Teaching Abroad - Teaching English Abroad

Teaching English Abroad In International Schools

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:17:46 +0000

There are many opportunities for teaching English abroad that are open to anybody who is able to speak English fluently. Whether you have a teaching degree or a certificate in English language teaching you can find work almost anywhere in the world.

This article looks at two options for people who want to teach English abroad including private language schools and teaching English abroad in International Schools.

International Schools

International schools are elementary, middle and high schools for expatriate children whose families live abroad. There are international schools that offer an American curriculum, those that offer a British curriculum and many more. The language of instruction in most international schools is English but many of the students have English as a second or third language, and so most international schools have teachers who support these students by teaching them English language.

Teaching English abroad in international schools can be done with the same qualifications that are required for teaching in a private language school however you will be competing with people who have teaching diplomas. With over 4000 international schools worldwide, there are many positions vacant every year. Teaching in an international school often offers better pay and more benefits than teaching in a private language school.

Some benefits you are likely to receive teaching in an international school are annual flights, accommodation allowance, medical insurance and, free tuition for your children in the school. International schools follow the regular school year, so you will only be teaching for around 200 days, and you will be paid for your vacation time, unlike private language school where you will receive 3-4 weeks holiday in a 12 month contract.

Private Language Schools Teaching positions in private language schools are easy to secure. English language tuition is a growth business in many areas of the world, in particular in Eastern Europe and throughout Asia. In order to teach English in a private language school you need to be able to speak English fluently and have a certificate from either Trinity or RSA CELTA.

These courses are around 4 weeks long and can even be completed online. Some language schools will hire native English speakers who do not have any ESL qualification, but usually these schools are not as reputable as those that insist their teachers have the appropriate qualifications.

For some countries you will need to have a Bachelor’s degree in order to be eligible for a work permit. You need to check this out if you do not have one because you could end up working abroad illegally. Usually your degree can be in any subject, it does not need to be in education.

Working at a private language school can be rewarding as you learn about the local culture from your students and see the progress they make. You are likely to have a combination of classes with 12-20 students and private lessons where you teach only one or two students.

In Asia you can land an English teaching contract at any time, but in Europe most contracts are from the beginning of autumn in September through to the beginning of summer in June or July.

Having taught English in both private language schools and worked in international schools, I recommend you try and focus on landing a position teaching English abroad in an international school because the pay and benefits are better and you get longer holidays too.

Teaching Jobs Overseas for Couples

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:21:19 +0000

Teaching couples are very popular with international school recruiters for many reasons but the main one is that couples can often work out cheaper to hire in the long run. This article however, is all about teaching jobs overseas from the viewpoint of the teaching couples, rather than the schools.

Whether you are married or not you can look for jobs as a teaching couple, most schools do not discriminate against couples who do not have a marriage certificate. An obvious exception is schools in the Middle East. It is very difficult for non-married couples to land jobs in international schools in the Middle East, where governments’ regulations stipulate that couples seeking working visas produce a marriage certificate.

You may be able to find a way around this problem but it is unlikely that international school recruiters recruiting for schools in the Middle East are going to find non-married teaching couples an attractive employment prospect when compared to married ones. If you are in this situation, your best bet is to concentrate your job hunt on other regions in the world. When looking for a teaching job abroad as a couple, there are several options open to you: You can look for suitable teaching vacancies in international schools that will suit both you and your partner’s teaching skills. This will involve finding schools that have vacancies for both of you, a task that is easier at the beginning of the recruiting season because schools have yet to fill their vacancies. Generally speaking December through to March is the best time for teaching couples to look for overseas teaching positions together in the same school. Teaching couples are hot employment prospects at this time because hiring a teaching couple has an impact on the benefits schools have to pay.

Alternatively, you and your partner can look for teaching vacancies in international schools in the same cities. A number of teaching couples are lucky enough to find teaching jobs abroad in different schools in the same city. If you have not taught in the same school as your partner or spouse before, you may find this a better option for you.

The most efficient method to find teaching jobs in different international schools in the same city is to attend an international teaching job fair. At an international teaching job fair you will find many school s from around the globe in the one location, all looking for teachers to fill their vacancies. Often you will find a number of recruiters from the same city at a job fair and it is possible to schedule interviews with each of them individually.

