Who are schools looking for?

How can I find out about jobs overseas?

How can I study for a Masters degree if I don't have the time or money?

What can I do if my school doesn't have a higher degree program?

What sort of conditions will I be working under?

What if I find that conditions are not as described by the School Head?

WHO ARE OVERSEAS SCHOOLS LOOKING FOR?

Generally speaking, overseas schools are looking for single teachers, or married teachers who both teach and have not more than 2 children. There are always exceptions to the rule, but if you fall outside these parameters, your chances of being hired will be diminished. Some schools even go so far as to specify which nationalities of teachers they will hire, or even which brand of English they should speak.

M.A. degree holders with a minimum of two years teaching experience are generally preferred by overseas schools. The ability and willingness to lead or participate in co-curricular activities is also an expectation of most overseas schools. If you have had experience in areas other than your main teaching area, it will add to your chances of being hired, especially if you can use this experience to lead after-school activities, which may range from Community Service, through Sports activities, to the Fine Arts.

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HOW CAN I POSSIBLY FIND OUT ABOUT JOBS OVERSEAS? 

The internet has become the best source of free information for jobs overseas, but you should also consider the merits of using an fee based placement agency to help you find a job overseas. A fee of US$100 dollars may seem to be an unnecessary expense now, but bear in mind that overseas jobs usually pay more than jobs in your home country and that the US$100 dollars should be looked upon as an investment in your teaching career, especially as this fee lasts for three years if you use Search Associates. Other placement agencies require this sort of fee for one year's membership.

Search Associates will do a lot of the leg-work for you in order to find you a job. They also organise recruitment fairs all over the world to which you may be invited if an opening in your area of expertise materialises. In particular, they are the only recruiting fair organisers to host annual recruiting fairs in South East Asia and The Antipodes for schools advertising openings in the region. You may think that a further US$300 is a bit steep to pay Search Associates on your placement in an overseas school, but you should bear in mind the number of hours that they will have had to work on your behalf and be assured that this sum will pale into insignificance once you start work overseas. A mere US$400 to change your life? Many would call that good value.

Teacher Recruitment International is an extremely good-value, fee based placement agency, based in Sydney, Australia. TRI will interview you and create a personal profile which they will then try to match with job openings in countries of the candidate's choice including International Schools across the world and schools in the USA and the UK. A small fee of A$77 (US$35) is charged for this service which entitles you to TRI's services. There are no other fees payable by the candidate, final placement fees being paid by the school into which the successful candidate is placed. This also relieves teachers of the odium of attending a recruiting fair.

k12teachoverseas.com has yet to find a better value or quality of service for teachers aspiring to, or continuing in, placements in overseas schools. If you know of one, please send an email to info@k12teachoverseas.com

ECIS host fairs world-wide every year which are free for teachers. They will try to match your qualifications and experience with jobs overseas, but you may have to do a fair amount of speculative letter writing and e-mailing to your schools of choice overseas first as they are not a placement agency per se.

ISS is also a fee based placement agency which also organises recruiting fairs. Its fair is held in the United States of America and they require US$125 for entry to their fairs and for their placement service. There are no other fees.

The University of Iowa organises a recruiting fair in the United States and requires candidates to purchase a US$5 booklet in order to register for their fair.

Whilst on the subject of approaching schools, the British system schools do not seem to welcome speculative letters from prospective staff and you may receive cold responses telling you where to look for the advertisement for jobs, if and when it appears. For jobs in British system run schools, The Times Educational Supplement is usually the first place to look. Things are beginning to change as the internet takes a stronger hold in Britain and overseas schools are beginning to be more flexible in their approach to hiring. You have nothing to lose by writing speculatively. There are also teacher placement agencies in Britain who will help you find a teaching job.

American system schools are totally different and expect prospective staff to write speculatively to them, taking the view that it saves them a lot of time and money if they don't need to advertise for staff. This is why you may never see an advertisement for a job in your chosen school. Advertisements for American system overseas schools are usually placed in The International Educator.

The United States of America also hosts a large number of recruitment fairs in February and March each year and information about them can be found on our Links pages. If you would like to suggest other fairs which you have found useful, please send an e-mail to ideas@k12teachoverseas.com

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HOW CAN I STUDY FOR A MASTER'S DEGREE IF I DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR MONEY?

If you are from educational systems where graduating with a Bachelor's degree is considered the norm rather than the exception, it is quite possible to study for a bona fide American Master's degree without having to travel to America or a British Master's degree without ever having to visit Britain. Many overseas schools have links to American or British universities who send some of their faculty overseas to run Master's Degrees in Education during the summer vacation. You should allow approximately three years to complete your degree.

