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littlelauren86
Joined: 20 Sep 2011
Posts: 94
Location: Korea
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 Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 4:16 am Post subject: Teaching Elementary in Latin America? |
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Hi all,
I'm planning on getting certified in the USA to teach Elementary (Kindergarten-6th) because my goal is to eventually work in international schools.
The problem is, when I become certified, I will only have 2 years of FT ESL experience in Korea, without any real experience as an Elem. classroom teacher. As far as I have been told, when applying to international schools, ESL or "teaching assistant" positions don't count as real experience.  As a result, I've been advised to concentrate on the Middle East for any hopes of finding a job after getting certified.
My question is, is it possible to find work and get experience in my certification area in Latin America? I don't care about the location. I'm willing to accept lower pay in order to get the experience I need and move on.
Thanks to anyone with any advice! |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:19 am Post subject: |
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| Some places will hire you, others will insist that you have two years experience in the US. Go to intl job fairs where you can interview with many employers. I worked at an intl school and I can tell you out of the dozen or so foreign teachers, only 2 had expeirence in the US |
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littlelauren86
Joined: 20 Sep 2011
Posts: 94
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:34 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the reply! Do you think it would be worth it for me to attend the Latin America job fair then? Have you ever been?
I'm trying to figure out if I should go to a job fair, or just apply to schools directly  |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| littlelauren86 wrote: |
Thanks for the reply! Do you think it would be worth it for me to attend the Latin America job fair then? Have you ever been?
I'm trying to figure out if I should go to a job fair, or just apply to schools directly |
While there are LA job fairs, there are also intl school job fairs in general. They're usually in the US, UK, etc. so you should be able to find one nearish to you. I've never been. I applied directly to schools, which was a mistake, since I got less money and fewer benefits, but my case was different since I held residency in Peru, but at that time was a resident in Korea. However, since my Peru residency was still valid, I was a local hire.
The issue with applying directly to schools is that you don't know if they have openings and it takes more work. On the otherhand, they might get your CV before they post an opening and hire you. With intl school job fairs, you know that everyone there is looking for teachers and it's kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. I've had friends walk around with a handful of job offers. But, the downside is that schools can cancel at the last moment since they find a teacher and decide not to go to the fair.
Have you tried the international school review website? They've got really good info. As for me, I've decided that I prefer teaching uni kids rather than kid kids. Pay is a bit better, no free schooling for my kids, but the loooong vacations more than make up for the looong days at intl schools and the stress. |
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sdg05003
Joined: 13 Mar 2011
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| I never attended a recruiting fair, i got my current job through word of mouth. (school doesn't advertise). I did however, send out emails to over 100+ schools in various countries and spend months researching various situations. It was a looong process, but well worth it. |
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Landon
Joined: 26 Sep 2011
Posts: 90
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:59 am Post subject: |
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| sdg05003 wrote: |
| I never attended a recruiting fair, i got my current job through word of mouth. (school doesn't advertise). I did however, send out emails to over 100+ schools in various countries and spend months researching various situations. It was a looong process, but well worth it. |
Over 100 International Schools? You must have covered every school on the planet. I must be doing something wrong then. I am only finding very few American Intl schools in the countries I am looking at. Looking into Uruguay and Argentina now and I think they have 1 each.
This is getting more and more discouraging. The Intl school market must be ridiculously hard to get into if you had to apply to over 100 schools for months all over the globe and only ended up getting a job by a word of mouth school. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:52 am Post subject: |
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| Landon wrote: |
Over 100 International Schools? You must have covered every school on the planet. I must be doing something wrong then. I am only finding very few American Intl schools in the countries I am looking at. Looking into Uruguay and Argentina now and I think they have 1 each.
This is getting more and more discouraging. The Intl school market must be ridiculously hard to get into if you had to apply to over 100 schools for months all over the globe and only ended up getting a job by a word of mouth school. |
100 intl schools isn't much. Go to TES and IBO and see the link I sent you. ONE school in Argentina? really? I highly doubt it. THere's usually at least an American one and a British one.
INtl schools aren't just limited to American schools. |
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Landon
Joined: 26 Sep 2011
Posts: 90
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