At most job fairs you will also be able to see international school recruiters give presentations about their school and the working in the community. This can help you make an informed decision about whether a school, city or country will be a good fit for you and your family.

In a nutshell, teaching jobs overseas for couples are available and many international school recruiters actively look for teaching couples when they are recruiting. However, one of the first decisions you must make is whether you wish to teach in the same school as your spouse or partner and then hunt for teaching positions that suit your needs.

5 Reasons You Should Teach Abroad at an International School Instead of a TEFL Language School

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:13:48 +0000

Teachers who are looking to move their teaching career overseas have two options, teach at an international school or teach at a private language school. I’ve done both and I think that teaching at an international school is the best option. I’d like to share 5 reasons why I think this is true.

Reason #1 – disposable income

When I taught at private language schools, it was a luxury to buy paperbacks, and to have my legs waxed. I had to think about where I was spending my salary because I simply didn’t have enough money to spend on non-essential items. Not if I wanted to go on any vacations or have any time off over the summer.

Now that I teach at an international school, I am able to spend my teaching salary as I choose, and still have money left at the end of the month to save. I’m not talking about saving for the summer holidays, or for a rainy day. I can save money just to have it in the bank. I’m now able to save towards a deposit on a house, and contribute to a pension scheme.

Reason #2 – regular paid vacations

When you are an EFL teacher, you will usually sign a contract for an academic year (9 months) or a calendar year. Generally your contract will include a few weeks holiday, but you will be expected to work a larger proportion of your contract’s length than if you were teaching at an international school.

At an international school, your teaching contract will be signed for a period of 12 months. Of which you will be expected to teach around 200 days. The rest of the year the school will be closed and you will be able to go on vacations.

I spent 4 years working in the TEFL sector of the teaching profession, and I worked each summer teaching residential summer school courses. Since I’ve been teaching at international schools, I have been able to take each summer off and travel. I also travel during the school year as there is only two months in the year when I do not get at least a three day weekend.

Reason #3 – normal teaching contact hours

Private language schools that specialise in TEFL are ‘cram schools’. The students mostly attend their English lessons around their other school or job commitments. This means that your working hours will be crazy. At my first language school my working day was any hours I was given between 10am and 10pm. I was lucky because the manager of the branch at which I taught was very considerate of her teachers. Not all the EFL teachers working for the same company were so well treated.

At another school I taught at, each week I had days when I worked a split shift. I would be teaching my first lesson at half past seven in the morning, have a few hours off in the middle of the day, then I would have to be back at work and teaching for another 4-5 hours in the evening and finish the day at 9:30pm.

International schools operate regular school hours. If you are teaching at a school that starts early in the morning, then you will be done with your working day in the early afternoon.

Reason #4 – planning time is ‘included’

TEFL teachers are employed for contact hours. This is the time you spend in front of students. However, lessons don’t just appear out of thin air, teachers need to prepare their lessons and organise resources. When you first start out teaching EFL you may spend as much time preparing for a lesson as you actually do teaching it. I remember when I began, this was the case on a good day, sometimes I’d spend a lot more time agonising over what I was going to do in the lesson than I actually spent in the classroom with my students. Of course, this is not true now, when I am teaching in a well resourced language school, I am able to plan a lesson much more quickly than when I started out.

One thing that TEFL teachers need to know is that while your contract says you must teach 20-35 hours a week, in reality this will mean they are working (between lesson preparation, teaching and marking) 50+ hours a week. And the pay for all your extra time spent planning the lessons is ‘included’ in your hourly teaching rate. I can tell you, teachers become very efficient in planning their lessons quickly!

Teachers working overseas in international schools are employed as full-time teachers who teach a required number of contact hours. But overseas teachers are employed for the whole teaching day, and so their planning time is included in their salaries. I’ve taught in regular high schools in addition to international schools, and I have considerably more non-contact time in which to prepare my lessons when I teach abroad at international schools than when I’ve taught locally at state schools.

Reason #5 – professional development opportunities

I have a number of qualifications in EFL teaching. I have two Cambridge certificates and a Diploma in Second Language Teaching as well. I paid for all of the courses out of my teaching salary, when I didn’t have a lot to spare. I sought professional development opportunities to make me a better teacher, and the schools I’ve worked for have directly benefited from my efforts. But not one of the private language schools I’ve taught for in the past have ever helped me pay for my professional development.

