Job Discussion Forums

[Andrew Massey]

Hello. This is my first post on Dave's. I am currently in South Korea and will be going to Prague in November to obtain my CELTA. I am also an American, which by nature makes my goal of finding legal work in Europe a bit difficult to realize.

When I found a job here in Korea, I went through a recruiting agency. I have been trying to find one in Europe that will work with an American. I have already been turned down by Berlitz. Accelingua(Germany-Business English) and Inlingua(Spain) have given me the runaround. The both told when I get my work permit, they can help me. I visited the EU immigration web site which stated I needed to have a place or employment sponsor my VISA.

So here is the question, with no specific target country in mind, does any body know of one or two legit Recruiting Agencies that might work with an American, or should I just go knocking door to door?

[spiral78]

You won't find recruiting agencies for Europe.

The market here is very, very different to Asia. Essentially, there are lots of teachers to go around here, and reputable employers don't generally give a second thought to anyone not standing in the office, CV in hand, loooking professional and reliable.

Employers who will hire from abroad tend to be 1) scammers or 2) schools that teachers in the region won't work for - usually for good reasons.

As a U.S. citizen, your options in Europe are essentially limited to the new EU member countries. You could check the Spain forum for some information regarding getting and working on a student visa - this is one of the few exceptions to the EU-only hiring laws in most of Western Europe.

You can get legal work visas for countries like the Czech Rep, Poland, Slovakia, and east. You need a work contract first - which you won't find until you are in-country.

The typical way to do this is to come for a course (I see you've got this bit lined up already) and then to get a job immediately after. As a US citizen, you have 90 days in the Schengen zone (google for a list of member countries) before you MUST file for work visas or risk penalties of overstaying.

[naturegirl321]

[spiral78]

Other places, like Holland, the UK, etc you can get your own immigrant visa/green card IF you can prove that you are highly eligible. Ditto for lots of money and paperwork.

Naturegirl, where did you get this info? It is NOT possible to get your own immigrant visa or green card in the Netherlands. You MUST be sponsored by an employer who is prepared to argue in court that your qualifications cannot be matched by any other candidate for the position.

That being said, you COULD get a visa for Germany, something of a self employed visa. I'm sure you'll need plenty of money and have to show lots of supporting docs, but it might be worth a try.

Yes, non-EU citizens can get freelance papers in Germany this year, I believe. However, the market is very tight, and, if you read on the Germany forum, you'll find that it's quite difficult to make ends meet.

Other than that the EU, especially the new EU is hard to get into

No, it's the 'older' EU member countries that are difficult to impossible to get legal work in. The 'new' member countries include the Czech Rep, Poland, and etc, where non-EU citizens CAN still get legal work permits.

Don't know of recruiting agencies, per se, but there are some schools that hire from abroad Keep in mind that there's probably a reason why they hire abroad, rather than locally.

Right. As mentioned earlier.

[naturegirl321]

Yikes, sorry, I made a mistake. I edited my post. Hope it's more helpful now.