Teaching Overseas - Preparing for the move

Teaching Overseas involves moving your entire family to another country and this can be very stressful.

The first step is to get the shipping companies (get at least two quotes) in to do a survey of your shipping requirements.

This making an appointment with a representative of the shipping company to come to your house. You then take them around your house and show them what you're taking with you. They'll want to look inside all your cupboards and drawers to help them estimate the volume of your shipment.

The agent should then talk to you about how your belongings will be packed, what items are prohibited, how long it will take to get your shipment after it's been packed (this is an estimate only) and what documentation they need you to complete.

Remember the shipping companies know that they are bidding for your business. Don't hide the fact that you're contacting a couple of different companies. They'll tell you why they are the best and you can factor this into your decision.

It is a good idea to get the shipping quotes done early so that you have lots of time to make a decision and negotiate with the shipper over the volume of your shipment if you turn out to be over your allowance.

Also, if you want them to come in and pack up on a day to suit you, then book the shipping company early to avoid disappointment because someone else got in first!

Packing up and shipping out to an overseas teaching job can be a stressful time, but remember how exciting it is too!

Benefits of Signing up with an International Teaching Job Fair Organisation

The benefits of signing up with an international teaching job fair organisation may not be immediately apparent and you may balk at the cost of registration and the cost of attending the fair itself (transport, accomodation, time off work), but the benefits can often far outweigh the cost...

1. Often the schools who are invited to attend an international school recruiting fair are pre-selected by the fair organiser. You can often feel somewhat reassured that the schools have been vetted prior to your interview and subsequent hiring.

2. Many international teaching job fair organisers require schools to complete a questionnaire that will give you information that you may not find on their website and it's not appropriate to ask about at interview - the benefits package for example, or the number of local students in the school. The information in this questionnaire is usually made accessible to candidates through an online database, so international teachers can search for countries or vacancies they are interested in. You can access this information and contact schools that interest you, without having to actually attend the job fair.

Access to this information can give you an edge over other candidates because you will know more about the school and can contact recruiters with prior knowledge.

3. When you attend the job fair you will have access to people who are already teaching overseas and may know about teaching at the very schools which interest you. Take the time to talk to the other candidates, find out where they are from and where they are going. You'll be amazed at what you can learn about the different international schools.

Learn more about international teaching job fair organisers...

The job fair organisers also vet the overseas teacher candidates. If you aren't accepted to attend a job fair it does not mean you are not a desirable candidate. There are alternative job hunting strategies you can use to find a teaching job abroad.

Learn how you can land your own teaching job abroad using my proven strategies and job hunting techniques.

Teaching Overseas Using your Moving Allowance to Relocate your Family Pet

When you are looking for a teaching job overseas, you will quickly realise that many schools offer a moving allowance as a benefit. These moving allowances can often be quite generous. If you are thinking of using your moving allowance to move you pet abroad with you it is important that you check this with the international school first. Some schools will not allow you to use your moving allowance to relocate your pet and it is better to check this out prior to making arrangements.

Teaching Overseas Using your Moving Allowance to Relocate your Family Pet

Can You Teach at an International School if You Are Over 55? 60? 65?

I found a very informative article online this week about teaching overseas for the experienced teacher. There seems to be more and more age discrimination apparent in the teaching profession and people are either moving overseas to escape it... or moving home!

It's difficult to know what effect your age will have on your job hunt, but you can make some pretty good judgements of where to try and find a job with this information, check it out!

How Old Is Too Old to Teach Overseas?

In addition to the article on teaching overseas for people nearing retirement age you will find a chart that lists ages in relation to employment for international schools - divided up into regions, countries and schools!

Can You Teach at an International School if You Are Over 55

Teaching Overseas - Opportunities to Travel

Reporting from Laos...

In my experience of teaching in northern hemisphere schools, the Christmas break can be very short and come at the end of a really long term...

When you are teaching overseas at an international school you'll often find that you get an extended Christmas break, even if you live in a non-Christian country. This is because the school community (that is, the paying clients) demand it.

I'm feeling very relaxed and I'm only halfway through my three-week winter (Christmas) break. I'm currently in Laos, where I've spent some time learning to weave.

Christmas breaks long enough to go home and visit your family may be a priority for you and if it is then you need to add a question about it to your interview list prior to the job fairs. If you end up looking at a school that is predominantly made up of a non-Christian local client base, you may not receive a long Christmas break, and may even end up having to work on December 25th!

Fulbright International Teacher Exchange

Getting you feet wet with the Fulbright International Teacher Exchange is a great way to break into teaching overseas.

With the Fulbright Teacher Exchange program you can trade places with a teacher in another country for anywhere from 6 weeks to 12 months.

