<human>: I'm a graduating college senior with a few prospects in my field (geoscience and water management) but my intent is to teach english in central america.  I have researched the TEFL certification, but is it worth the cost?  There are a few countries I would like to teach, and i speak what i would describe as "average" spanish for a non-native speaker, which i learned in panama, belize and argentina. I would like to teach in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo or Costa Rica or Panama City.

i have looked into TEFL, and it sells itself as a universal qualification for those kind of jobs.  every time i hear of those jobs they are virtually guaranteed albeit with the caveat of low pay, which is more than can be said of the job market in general.  my intuition tells me it sounds too good to be true.

Give me a shortened version of the text
<bot>: is TEFL really a universally accepted credential?  how does one go about getting a job teaching english as a foreign language? what are the jobs like?