Job Discussion Forums

[treiche1]

Hello everyone, I am currently living in Mexico with my husband (who is a Mexican citizen, I am dual Mexican-American) and teaching here. We are both young and before we settle down and have a family, we'd like to go abroad (preferably to Europe) to live for one or two years. We're not looking to save a lot of money, we just want the experience.

I have my teaching credential (in both history and English, from the US), a permit to teach ESL learners, and my master's degree in urban education from UCLA. I have three years experience teaching in culturally diverse environments.

We are not planning on going until next year (2014-15 school year), my question is, where are my best chances for getting a job? We are willing to go anywhere in Europe, I lived in Germany for 6 months and absolutely loved it....but any suggestions? Will my husband have a problem getting a visa to come along if he is a Mexican citizen? Any advice would be helpful, thanks!

[spiral78]

You may be able to find something, but it's unlikely to be easy, and it's extremely unlikely to be anywhere in Western Europe.

The EU has similar hiring laws to the US: any job a US citizen can do and is available to do is going to go to the US citizen first - it's very difficult for a prospective employer to hire from abroad unless it's possible to make a case that the expat candidate for the job has something necessary to offer that cannot be found domestically. Ditto EU.
The problem is that there are scads of highly-qualified UK/other EU Anglophone country speaking teachers all over Europe. Given the tight economy, they are enough to supply demand.
Even with related graduate qualifications and experience, 'you' haven't got enough for an employer to make a case for hiring from outside the EU.

In Germany, you can work freelance as a US citizen, but the legal hoops are pretty high and wages relatively quite low. France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria are all basically off the table. Probably ditto Luxembourg, but check the Embassy website for current info. Czech Rep, Slovakia, Poland, possibly Hungary are potential targets, given that you come over in the right time period (end August through September). It is rare to find a job from abroad - there are just enough teachers around that reputable employers don't need to take a chance to hire someone sight-unseen.

BIG PROBLEM: Yes, I think your Mexican husband will have difficulty getting a visa anywhere here. The spouse of an EFL teacher isn't normally eligible for spousal visas - again, simply because there are lots of EFL teachers around without the complication.

And, what would he do? Very difficult to get a job in a country where you don't speak the local language outside of teaching your own first language.

[treiche1]

Yes, I was afraid of this. I thought maybe the American schools might only want to hire Americans, but I did realize it might be very difficult. Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it!

[spiral78]

Real international schools which offer core subjects in English can get visas for non-EU teachers, but there is HUGE competition for these jobs. It's quite rare that openings come up an most jobs go to someone with local contacts and reputation.

[scot47]

You would have a better chance in a location that is not so popular. Middle East. Korea etc. there ARE international schools there too !

[Sashadroogie]

Come to Russia. Bypass onerous EU visa procedures for Russian ones! : )

[sparks]

I believe that most international school jobs are found from abroad, so start going to job fairs in the US. The competition is stiff for the more desired Western EU countries but worth a try.

[Didah]

Greetings Fellow Bruin,

It is not impossible to find a teaching job in Europe for a credentialed teacher like yourself. From my experience, when you are hired by an international school in the European Union, EU citizenship is not an issue. The international school can get non-EU citizens such as Americans, Canadians or Australians a visa to teach at their school. It is not the same situation as trying to secure a visa to each ESL/TEFL in the EU. I am an American and was offered a job at a school in the EU, however, I chose a different position in an non-EU country in Eastern Europe over that school and another one in the Middle East.

Most international schools go through on of the recruiting organizations who act as an HR department including recruiting and vetting. I went through International Schools Services (www.iss.edu) They have recruitment fairs in Europe, Asia and the United States including Boston and San Francisco. However, I learned the hard way that by waiting for the event in San Francisco, the pickings get pretty slim. There are more job opportunities offered through the ISS fair in Boston which is a few weeks before the one in San Francisco. A less expensive recruiting site is The International Educator (TIE.com). They don't have recruiting fairs but a lot of the same schools that use ISS, also advertise here. Another useful site in the International Schools Review which has teacher submitted reviews on international schools all over the world.

The biggest hurdle that I can see for you is if you have a non-teaching spouse. International schools are looking for single teachers or teaching couples where both are credentialed.

If you have a non K-12 teaching credentialed spouse, you may want to consider the Abu Dahbi Education Council (ADEC) as they are looking for credentialed teachers to teach and train host national teachers in middle and high schools in Abu Dahbi. The pay benefits are excellent and you can have a non-teaching spouse accompany you. I was accepted for a position with this organization, however, I opted for my current position. Less pay but a great job and lifestyle. ADEC works through recruiters. I went through Teach Away out of Canada.

Whether you are looking at international schools or ADEC, the recruiting season is getting underway now. By the way, one other recruiting organization that you can look into for international schools is the University of Northern Iowa International Recruiting Fair which is held at the end of January in Waterloo, Iowa. I went to that one last year as well as ISS in San Francisco. I received job offers from both fairs, although not what I really wanted but it is possible to secure decent positions.

Good luck and Go Bruins!