Exchanging you job with another international teacher is a lot less complicated than taking on a contract at an international school for 1-2 years because you don't have to quit your job, you don't have to sell your house while being able to indulge yourself in an international teaching experience in a safe and controlled way to see if the lifestyle is for you...

Fulbright grants allow you to take your US salary with you wherever you go (so you could well end up saving money while you are teaching overseas!) and will pay all your relocation costs.

The Fulbright program is the brainchild of J. William Fulbright who envisioned the exchange program as a cultural and educational exchange vehicle.

The limits to the Fulbright program are that you have to be a US teacher who exchanges with a non-US teacher in another country, or a non-US teacher who will exchange with a US teacher and take over their teaching position for the agreed upon period of time.

So, while not being a 'worldwide' program, the Fulbright exchange of teachers allows American teachers to travel and explore the world while allowing non-American teachers to get a taste of the US education system - which could lead to a better chance of securing a teaching job at an American International School!

Teaching Applications and Email Attachments

When you are sending your teaching application to international school recruiters via email you will want to attach your resume, a photo, your teaching philosophy, etc. But here is where you run into a problem...

Many email clients restrict the size of the attachments allowed into people’s inboxes. And while you want to attach the elements of your application pack to support you email, you also want to ensure that your email is delivered.

If your email (including attachments) is too large, it will get bounced back to you. The solution to this problem is to make sure your documents are concise and without images, not to zip them.

When you zip your documents you are assuming that the recruiter has the software required to unzip them, and the desire to do so. It's important that you keep the number of steps the recruiter has to take to see your resume to an absolute minimum as this increases the chances of them actually reading it!

If you want to include a photo of yourself, don't put it in your resume, attach it to your email as a .jpg separately.

Applying For Teaching Jobs Overseas Via Email

How many emails to you get in a day? Around recruiting time, international school recruiters get inundated with hundreds of emails from hopeful teaching applicants - in addition to what they are already getting.

When you send in your application pack by email with all you documents attached, your goal is not only to get your email opened and read, you also want the recruiter to open your documents and read them too. So, how do you get your emails read? You use these crucially important tips to make the recruiter WANT to read your email!

One way to help the recruiter recognise that your email is important and should be opened is to use a meaningful subject line.

I suggest you include the specific teaching position you are applying for and your name. By using this style of subject line you are immediately identifying it as an email from an applicant and the recruiter will expect to see a teacher application when they open the email. Also, this will make it easier for the recruiter to find your email in their inbox should they need to refer to it again.

Getting your application email opened is the first step to getting a teaching job overseas!

Teaching Jobs Abroad Can Be Easier With An Overseas Director

International schools come in many different shapes and sizes. There are American schools, British schools, IB schools, Department of Defence schools, privately run schools and non-profit schools, to name a few.

One distinction teachers looking for a job overseas should be aware of is that of locally run versus foreign run schools. Being aware of this one difference can ensure that you sign an overseas teaching contract with your eyes wide-open.

Locally run schools are more likely to be a cultural shock to teachers from abroad, depending on the culture of the incoming teacher and the culture of the host country and/or owners.

A locally run international school may have some ‘quirks’ that can make life difficult for an international teacher. These quirks may include an old-fashioned approach to teaching assignments (sexism), an unwillingness to assign failing grades to students who haven’t succeeded in mock exams or tests, and many more.

International schools run by a foreign director, however, are more likely to be operated in a manner more in keeping with schools you are used to.

Using simple guidelines to evaluate potential employing schools can ensure that you land yourself in a teaching job abroad that you can be happy with.

Will an IB school hire me without training?

Bill contacted me with this question and I’m including it (with his permission) and my answer because I think it’s relevant to getting your recruitment campaign off the ground and chugging along ‘full steam ahead’:

Dear Kelly,

I just purchased your book online and am looking forward to reading it. One question before I get started: I have been teaching literature for 10 years at the high school level. Currently, I have taken a year off to complete my M.A. in English and a Latin certification. I really want to teach overseas, and specifically in an I.B. school. Will an I.B. school hire me without the I.B. training? Can I get training now?

Sincerely,
Bill

... My answer...

Hi Bill, thank you for your email.

In answer to your question, you can most certainly get hired by a school that offers the IB curriculum without any IB training. Generally international schools are looking for good teachers who are qualified and can offer instruction in English.

I do not think you need to search out IB training prior to getting a job, most IB schools will send you to conferences and training sessions in your first year to get you up to speed.

In order to become more familiar with the I.B. programmes you should look at the IBO website pages I have listed in my book for MYP and DYP. This will help you get an idea of:
· the structure of the programmes
· how your subject fits into the curriculum as a whole
· the unique aspects of the IB curriculum.