Most international schools have a pool of money set aside for the professional development of their teaching staff. At my current school, there is a budget set per teacher annually. I went to a summit in Singapore this year, funded by the school. I’ve used a number of the techniques I learnt at the summit in my classes since I’ve been back.

In conclusion

I’ve taught overseas at both international schools and private language schools since I began my international teaching career, and I am happier and feel more valued now that I am teaching in an international school.

I found that many private language schools were run by people solely interested in their profit margin, and the quality of language education offered was hardly a consideration to them.

I now teach at a school where I’m treated like a teaching professional, the students’ education is the top priority of teachers and management alike, and I get regular vacations to satisfy my hunger for travel and new experiences.

3 Key Steps To Choosing The Right Teaching Job Abroad

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:02:42 +0000

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.

* Does the school have a director from a ‘western’ country? Or a director with experience in ‘western’ educational practices?

The former is going to be more use to you because a western director will presumably have experienced a western education as well.

Also check whether the director interviewing you is remaining with the school for the following academic year. I’ve known teachers who have been interviewed by a British or American director and accepted contracts only to find out on arrival that the ‘foreign’ director has been replaced with a local one.

* Rather than talk to the recruiter about your teaching philosophy, ask them about the teaching and learning philosophy and practice of the school.

Some teachers have been excited about their new job abroad until they have tuned up at the school to discover that there was a vast difference between what the recruiter told them about the school’s educational philosophy at the interview and what was happening in practice.

Asking the recruiter about the teaching and learning philosophy of the school, rather than discussing your own is more likely to elicit the truth about the school. If you are a hot prospect, it’s quite likely that the recruiter will agree that your teaching style will be a perfect fit for the school simply to get you to sign the contract.

* Check the school’s reputation using online resources and by talking to teachers.

This is especially easy if you are attending a job fair because you will be surrounded by experienced international teachers. Ask other teachers what they think of the school that’s attempting to recruit you. The international school teaching community is a small one, everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows something…

Go online and join the International Schools Review website to check what other teachers have to say about the school you are interested in.

When finding information about schools, make sure the information is timely. When the teaching and administration staff are signing two year contracts, there can me a lot of staff turnover; resulting in a lot of rapid changes in a school!

Remember, no school is going to be a perfect fit, so try and find the school that looks like it is going to be the best fit. If you get to your new job and it is not exactly what you expected, try and look at the positives, they will almost certainly outweigh the negatives…

* a lot more money left at the end of the month

* a better climate

* more opportunities to travel

* a shorter school year

* more time to pursue hobbies or professional development.

Teachers – Want a Private Education For Your Children But You Cannot Afford It?

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:56:54 +0000

You need to teach overseas! Pick a country, any country, and there will be at least one international school there. International Schools offer private education for expatriate’s children worldwide. And, while most of the parents have to pay school fees, one of the conditions nearly always included in the contracts of international teachers is free education for the teachers’ children. There are over 4000 international schools worldwide, all requiring teachers to staff them, many of them offering excellent quality private education.

Picking a school that suits both your children’s needs and yours can be challenging, but it is possible. In a recent interview I conducted with international teachers, Maggie Hos-McGrane, an international teacher of 19 years experience said that after she had completed her research she’d found only 30 of the more than 4000 international schools suited both her and her children. If you have children, here are some things you should consider when applying for teaching posts abroad in international schools.

Is the school a profit making enterprise?

There are a number of different kinds of international schools to choose from, some are run by a board and are not designed to make a profit, and others are run by an individual or company in order to make a profit.

As a teacher you will be concerned that the school’s educational philosophy matches your own. As a parent you want to insure that your children’s education is the priority of the school, rather than the amount of money spent on educational materials and the effect that will have on the school’s owner’s profit.

There are some directors or owners of international schools that may be more interested in the financial benefits of running a school than the education benefits to the students. Be aware, both as a prospective employee and as a parent.

Is the school accredited?

International schools can become accredited by an organization that sets educational and operational standards for international education institutions. One such organization is the Council of International Schools (CIS). In order for an international school to become accredited by CIS, they must go through a rigorous appraisal process which looks at the staff and management, the facilities and, the quality of teaching and learning in the school.

If an international school is accredited, then you can be confident that the quality of education provided by the school is high. Most schools that are accredited by an organization like CIS advertise their status on their webpage, brochures and stationery.

