Job Discussion Forums

[Dave Coop]

I also posted this on the General Forum board:

My wife and I are Yanks currently living in London. I have a valid UK work permit, however, it is tied to my wife's work permit, and since she is about to quit her horridly boring job at a huge multinational bank it is "technically" about to expire (however, the stamp in my passport says it is good until 2006). We plan on leaving London around the end of June 2003 and thought it might be fun to try teaching English for a short 2-3 month stint before returning to the USA. We may also want to return in a year or so and sign up for a full year of teaching somewhere.

We both have college degrees, her's is in English/Creative Writting, and mine is in Geography (it helps me to find the unemployment office on a map). We also just took a quicky weekend / online TEFL course through i to i (http://www.teflcourses.com/index.htm ) so we are certified to at least an intial level. I know, I know, it isn't the Cambridge certified one but it should be enough to get us started.

Questions I have for the group is where is the best place for us to find work in Europe for about 2-4 months starting in end of June or beginning of July? I also have experience in business as a technical salesman for AT&T that used to sell to Fortune 500 companies, so I am hoping that may carry some weight in getting a Business English gig.

We are fairly open to teaching in a lot of countries either in Western or Eastern Europe, although after London I am thinking sunny Greece, Italy, Croatia or even Turkey would be great. Since we are newbies finding a job over the Internet may be difficult, especially in an EU country,. However, I am led to believe that if I go down to Italy or Germany and start knocking on doors I may be able to find something in person.

So what do you think? Is a 2-4 month gig doable and if so where?

Hope to hear from you all and thanks.

[shirley]

Dave, you mention you're UK work permit. That permit is only valid in the UK, not the EU as far as I know, I may be wrong, however. Other than that, you could try the sites of TEFL.com or the guardian online, they often have jobs available. You'll probably find very little available in July and August.

[Dave Coop]

[Danny]

I know this post is too late for yourself but for anybody else perusng it might be useful. Under a British work visa, expats can work in EU/EEA countries provided they are for British companies. I did this for France and Spain. I'm unsure about winter work but there are plenty of summer opportunities available. The money is pretty crap but it is a holiday job so don't expect too much.

The camp courier companies hire whoever they can over summer but you need to be careful about which one you choose. Try Haven Europe (do a web search) for a good company. Otherwise school camp companies like PGL Travel offer positions. These companies generally hire whoever they can so depending on when you apply you are almost guaranteed a job.
D.