Job Discussion Forums

[gfisher]

Hello all, it has been a long time since I've posted. I'll try to be concise.

I'm hoping to benefit from your respective years of experience, years of thinking, knowledge, and your impressions of me.

In asking for advice, I guess these are the real questions: what would you do in my position, and what would you do if you were me? A supplementary question might be this one: am I unrealistic/wasting my time/fooling myself/a fool, and, if so, what can I do about it?

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Desire: to live and (therefore) to work overseas. It was one reason I became a teacher.

Situation: single, male, 30s, no kids.

Quals: BA English, Grad. Dip. Ed. ('teacher license'), M.Ed. (TESOL major).

Current employment: teacher in an Australian government school.

Pay: roughly $75k-80k per year.

Experience: Four years. Two different government schools.

Job satisfaction: extreme. Almost the perfect job. One downer: lack of promotion prospects (surfeit of youngish, talented people ahead of me in the queue). If I could transport this school overseas, I would.

Life satisfaction: reasonably good. However, as much as I love the easygoing ways of Aussies and our respect for individuals, I have always wanted and still want to live in a different context.

Criteria:

- A country where English in not the first language
- Is reasonably warm or at least has a warm summer (25+ deg. celsius)
- Accommodation close to nature (beach or river or mountain etc.) for leisure activities
- An internet connection
- The ability to save US$1500+ per month
- Vacation amount same or similar to Australia (12 weeks annually).


Job-seeking history:

- Offered Taiwan public school job, but holidays were 4 weeks annually (and with some strange conditions)

- Offered a 'private' school job in Thailand, but the pay was low, and the town, judging by ex-pat reports, was not so pleasant

- Offered a HK SNET position. This was a brutal process that lasted for months. Long story short, I felt I was being shafted and I didn't like that my prospective principal was keen on significant after-hours and Saturday morning work.

Rejections: too many to list. Mostly, I do not make it past the first round. The majority of my applications are for international schools.

I apply via TIE Online, mostly.

The plan: attend the next job fair and try my luck.

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Again, what would you do in my situation (presumably, your 'criteria' are different)?

Again, what would you do if you were me (with my criteria)?

Again, am I unrealistic/naive/foolish and what can I do about it?

I often question my desire to travel and live overseas, since I have a good job here and a decent life. I have no need to leave, and one consequence of that is that I'm quite 'soft', as you saw in my HK rejection. Nevertheless, I am serious about it and have inefficiently invested a lot of time into it.

If I may ask a question of your respective selves, I'd ask how your expectations of living overseas have compared to reality and what are the best and worst aspects of week-to-week life in your part of the world?

[nomad soul]

[tttompatz]

Good job at home.
Good pay at home.

Stay home and enjoy your vacations abroad in the tropics.
Working here is not the same as being here on vacation.

Anywhere you go you will be starting at the bottom of the heap regardless of your academic qualifications.

EFL abroad, even in international schools, until you get established, is an entry level job with extra work and entry level pay.

AFTER you get established and make some connections there are opportunities to move up the ladder but your past is largely not relevant. New country = new start (unless you find that dream job through TIE or Search Associates).

Also be aware that you can't compare jobs in different economies by the base salary alone. You need to look at standard of living and net savings at the end of the year. Thailand pays poorly compared to Hong Kong or Korea but at the end of the day a job paying $40k in Thailand will allow you to live well and SAVE more than you would earning $80k in Aus.

.

[Sashadroogie]

Impossible for anyone to really say, but at a push, I'd say 'stay where you are'.

Come to Russia, on holiday.

[gfisher]

Thanks for replies. I'm on my phone, so must be brief.

The common sense decision is to stay where I am or perhaps look elsewhere in Australia. It's why I'm still here. However, the dream lives on.

I am actually currently enrolled in a grad cert in edu leadership. However, it won't make a difference regarding my current job, as colleagues have experience in team leader and even associate principal jobs and they've worked closely with our principal. The ambitious leave our school to go elsewhere. It's an acknowledged weakness of the school - limited opportunities for staff development. When people get a job here, they tend not to leave. The staff are terrific, I have to say.

I don't get past the first round in my job apps, as I don't hear back from employers. I ask for feedback and they tend to mention experienced candidates, with experience in that particular country. I've also found that, due to the state of their economies, many us or uk teachers are overseas by necessity and are willing to work for relatively low wages.

I will take a look at that agency mentioned in a previous post.

Thanks all

[coledavis]

If you work somewhere really good and go elsewhere, the chances are of a sizable slope downwards. Go on holiday or do a summer school in Siberia. Yes, that's the one. You'll meet people you'll keep in touch with, and have your job to go back to too.

[Sashadroogie]

I think that is a doubleplusgood comment, Cole.

[Concepcion780]

I can see why people are encouraging you to stay where you are (extreme job satisfaction? That is amazing, good for you).

The one other point I would make is how do you see your life playing out, would you like to have kids someday? If you do, it will probably happen within the next 10 years, and you might want to try teaching abroad now, just to have done it while you have more freedom and flexibility.

Many school in the US allow seasoned teachers to take a year off/ a sabbatical and return to their jobs. No idea what the situation is like in Australia, but I would bring that up to the administration at your school and see what your options are (obviously, try to think of ways this would be beneficial to your current school). I think that could be ideal, since you'd have a perfect job still waiting for you when you get back.

[Perilla]

I agree with the above advice. If you're 90% happy with your current job (and it pays well) then it's unlikely you're going to improve matetrs with a risky move overseas. Better to take advantage of your (probably) long hols and travel during vacation. As for your age being a disadvantage, sounds to me like you aren't that old. If you're bothered about promotion (why bother?) focus on areas where your age might be an advantage. Concepcion's sabbatical idea sounds good.