Job Discussion Forums

[PabloEstrella]

My girlfriend (who is soon to get a promotion, but don't tell her) and I have had some increasingly serious discussion about teaching overseas when school is over. Mostly we are looking at this as a means to a)pay off student loans b)see the world c)flee an increasingly bleak economic and political situation here in the US and d)potentially find a 'calling'. That said, it will be some while before we are able to take the plunge as I am just about to start a Masters program and won't be done with that until May of 2014.

So, we're two years out, what can we be doing now to improve our lot once we are closer to diving into this wild world of teaching abroad?

Some basic info about us:
He...
is from the US, clean criminal record.
is in his mid 30's, white, good looking with a radio voice.
has a BA in Telecommunications from a state school in the midwest.
is just about to start an MA in Adult and Community Education.
will be teaching freshman speech classes as part of an assistantship.
would strongly prefer to work with adult students, ideally in a University setting.
will have a small mountain of federal student debt to deal with.
has a deep and abiding love of board games.

She...
is from the US, clean criminal record.
is in her early 20's, white, good looking and very clean-cut.
will have a BA in Religious Studies from a state school in the midwest in a couple of weeks.
has a love of linguistics in general, but particularly where religious matters and linguistics meet.
will have a smaller mountain of federal student debt to deal with.
loves kids, particularly small cute ones.


From what I've read on this forum and others it sees that we would both want to pick up a CELTA before going much of anywhere. It also sounds like the EPIK program is a great place for newbies to start this sort of adventure, but we are flexible. Though, I think how well our first outing goes might color our view of teaching abroad, so getting a good first go is important.

So, I guess my questions are:
1. I'm curious what we could do now, or in the near/medium term, to help us out with all of this.
2. In the two years between here-and-there would it be worth it for her to try and get in a MA TESOL program somewhere?
3. Is an online MA TESOL worth the effort and money, or will nobody care?
4. Will his Masters in Adult and Community Education be viewed favorably, or is it just not applicable?
5. Will his two years teaching freshman speech classes for an assistantship be taken as teaching experience?
6. Is going together a liability? Would it make landing jobs harder?
7. What programs/countries/what-have-you do intakes that would have us on a plane in that May-July territory? Would it be worth it to investigate these programs now and make damn sure we are killing their requirements?
8. Am I even asking the right questions?

[coledavis]

Teaching a foreign language is rather different from other forms of learning. I think that the CELTA or Trinity certificate should be your starting point.

Re going together: if you require a visa, then its problematic, although there will be schools wanting more than one teacher and you might be attractive in only wanting one roof over your head. There are some employers who actually advertise for a teaching couple.

Be careful about the religion. Many employers want to avoid religiosity. Up to you of course, but that's my stance on the matter.

[PabloEstrella]

[Glenski]

Biggest question to ask you in reply is this:

Where do you plan to look for work?

Answers will vary accordingly. Mine are for Japan.

1. I'm curious what we could do now, or in the near/medium term, to help us out with all of this.
Decide on which country(ies) you want to pursue work in. Research their job requirements and the market there.

2. In the two years between here-and-there would it be worth it for her to try and get in a MA TESOL program somewhere?
What is her end goal? A mere BA degree in a field unrelated to teaching (religious studies) will be limiting.

3. Is an online MA TESOL worth the effort and money, or will nobody care?
Again, depends on where you go and what you envision for a career.

4. Will his Masters in Adult and Community Education be viewed favorably, or is it just not applicable?
It is suitable (in Japan anyway) for basic, bottom rung, entry level work and a visa. Nothing more.

5. Will his two years teaching freshman speech classes for an assistantship be taken as teaching experience?
Meagerly.

6. Is going together a liability? Would it make landing jobs harder?
Yes, of course it is a liability.

*Two people looking for jobs means you need twice as many employers to agree than if only one of you were searching.
*You would want to live in the same apartment, and here in Japan employers often have single-occupant housing for their teachers.
*Plus, if you plan to work in the same school, it puts a strain on the employer, who may think you will both take vacations at the same time (leaving him to find not one but 2 replacements) and who may think you would bring any bickering to work. There are exceptions, of course, and some employers even want "couples" to work for them.
*Another liability is visas; if only one of you lands a job and gets a visa, what is the other one going to do? They will have to fend for themselves with a 90-day tourist stay.

7. What programs/countries/what-have-you do intakes that would have us on a plane in that May-July territory? Would it be worth it to investigate these programs now and make damn sure we are killing their requirements?
Ah, now we have a time frame! ALT work begins in April in Japan, so go back 4-6 months for job ads and interviews (mostly in country, not where you live). Conversation school work fiscally begins then, too, but hiring is more year round. Biggest surge has interviews in Feb/March.

"Requirements" are extremely thin here. You meet them merely by having a BA degree in zoology or anthropology and citizenship from the U.S. If you want a different type of job (international school, university, business English), you'll need far more requirements.

8. Am I even asking the right questions?
Partly. Depends on where you want to go.

[Qaaolchoura]

I've really only got answers to your first two questions. So FWIW:

[coledavis]

[coledavis]

I completely take Qaaolchoura's point about Turkey. I think that while tending to be religious, Russians would prefer an atheist as safer with their kids, although again somebody who makes it clear that they are not going to promote their own beliefs should be all right.

Maybe the international default is to say that you do not promote your own belief system, whatever it happens to be.

[Sashadroogie]

I doubt that a BA in Religious Studies would be a problem in too many parts of the world. Certainly not in Turkey or Russia.

As has been posted earlier, Turks are not comfortable with atheism, but religious matters generally do not bother them too much. But evangelicalism does, especially in schools. As far as I know, it is, or at least was, a crime to promote religion in Turkish schools - even Islam. However, this is worlds away from having a BA, so don't worry.

Russia is still fairly atheistic, though this is changing, I think. All sorts of interesting connections with identity and nationality. However, the government is quite suspicious of foreigners who proselytize in the Federation. Again, however, just having a degree would not be the same thing, even in the government's view. So no worries there either.

As Cole says, in an interview, were such matters to crop up, it is best to make it clear that you have no interest in saving souls. That said, I can't remember an instance where it ever did come up.

[coledavis]

I've had more than one instance. Perhaps I look or sound religious.

[Sashadroogie]

Not denying your experience. Maybe Moscow is different? Maybe they knew by the looks of me that they had no need to worry about that score? I'll ask my dead yeti spirit guide who is channelling Napoleon!

[coledavis]

Maybe more evangelising occurs outside the capital, perhaps surveillance being a bit more lax. My knowledge of this has been in Siberia, where they have had problems of all sorts. Although I remember meeting an evangelist in a small western Russian town too.