Other organizations that offer accreditation for international schools are NEASC, COBISEC, ISCIS and the Association of Christian Schools International, to name a few.

How many students are in the school?

This is particularly of concern for parents of high school aged children as the number of students in a school may affect the number of subject choices offered at higher levels. For example, if there are only 30 students in the graduating class, then the school will have to limit the number of subjects being offered to make it cost effective. This can often affect profit and non-profit making schools alike.

Additionally, the number of students in the school can affect the number and type of extra curricular activities offered, and therefore your child’s opportunities to experience team sports and other activities that are usually run after school.

When a school has a large number of students, this can also mean that the school is more likely to have a well-stocked library, well equipped laboratories, up-to-date computer equipment and outdoor activity areas. This is usually true of larger schools simply because there is a larger pot of money to fund these facilities from.

On the other hand a school that has thousands of students, while usually offering a wide variety of subjects and activities for students, can often be an anonymous place for children. It is up to you to decide what a good balance is for you and your family.

Which curricula do the schools subscribe to?

There are international schools abroad that offer what is essentially a national curriculum. In fact, in the case of many British schools abroad, it’s even called the National Curriculum.

You can find international schools that are running the national curriculum from America, the UK, Australia, Canada, France (usually taught in French), and so on. Securing a teaching contract in an international school that offers the national curriculum that you and your children are used to will help ease the transition. However, you are not limited by the curricula that you have taught in the past, international schools are generally looking for good teachers and realize that teachers can adapt and teach any curriculum.

When you are looking for a good school for your children, you may run up against some curricula that you haven’t come across before. For example, there is the school wide system offered by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO). The IBO offers the Primary Years Programme up to Year 6, the Middle Years Programme from Years 7 to 11, and the Diploma Years Programme for Years 12 and 13.

Which examinations will your children be working towards?

There are a number of examinations available for international school students, and you will need to understand the options before making any decisions about accepting an employment contract.

I mentioned the IBO previously as being a school wide programme. However many schools adopt bits and pieces of the programme. You may find that an international school offers the Diploma for the upper two years but offers the British IGCSE for Years 10 and 11. IGCSE is an examination based qualification, and the IBO Middle Years Programme has no formal examination assessment, students get a certificate and a record of achievement. Some international schools have a mix and match attitude to the curricula offered.

International schools that run national curricula tend to prepare students for the related national exams. American schools overseas run a mixture of state curricula and AP courses.

In this article I have listed just a few of the factors you’ll need to consider if you would like to get a private education for your children by teaching overseas. While I don’t have any children of my own, many of my colleagues do, and they believe that the education their children are receiving abroad is better than what they could get back home, wherever home may be.

Don’t Be Fooled by a Low Salary Offer – The Cost of Living is it

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:51:45 +0000

There are a number of factors to be considered when you are looking at taking a job at an international school, on the financial side there is: * salary * medical insurance * housing allowance * annual flights. On the conditions side there is: * class size * facilities * contact hours * teaching days in a school year

Most of these factors can be taken at face value. However, if you like to travel and want your work to pay well as I do, you may be turning down lucrative positions if you take a salary offer at face value and don’t take the cost of living into account.

For example, when I moved to Poland in the late 90s I accepted a job that only paid 900USD a month. It doesn’t sound like much, does it? I can tell you, I lived well on my money. During that year I explored Poland, spent Easter in the Czech Republic, went skiing in Austria for two weeks, started a Masters through distance learning and saved a little as well.

How did I do this? Well, the cost of living was quite low in Poland compared to other countries in Europe. I regularly had two thirds of my salary left after I’d paid all my expenses for the month. As I said, it’s the cost of living that makes all the difference.

Some countries have a high cost of living and some don’t. I know that’s a clumsy statement, but consider this… If you were to rent an apartment in Tokyo it would cost you 673USD a month for around 20 m2. That’s small! In Bangkok you can rent a 44 m2 furnished apartment for 337USD a month. I hope you can see that this kind of information is as valuable to your decision-making process when accepting a job as the actual salary figure itself.

When you are evaluating whether a package is worthy of accepting you will be looking at several issues. You will probably want to avoid taking a pay cut, and here are some tips to help you with your decision making:

* Make a list of the financial commitments you will need to meet while you are overseas. When you have shortlisted positions, check with the recruiter that the salary offered will enable you to meet them. Ensure you know the USD equivalent of the amount you need.