If you're looking to do some training prior to looking for a job teaching abroad, then TEFL or ESL in the Mainstream is always seen as a great resource for teachers who are teaching in a multi-lingual environment.

Hope this has helped!
Kelly

Get Respect When You Teach Overseas

Teaching overseas is a great way to improve the conditions you face at work every day. Especially if you land a job teaching in Asia!

Asian countries in particular have a culture of respecting teachers, which makes teaching here an infinitely more pleasant experience than teaching at home.

In Thailand Thursday is teachers' day and many schools hold an assembly at the beginning of the school year to honor teachers.

My school held a Wai Khru (honor teachers) assembly today. The students who study Thai language and culture prepare floral arrangements for teachers, then present them in an assembly.

I received this basket of flowers from my senior students. I was the only one to receive one with a photo attached.

The fact that I don't have to discipline very much means that I can enjoy a more relaxed teacher-student relationship and still get the most out of my students.

Teaching in Asia is vastly different from where I last taught at a state school in the UK. I enjoy coming in to work and there are very few times that I have to exert myself to discipline students, usually I can concentrate solely on the education!

Going home after teaching abroad - will you get a job???

A friend of mine who has been teaching abroad for several years now is always talking about going home... Not because she doesn't like teaching overseas, it's more like, she wants to psych herself up for it, because she thinks the time will eventually come.

This week she sent me a link to an article in the New York Times called With Turnover High, Schools Fight for Teachers. This is great news for her, if she ever takes the plunge and returns home.

The article talks about US schools having difficulty offering recruitment and retention bonuses to teachers in an attempt to hire them for positions in low-achieving schools. Some of these bonuses are LARGE! One teacher received a recruitment bonus of $10 000 from one school.

Now, I have my own opinion on whether recruitment bonuses are a good thing for education, but I can't argue that it's a great idea for teachers!

If you're worried about giving up your current teaching job to take a position overseas, don't be! In the UK, the US and in NZ, the education authority will often PAY YOU to go home, as well as give you a job!

Check out the New York Times article, maybe the US will soon be opening up and allowing Overseas Trained Teachers (OTT) to teach there...

Knowing When to Phone Home When Teaching Overseas

My parents will tell you that there's been a number of occasions when I've phoned them at unreasonable hours, usually in the dead of night.

I've found the easiest way to find out the time in another country. Check this out!

Time Zone Check is the ultimate website for checking when to phone someone abroad.

• It's graphical and the selected location moves as you draw your mouse across the map
• It shows YOUR time zone in the top left hand corner, so you can judge the time difference
• It accounts for daylight savings

This is seriously the best site I've found for this, go take a look!

Teaching Overseas - How much will it cost?

Something that's always on my mind when I'm moving to a new teaching job abroad is... Will I make enough money?

One of the best ways to judge that is figuring out how much it's going to cost you to live there, and I've found this handy little tool to help you with that!

Now, the International City Cost Guide is aimed at TEFL teachers, but it'll work just the same for you.

You can find it at TEFL.com and although you'll have to sign in and get a password to use it, it's well worth the effort.

Knowing how much it's going to cost you to live overseas can help you to assess the quality of the package that's being offered.

Proof! Starting your international teaching career in the UK works!

I recently interviewed an American teacher who launched her career in international schools after a year spent teaching the British National Curriculum at a grammar school just west of London.


Since then Junie has gone on to teach in 3 international schools in 2 countries that offered the UK curriculum. She has now spent more time teaching the British curriculum than the American one she originally trained for!

Hear all about teaching overseas from experienced teachers who are doing it right now!

Start Your International Teaching Career in the United Kingdom

Currently there is a shortage of experienced teachers to fill key jobs in the United Kingdom. This could be your opportunity to springboard your teaching career into the international school sector.

If you are looking at getting yourself a teaching job abroad at an international school but have not yet been able to land a contract, you could sneak your way in through the back door.

In nearly every country in the world you can find an international school that offers the British National Curriculum. All of these schools are looking for teachers with recent experience teaching in the UK.

With recent experience teaching the British examination courses for GCSE (Grade 9) and A-Levels (Grade 12), you will have a resume that recruiters for British schools will be very interested in and they will be lining up to interview you. The same follows for elementary school teachers who are familiar with the key stages set out in the UK National Curriculum.

Search Associates, one of the largest recruitment organisations dealing with international schools even has a separate branch that specialises in placing teachers with UK experience in British International schools.

Teaching Overseas Can Make Accessing News and Events From Home Difficult...

NO MORE!!

When you're teaching overseas you do not need to be cut off from news and events at home. Provided your favourite sources have websites you can get access. But there's a new technology that you should be looking for that will have the news delivered to you whenever the website is updated.