Many overseas schools will allow you part of the fees for your course as in-service education, as most of what you learn on the course you will be able to apply to your job. You should check with your interviewer to see if your chosen school has such a program. Michigan State University runs a highly respected Graduate Studies in Education Overseas at various venues overseas where accommodation is close to the school which hosts the program. The ECIS site has a comprehensive list of reputable universities world-wide who offer distanced learning courses. There is a link to ECIS both here and on our Links page. The University of Bath in the UK also runs a highly respected MA course.

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WHAT CAN I DO IF MY SCHOOL DOESN'T HAVE A HIGHER DEGREE PROGRAM?

In this day and age of the internet, it is perfectly possible to take a degree by distanced learning. Some universities require you to be resident for at least a small portion of the degree course and you should check the entrance requirements before committing yourself to the degree course. If you are still in your home country, you may be able to take a distanced learning degree there before you leave, or even a part time degree course. Check to see if your employer has any arrangements for you to take some time off work, or if there is any financial assistance available.

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WHAT SORT OF CONDITIONS WILL I BE WORKING UNDER?

Generally speaking, working conditions in overseas schools are excellent. As the majority of them are private schools, there should be an ample provision of teaching resources. Many overseas schools are at the leading edge of educational practice and encourage their staff to stay current with research in their subject areas. Most schools are also technologically well equipped.

By and large, you will find your pupils to be keen to learn and your class sizes with usually be smaller than those that you may have been accustomed to in your home country. The atmosphere in overseas schools is usually extremely safe and it is highly unlikely that you would ever be attacked by a student within the confines of the school.

With regard to human relationships, most overseas schools proceed on an even keel, with a steady hand on the tiller. Unfortunately, school managers do exist who confuse bullying with leadership. If you should find yourself in one of these situations, then you can choose to wait it out in the hope that the climate will change when these people move on, or leave for pastures new. You should check carefully that your chosen country has labor laws which are abided by, or whether they are simply on the statute books and rarely used in practice.

Your school may have a Teachers' Organization or Council, which passes for a union, but this may be insidiously controlled by the school's Head. Expressing a view contrary to that held by the management in this forum and in these circumstances will not do you any favours and could lead to non-renewal of contract in the worst cases that have come to the notice of k12teachoverseas.com Schools which enjoy large numbers of prospective teaching applicants, and who have poor management who have a cavalier attitude towards their staff, often take the view that, "If you don't like it here, you can go somewhere else." Long tenure of service at an overseas school does not grant exemption from such unscrupulous treatment and it has come to the notice of k12teachoverseas.com that teachers who have worked for schools for twenty years have been summarily dismissed. When you teach overseas, unless the country in which you work has good labor laws, you will, by and large, be on your own, so it's a case of caveat emptor.

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WHAT IF I FIND THAT CONDITIONS ARE NOT AS DESCRIBED BY THE SCHOOL HEAD?

You should try and obtain contracts both for yourself and for your spouse before leaving your home country. Don't be fobbed off with the promise of local employment for your spouse which will materialise on your arrival whilst one contract arrives for you to sign. Insist on some sort of promise in writing, on headed notepaper of your intended school of employment, signed by the Head of School at the very least. If this is not forthcoming, then it's a case of caveat emptor. You can choose to go to the school and hope that an opening will become vacant for your spouse, or you can write a polite letter to the school explaining that at interview, the impression you were left with was that there would be employment for both of you, and as that has not been forthcoming, you decline to go to that school. It all depends on which one of you is prepared to make the sacrifice of their career if you really want to go to that particular school. Whatever you do, if you want to preserve your marriage, make the decision together, and for the right reasons.

Whilst on this subject, if your marriage is going through a difficult time, do not be tempted to think that a move abroad will bring you closer together. Moving abroad puts a strain on everyone in the family and can end up being the straw that broke the camel's back. In addition, members of opposite sex of the local population may seem exotically and irresistably attractive to the emotionally jaded, with dire consequences for the marriage. Whilst this is undesirable for any couple, it is especially drastic for the children, who may end up being emotionally scarred for life. To make matters even worse, local laws may not protect a partner who wishes to retain custody of the children.

Apart from employment, you should make sure that you have details of the school's medical scheme at the time you sign the contract. One horror story that k12teachoverseas.com came across was of a teacher who was diagnosed with a dread disease shortly after arrival at his new school and then discovered that he was not covered by his school's medical scheme. Even worse, he then discovered that he was not even covered in his home country as he hadn't kept up his medical payments. He was young and didn't think that he would need health insurance for dread diseases at his age. Be very careful - your health and that of your family is paramount at all times.

LASTLY

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