* Go online and check the price of rental properties in the area you will be living in. You will be able to assess whether the accommodation allowance will need supplementing from your salary.

* Check the “Big Mac” Index. The “Big Mac” Index is a surprisingly accurate comparison of cost of living which works on the principal that a McDonalds Big Mac should cost the same in every country. It is an excellent way to get a feel for the comparative cost of living in the country you are looking in which you are looking to work. You can access the Index here:

Big Mac Index

* If you are looking to travel while you are teaching abroad make a travel plan of the countries you want to explore and when you want to visit them. You can investigate how much this will cost and sort out a budget by using the internet.

Teaching Abroad – An Advanced Strategy for Landing the Perfect Teaching Job

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:43:32 +0000

If you have read any of the articles I have written prior to this, you will know I’m a proponent of spreading yourself around in order to secure a teaching position in an international school. This is the approach that I have used successfully and I still believe it is an excellent strategy for kicking off your international teaching career. However, I thought I’d better write an article on strategies for educators who are looking for their second or third overseas teaching position. Those international educators with some overseas work experience under their wing may choose to use this longer-term strategy to secure their next teaching position.

Once you’ve been working in the international education sector for a while, you’ll soon come to realize there are international schools and then there are ‘international schools’. Some international schools are international in name only, some schools have student bodies that are populated heavily with the children of privileged, local families, so that you end up teaching in what is essentially an English Speaking School.

Teachers love to talk! In fact, one of the reasons I accepted the position I currently hold is because teachers I met at the international teaching job fair I attended recommended the school to me. I now keep a list of schools that have great reputations, and another list of schools that I know I definitely don’t want to work in. I base my list on what I’ve heard from teachers that I work with or meet at professional development events.

Once you have identified which schools will suit your needs by talking to colleagues, peers and doing some research, you’ll need a strategy for landing a great teaching position with them.

First Contact Plus

I have dubbed this strategy ‘First Contact Plus’ because the first contact you make with a school you want to work for may not result in employment being offered. The key to this strategy is persistence and making yourself known.

This strategy comes into its own when you do not have a fixed time-frame in which you need to see results. It might take years for this strategy to pay off. I know of one colleague who has been using this strategy to woo a particularly desirable school for several years, and only this year have there been any real rewards.

How does the strategy work? Well, it starts by you sending your application pack to the recruiter in question when the recruiting season starts. Do not wait for your desired school to post vacancies. You are not applying for a job, what you are trying to do is become known to the recruiter. You do not include a letter of application with your pack, you write a personalized letter of introduction.

Follow this up with a phone call a week later, asking the recruiter if they received your application pack and making inquiries about the school’s recruitment process. Should be a vacancy that would suit your credentials and experience, press for an interview

If you should attend an international teacher recruitment fair that season, introduce yourself personally to the recruiter attending the fair to represent your favored school. You must introduce yourself regardless of whether there is a position open that you could fill, or not. When you meet the recruiter, remind them about yourself and offer your regrets that there is not a suitable vacancy this season that you could fill. Clearly let the recruiter know that you find the idea of working at their school desirable and ask if you can stay in touch with the view to seeking employment in the future. When you get their permission to stay in touch you can email them without it being considered SPAM.

This completes the ‘First Contact’ part of the strategy. Next, the ‘Plus’.

Once you have made contact with the recruiter you need to remain in the front of their mind. Be warned, this does not mean stalking the recruiter, but rather building a relationship with them so that you are at the top of the list when a suitable vacancy eventuates. Each season send your application pack to the recruiter, send them Christmas cards if appropriate, let them know of any professional development, positions of responsibility or other additions to your resume. Whenever you are attending a recruitment event, meet and greet the recruiter in person. If you are holidaying near the school when they are in session, then request to visit.

You can see why this is an advanced, long-term strategy for landing the perfect job teaching overseas. It takes some effort and you will need to have access to the job fairs etc. However, the results can be well-worth the effort you put into it. First Contact Plus is a strategy that puts a spin on a marketing strategy called ‘relationship marketing’ where companies attempt to build a sustainable competitive advantage by nurturing a relationship with suppliers and customers alike.