This is an RSS feed. You subscribe to a website (and it's usually free) and then when the content is changed you are sent the new information automatically.

While I knew what RSS was, I hadn't figured out how to actually use it to my benefit... so I went looking...

Here's what I found! It's called 'RSS Feeds in Plain English' and boy, does it deliver. Watch this video and you'll know exactly what you need to do to get news and events sent to you. It's a two step process that they walk you through, so it's easy!

Using Leverage To Get Your First Teaching Job Overseas

The job market for Overseas Teaching Jobs is a competitive one. Leverage the experience you already have by putting together a targeted resume that reflects your strengths.

International school recruiters are looking for teachers that have experience with multilingual or multicultural classes, but have you pointed this out on your resume? Make it clear that you have worked with students from different cultures and you'll be one step closer to landing your first teaching job abroad. This can be done as easily as describing the student cohort in broad terms when you list the schools at which you've previously worked.

Many schools abroad are smaller than domestic schools, and so many recruiters are looking for teachers that have a range of diverse experiences to offer to the school. If you have taught other subjects than the position you are applying for, then put this in your resume, with subtlety. Be careful that you aren't taking away from the fact that you are a specialist in the field for which you're applying!

International schools usually run extensive extra-curricular programs, especially schools that offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programmes. Faculty members are expected to contribute to the extra-curricular program, which means you can leverage your life experiences to secure your first job abroad. The IB emphasises creativity, service and action, which boils down, at the most basic level, to sports, arts and community service. If you have experience organising outdoor activities, coaching sports, teaching craft or hobbies, then you need to include this in your resume.

One key thing to remember when you're applying for a teaching job overseas is that recruiters are looking at the 'whole' person to see how they'll fit into the faculty, the culture, and what they'll contribute to the school community. Everything that you can bring to the school should be included in your application pack, so that the recruiter has an opportunity to 'meet' the person, not just the teacher.

Finally, if you don't have experience teaching multicultural or multilingual students, you can get experience by enrolling for and completing a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). This is a sure-fire way to prove your willingness to learn more about the issues international students face, and your willingness to adapt. To improve your chances of landing a teaching job abroad, you can get a TEFL certificate online.

Teaching Jobs Overseas - How to use leverage to get yours!

The Funny Side of Culture Shock When You're Teaching Overseas

Finally you will start to see the funny side of it all and most of the things that made you angry during the frustration stage will either cause you to laugh or you’ll be able to shrug your shoulders and pass it off as being a feature of your new home. When you’re in this stage of the cycle you’ll begin to remember your old home without your rose-coloured glasses again.

You may wonder how I can write with so much confidence about culture shock, and it’s because I’ve experienced it all. I’ve moved country 7 times in the last 11 years and each time I’ve been hit with culture shock. Sometimes only a mild dose, but it’s always there.

Culture shock has never put me off seeking teaching jobs abroad. I recognise it and work with it. In this article I’ve given you 5 methods of alleviating the stress of culture shock. Remember that all international teachers feel culture shock to some degree. You won’t be alone, so don’t let it stop you from enjoying the fantastic experiences you’ll have teaching abroad.

Dealing with Culture Shock When You're Teaching Overseas

Culture shock is the term used to describe how people feel when they are exposed to an unfamiliar culture or way of life, and the feeling of disorientation and separateness they experience. It’s a condition that every teacher working overseas feels in varying degrees, whether they’re new to teaching abroad or old hands at it.

Luckily culture shock follows a fairly predictable cycle and there are a number of ways you can prepare for it and lessen the impact of it once you’ve made the move overseas.

Unfortunately, when describing culture shock, it comes across as a negative thing to be avoided at all costs, and I’ve just told you it’s inevitable for anyone wanting to teach abroad. It’s important for you to remember that teaching overseas is an opportunity to explore other cultures and enjoy a better teaching environment. Yes, you will experience culture shock, but you can manage this and it’s not all bad!

Factors that can contribute to culture shock are :
* People speaking a different language, dialect or with an unfamiliar accent.

* Dealing with a different currnecy, money that is a different colour, feel and value. Keeping track of exchange rates can become a tiresome chore when living abroad, so once you’ve received your first paycheck, don’t bother. Earn local, spend local!

* People behaving in unfamiliar ways, even local customs can vary from one end of a country to another.

* Spicy and/or unfamiliar food. You may need to substitute ‘like’ ingredients in your favourite recipes too.

* People staring at you, if you are in a country where your skin colour or facial features stand out as being different, this will happen.

On top of this you’ll be the new teacher in school, so the procedures and policies will be different to what you’re used to at home.