Job Discussion Forums

[Cecinaa]

To all you wise ones:

Which is better, to arrive at a certain country with no contract and visa and then start looking or sign a contract beforehand and arrive with a job?

I'm sure at this point you'll say, depends on the country.

For that I'll say: I'd rather go to a country with a job in hand to minimize start-up costs. For example, I don't know if I have 2000 dollars to get started in Japan, Taiwan or Poland. However, I don't want a crummy jobs with too many hours. Which are the best countries and schools to get hired overseas?

Thanks all.....

[Gordon]

Korea would be a good country to be hired from overseas because they pay your airfare over. You'd be a fool to make your way over there at your own expense and then look for a job and then get your work visa processed. However, do your homework on the school before you sign the contract: talk to a current teacher at the school and get all the details about the school like hours, holidays...
Have a look at this page for some general job information advice
http://www.englishabroad.ca/profiles_css.html

[Glenski]

[tedkarma]

I agree with Gordon.

Korea is probably one of the best places around to go if you are strapped for start up cash and want a job in hand before you go - as well as a plane ticket.

Even I, profligate spender that I am, could last a month in Korea with only US$500 while waiting for my first pay check. And, really, you wouldn't need much more than that if you had a plane ticket - as most language schools in Korea provide.

However, research is what it is all about. Make sure you spend a few bucks calling the existing teachers at your potential new school. Make sure they are happy and getting taken care of. Always talk to more than one - as individual ability to adapt overseas and to unusual working conditions varies significantly. In other words - two people at the same school may have quite different opinions.

[Cecinaa]

Thanks everyone,

I was thinking Korea, but everyone gives it such a bad rap. I've been reading the forums for some time now, and a lot of people say the bosses are too pushy and make you work overtime, and generally, the Koreans aren't very polite. I'm pretty tolerant of stuff, but if so many people dislike it, I can't imagine myself having that great of a time. That's why I was veering away from Korea.

To answer your questions Glenski, I'm basically up for anything. I don't mind poverty, I grew up on the border of Mexico, in the poorest region of the U.S. I've also spent a lot of time in Mexico with family, so small villages and no running water is not that big of a deal. I'll eat anything, almost live anywhere; I'm pretty adaptable. I speak Spanish as well, but I'd love to learn a new language; the challenge would be great. My only quams are, I'm not a big fan of big, dirty cities, I not great i in cold cold weather, and I'd like somewhere not so crime-ridden, since I'm a single 21-year-old gal.

These are the countries I was thinking of: Korea (money, culture), Japan (looks like a beautiful country), Thailand (beaches), Slovenia (generally beautiful), Turkey (culture), and Poland (easy access to Europe).

As far as the plane ticket goes, I have plane ticket earned through points that I can use to get anywhere, but just don't have 2000 USD in start-up costs.

I have a B.A. in English and three years experience. So, anyone got any tips...any ideas?

Thanks everyone....

[Cecinaa]

Oh, and I'm also getting my CELTA in Jan. and hoping to start teaching in Feb.

[Chris_Crossley]

You might have to reconcile yourself to the fact that Poland and Slovenia are in the E.U., and E.U. countries are more likely to hire a European because it saves on the paperwork. However, that does not mean to say that it is impossible for a U.S. citizen to become an EFL teacher in a European country.

I had jobs lined up when I went to China for both the first (October 2001) and second (December 2003) times. I worked for EF English First for two years then went back to the UK in the (unfulfilled) hope of getting a job there so back I came, again with a job lined up. It saves a lot of hassle by having a job lined up because at least it means that, from day one, you are technically earning money whereas you would be draining away your financial resources unnecessarily if you don't get one.

It also means that your school should reimburse your air fare at whatever stage. If you arrive without a job but having spent so many thousands of dollars on a one-wayflight ticket, no school whatsoever is obliged to reimburse that fare because you would be treated as if you were recruited locally. Indeed, that is exactly the way a school would handle this: "You were already in town when you came to the school to ask for a job, so why should we give you money for a plane ticket?"

The truth is that you would not be entitled to a one-way flight ticket to the country if you did not have a job to go to in the first place. However, this does not mean that there may not be some school who will be generous. When I came back to China in December 2003, I had, as I said, a job lined up. Within half a month, the school and I parted company. I was very lucky, however, to get a job with another school which, although I was initially told that I was not entitled to the one-way fare to China, relented and agreed to pay me - and I was paid every penny back, even though I did not have a job lined up with that particular school when I came back to the Middle Kingdom.

I was able to get the school to agree because it had just recruited two new teachers from the U.S., whose air fare they were paying for, and I argued that, to be fair to me, I ought to be treated in the same way as them. Happily, my persuasion was successful.

Nevertheless, I would play safe if I were you and at least have one job lined up. If you become unhappy with that new job, you can always take a risk and leave. It won't be long before you get another one (since when are foreign teachers out of work?!), but check with any other school you approach that it is prepared to reimburse you as if you had been recruited from home.

[Cecinaa]

Thanks Chris,

I understand that Poland and Slovenia are now part of the E.U, but I was under the assumption (from reading these posts, talking to people, etc.) that since they are fairly new to the E.U, they'll be more likely to hire an American. Of course, in this situation, I would probably not have a job lined up in advance.

[Justin Trullinger]

And unless you're going to a country where wages are a lot higher than cost of living- temp for while back home and get the $2000 or so in your pocket. Whether you line up a contract or not, you'll probably be glad you did in case of unexpected expenses. (Flight home for family emergency, apartment set up costs, deposits on soemthing or other...)

You may not ever need it- but it's a pain to be stuck in a job because you don't have the economic freedom to look around.

Justin