Learn more about finding a job teaching abroad…>

Teaching Overseas – Should You Register at an International Teaching Job Fair?

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:36:56 +0000

When you consider that there may be 100 schools represented and 400 pre-screened candidates, your chances of securing a teaching position at an international school is high. Additionally, many of the top schools will only consider interviewing candidates who are pre-screened by a recruiting agency.

Whether or not you decide to register with a job fair might depend on your ability to get to where one is being held. Job fairs are held at locations worldwide, with a particular concentration in North America and the United Kingdom. Some of the organisations hosting the job fairs do not charge participants to attend, they make their money from charging the recruiters.

There are several organisations that hold job fairs for international teachers. International School Services (ISS), Search Associates and the Council of International Schools (COIS) are three of them that hold job fairs around the world. These organisations pre-screen the candidates and invite those candidates that meet the criteria published on their websites to attend their job fairs. You can go to their websites and check if you meet their criteria.

Both ECIS and Search Associates are very professional and experienced in their approach to organising job fairs, and it shows at their events.

Recruiters rely on these organisers to cut out the unqualified or undesirable candidates. They turn away many candidates each year, so you should feel proud if you are invited to attend one of these fairs; it’s the first step to getting a contract at the fair.

COIS

COIS do not charge candidates to attend their job fairs. The recruiters do pay a fee to attend.

COIS job fairs are held from February through to June in the UK and in North America. The requirements for becoming registered with COIS are available on their website and include:

* A current teaching certification/ qualification

* Three professional referees, one of which must be your current head teacher

* 2 year’s experience

* Candidates should be willing to consider being placed anywhere in the world.

The dates and venues and application deadlines for the COIS job fairs for 2007 are available on their website and the deadline for applications for their first job fair is January 18th.

Search Associates

Search offer an online application process and a number of job fairs in a variety of geographical locations. Before completing an application you can go through a self-screening checklist on their website to determine how competitive you will be in the job market.

Search charge candidates $US150 to register, which is good for 3 years if you don’t find an overseas position in your first recruitment season. Search offers a number of job fairs and your registration fee covers your attendance at one fair per registration period (of up to 3 years). You can attend more than one for an additional fee of $US 50 per fair. Should you find your new position through Search Associates, there is an additional placement fee of $US 300.

On application Search will assign you an ‘associate’ to give you personal service.

Once you are registered, your resume will be posted online for recruiters to peruse. It is vital that you go log in to the site and update your resume at least every 30 days or your resume might be pulled off the site.

Teachers in Australia and New Zealand can attend one of the Information Seminars offered by Search. These seminars are held throughout Australia and New Zealand in order to provide information for people interested in teaching overseas, and to pre-screen potential candidates prior to the Search job fair in Sydney. Check their website for details.

Search offer two specialised placement services aimed at teachers with experience in either the IB system or the British National Curriculum, see their website for more details.

The dates and venues of the Search Associates Job Fairs for 2007 are on the Search Associates website and their first job fair is being held in Australia in January.

ISS

ISS charge candidates $US175 to establish a professional file with them. If your application is not accepted by them, they will refund $US125, and they do not charge a placement fee if you accept a position at one of the job fairs they host.

ISS job fairs are held in January, February, and March. The requirements for establishing a file with ISS are available on their website and include:

* A 4 year bachelor’s degree

* 2 year’s experience

* Candidates should be willing to consider being placed in two continents.

If you are interested in establishing a professional file with ISS you should look at the more detailed list of their requirements on their website.

The ISS name for a job fair is International Recruitment Centre (IRC).

ISS are holding three IRCs in 2007, the first one will be held in Bangkok in January.

ISS say that ‘typically 50 percent of those who attend accept positions as a result.’

These are the big three of the recruitment organisations for teachers looking at a career in international teaching and participation in one of their job fairs can kick start you onto a new and exciting career path. It can sure beat searching through job advertisements and sending out your application pack 100 times.

Learn more about finding a job teaching abroad…>

Make the Most of Your International Teaching Job Fair Experience

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:29:47 +0000

When you attend an international teaching job fair you are in a completely manufactured environment. The organisers have brought together a large number of recruiters from international schools and teachers desiring to teach overseas, into what is usually a confined indoor space like a hotel, and the participants’ sole objective is to fill teaching vacancies.

