on tape might react to it differently than a student reading it in print, for instance). Essentially, writing -- how we do it and how we encounter it -- is changing rapidly, and I imagine it will continue to do so for years to come. The change is exciting, and it provides endless possibilities for re-imagining how we understand what it means to write, to read, and to absorb and re-shape the world around us.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Esol Instructors in the next 5 years?
Young Richard Kim Ph.D.: In my view, one of the most problematic narratives about graduates in the Humanities is that there are no jobs out there. This could not be further from the truth, and both anecdotal and hard data show that employers are interested in hiring people who are not only skilled in critical reasoning, multi-dimensional analysis, and problem solving, but also mature in their historical and cultural literacy, empathy and understanding, and persuasive communication. Our local communities, country, and the work force need thoughtful citizens, colleagues, and co-workers, and I believe graduates in my own fields but also in the humanities writ large will be in greater demand in the years to come.