Job Discussion Forums

Vallen · Joined: 11 Oct 2011 Posts: 3 Location: USA

Hi, I'm going to be graduating with my bachelors in April and was looking at teaching abroad. I searched the forums and found answers for most of my questions, but still have a few.

First, I was wondering how likely it is to find a job that would start around late may/june next summer. I really don't want too much down time after college when i could be doing something. Was looking to find a job in an Asian country to help save/pay back loans. In terms of qualifications, I'll just have a bachelor's in psych, minor in Admin of justice, and a semester of volunteer tutoring at an elementary school. I don't have the money right now for TEFL cert.

Also, most of the feedback and stories I hear from people are from kindy or elementary teachers. Is it common/possible for a new entry to find a job teaching middle or high school students? I have some experience with kindy kids and while it's not bad, I think I'd be more suited for older students.

tttompatz

lucia79 · Joined: 18 Jun 2011 Posts: 156

Korea is great and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat.

Reasons:
Low startup costs
Paid housing and reimbursement for airfare
Friendly people
Lots of things to see and do --- Travelling is great
You can SAVE a lot of money

If you want to work in public schools then check out: SMOE, GEPIK and EPIK

Take a look at the Korean Forum.

Also, TeachAway and Footprints are good recruiting agencies if you want to go through an agency. I applied to TeachAway and got a job super fast (within 2 months after applying).

Edit: What I meant was that within two months I had applied to TeachAway, interviewed, got a job, got paperwork started and completed, interviewed at a Korean Consulate, obtained the visa and was on my way to Korea to begin teaching.

Vallen · Joined: 11 Oct 2011 Posts: 3 Location: USA

Thanks for the tips. I was thinking either Korea or Japan, so it helped. (I'll be sure to register on the Korea forum)

As for start-up costs, outside of a plane ticket, I'll have about $1000. I didn't realize Japan required such a large starting budget. tttompatz, what do you mean by language schools? Are those like Korean hagwons or Japanese eikawas, or are they something different?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Come to the Japan forum with your questions. Conversation school = eikaiwa there.

Yes, you need more than US$1000 for setup costs in many/most situations in Japan.

tttompatz · Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:23 am Post subject:

Vallen · Joined: 11 Oct 2011 Posts: 3 Location: USA

Yeah, the start up was why I was leaning towards Korea. Since they seem to almost universally provide housing and visa work, that would just leave food/transportation/bill for necessary costs. I figure I could live off 1000 for a couple months with only those to worry about and hopefully not live like a hermit.

Since it seems like public schools are more rigid with their hiring dates because they only seem to hire at the start of semesters, I guess I'd be applying to a language school. Though I would like to go public at some point.