In order to make the most of this pressure-cooker-like environment, you need to network.

Networking is common place in the business world. Business people meet and exchange business cards, then either keep in touch or contact each other when they have a mutually beneficial need of each other’s services.

When teachers attend a recruitment fair such as the international teacher job fairs, networking can enable you to leverage the time and expense involved in getting there. Teaching Job Fairs can be overwhelming to the uninitiated, check out The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School for a detailed strategy dedicated to preparing you to make the most of the job fair opportunity.

Here are three quick and easy steps to leveraging your participation in an international teacher recruitment fair using networking strategies:

Step #1

Meet as many recruiters as possible, in person, and make a connection with them by talking about their school, the country their school is based in, regretting that they don’t have a position for you this year, etc.

Most international recruitment fairs are held in hotels and the schedule of events will include activities such as welcome drinks. It is imperative to your networking strategy that you attend these functions and make yourself known to the international schools’ recruiters as an international career teacher.

Step #2

After the teaching job fair, follow up with the recruiters to remind your new contacts of the conversation that you shared. Ask them how successful the job fair was for them and ask to be kept in mind if any suitable teaching vacancies come up. You can follow up via email, phone or letter.

Step #3

Maintain contact with the schools’ recruiters and stay in touch. You don’t want them to forget about you over the course of the academic year. You want to be the first educator these recruiters think of when they begin recruiting teachers the following year.

A word of advice, when I say meet as many recruiters as possible, I’m serious. Do not prejudge any recruiter as not being worth your networking efforts simply because they don’t work for a school at which you’d like to teach. Unless the recruiter is the owner of that particular school, chances are they will eventually move to a school at which you would like to work. Recruiters are often headmasters and principals, and they move around as much as teachers do!

Additionally, recruiters talk to each other and there is always the possibility that a recruiter you’ve been networking with may know of a teaching position for you at an international school where they have a networking relationship of their own with another recruiter.

When you take the time to network at a teaching recruitment fair, you can begin working on an advanced strategy for landing the perfect teaching job. I call it First Contact Plus.

Learn more about finding a job teaching abroad…>

Teaching Abroad – Contract Conditions to Look For

Kelly Blackwell, Guest Blogger — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:41:23 +0000

There are as many contract conditions as there are international schools, almost.

International schools are sometimes caught in a difficult situation. They need to comply with the regulations of the country they are operating in, ensure their conditions and salaries are competitive with other international schools and balance this all with the fact that they have to work within a salary budget.

Here are some items to consider when you are thinking about contract conditions for you and your family.

* tuition fee for dependent children

* housing allowance

* medical cover

* pension contributions

* end of contract bonus

* annual flights home

* sick pay

* maternity leave

* spouse visas

* professional development

* extra-curricular activities

* over-night trips

When you are making the decision to work overseas, you will need to set some criteria for what contract conditions you are willing to accept.

If you have three or more children, you’ll be looking for a contract where the tuition fee for all of your children is waived. Otherwise you may end up spending a considerable amount of your take-home pay on tuition fees for your third child. The fees for international schools are high, frequently beyond what a teacher can afford to pay, even on the good salaries that are available for teachers at international schools. This makes sense when you think about it – it’s those salaries that pay overseas teachers so lucratively.

When you choose to move to a location far away from your family, you won’t want to spend the money you’ve saved to fly your whole family home each year for a visit. This is where annual flights home are a must for me when I am deciding what conditions I will accept.

Consider the period of time you are willing to commit to your new school. There is a trend towards offering starting contracts of two years. My advice is to sign a contract for two years, initially, as it may take you a year or more to settle into the community. Then you can ask to sign contract renewals annually.

If I had signed a one year contract for my current school, I wouldn’t be here now, nor would I have just re-signed for an additional 12 months. It took me a year to get settled and find new hobbies and places to do my old hobbies.

To avoid making a mistake you will regret later you need to have a clear idea of what you want before you enter into any interview situation with the international schools’ recruiters. You also need to have some way of comparing the contract conditions that are offered by different schools, should you be offered more than one teaching position.

Knowing what you’re looking for doesn’t mean that you will get it, but it will mean that you can make informed decisions based on what’s being offered. You will still need to be flexible because, as per the point I made earlier, there is considerable diversity in contract conditions offered across the world.

Learn more about finding a job teaching abroad…>