Facing a financial crisis? then move your teaching career abroad

Are you facing a personal financial crisis that seems endless and unsolvable? Find a teaching job abroad and go from the bottom of the financial food chain to the top.

When you are struggling to make ends meet a radical change in your life is called for. It is a fact that teachers are not well paid, but international teachers working in international schools receive good salaries and most positions come with an expatriate benefits package.

An expatriate package for an international teacher can include a yearly flight home, housing, utility contribution, health insurance (with pre-existing conditions covered), retirement contribution, contract completion bonus, and more. All of this adds up to money you do not have to spend from your salary.

Currently I save fifty percent of my salary without breaking a sweat or doing without the things I love. I know I save half because I am paid 50% in the local currency and 50% in US dollars. I do not touch the US dollar portion of my salary except to send it home. Can you save half of your salary right now?

Living in a developing country while earning an excellent salary for a developed country means that your money goes much further. In many developing countries things like groceries, household help, transportation, utilities, etc. are much more affordable than at home in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. You can maintain a high standard of living using only a fraction of your salary and have disposable income to save, pay of debt or travel.

If teaching in a developing country does not appeal to you, you can take this opportunity to teach in Europe or the UK where you will be paid in a currency that is holding its value well in the global financial meltdown of 07-08. What European and British schools do not offer in expatriate benefits is compensated with the strength of the Euro and the Pound.

With current technology it is easy to manage your financial life over the internet using secure websites provided by your financial institution. Sending money between countries is as easy as pressing a button or completing a form at your local bank. You can even use Skype to call your bank’s customer service desk at home for next to nothing.

In addition to relieving your financial burden, securing a teaching position overseas will enable you to explore new cultures, teach children who are eager to learn and provide an excellent private education for your children.

5 Top Tips for Your Overseas Teaching Contract

Here’s how to make the right choices to protect yourself when signing an employment contract for a teaching job abroad.

* Make sure that you receive a contract which states in writing all the employment conditions and benefits you and the recruiter agreed upon during the interview. Do not accept a verbal assurance because there is no come-back if the recruiter does not deliver. If the contract you receive misses out some part of the conditions and benefits you thought you had agreed upon, send it back to have them added.

* Make sure that you have a copy of your overseas teaching contract that it is signed by both yourself and the school’s representative.

* Keep a copy of your contract handy so that you can refer to the conditions written down whenever you have a question about your rights.

* Talk to people at the international teaching job fair (if you are attending one), to establish the school’s reputation as an employer. While you are checking out the international school’s reputation, check out the administration staff’s reputation too. Sometimes a great school can be destroyed by a bad administrator.

* Find out about employment laws in the school’s host country and how they affect your employment contract. When you sign an overseas teaching contract you are not signing away your rights for the duration of the contract and it is important to remember this. You do not become an indentured servant. Most countries have employment laws covering how many days notice you must give your employer in order to leave legally.

Overseas Teaching Contracts

Is An Overseas Teacher An Indentured Servant?

You may be holding back form seriously seeking an overseas teaching contract because you are afraid of getting trapped abroad. This rarely happens. When teaching abroad you will be expected to sign an employment contract covering 1-2 years and in return you will receive a plethora of benefits and the unique experiences the come with working abroad. But this does not mean you are powerless to end the contract early if some unexpected catastrophe should occur.

Breaking your contract (leaving the school before the contractual period runs out) should only be done as a last resort because it can seriously hinder your efforts to land another teaching job abroad. The community of international teachers is a very small one and word will spread if you break your contract without a good reason.

Most international school directors are reasonable people who are experienced international teachers and recognise that there are occasionally circumstances that force you to break contract.

Such circumstances may include:

* A critical change in the political situation in the host country which changes the level of safety for foreign workers.

* The health status of a close relative at home or one of your dependents changes and you need to go home.

In these circumstances your best course of action is to approach the school’s director and discuss your options. By approaching the director and negotiating a timeline for your departure you will preserve your reputation as a good employee and receive a good reference. Most likely you will be expected to work out a period of notice in line with the country’s employment laws and you are likely to lose your bonus and repatriation benefits.