Job Discussion Forums

[Glenlivet]

Hi Guys. My wife and I are just coming to the end of three years teaching in Poland and are looking for a new country, preferably with better food and weather! We've traveled extensively in Italy, France and Spain so these countries are our preferred destination. We specialise in Business English as we both have business backgrounds, back in the days when we had proper jobs. We've sent emails with C.V.s etc to a few schools with mixed results (I know, it's a bit early for 2009/10 recruitment but we'd like a destination when we leave Poland at the end of June). We prefer to live and work in smaller cities, hence Paris is really a non starter. Anyone got any good tips on where to try?

[bsjess]

Dzień dobry,

If Paris is not your thing, try Lyon. It's big enough to have the business English needs, but also accessible (TGV). It's also beautiful. If both of you work, you might be able to make ends meet. Lyon also has pretty, cheap suburbs that are easily accessible by train.

Also, take another look at your CVs. Ask yourself why you are getting lukewarm results. It could be you're not offering enough detail on your business English background. Don't just list the companies you've worked for. Offer specific details on you past teaching experience.

Language schools are less likely to hire those who appear to be "just passing through." Also stress that you are native speakers. With an address in Poland, language schools may have overlooked the fact that you are clearly a native speaker. Sadly, non-native speakers don't have much employment luck in the Business English field in France.

Also, it helps to be referred. Do you still have contacts from your traveling in France? Get them to refer you.

One more thing: now is not really a hiring period as the heavy spring season is at its peak, schools have roughly the staff they need to carry them through the middle of July. In September, hiring picks up again. So, if you come in June, don't expect much work until Sep. But it would still give you plenty of time to do interviews.

Just some tips off the top of my head. Good luck!

[Glenlivet]

Thanks for the reply bsjess. Both our covering email and C.V.s are pretty comprehensive and cover our experience and background in detail, as also our native speaker status, the fact we both have cars, the fact that we intend to stay in our next host country for at least 3 years etc. Perhaps the timing of my emails was less than perfect. I also had a reply stating that the school in question received at least 5 unsolicited emails a week and therefore had a policy of not replying (I had sent a follow up "did you receive my email").

Thanks for the tip about Lyon, I'll check out some schools and try a few emails. I'm starting to see more recruitment activity now so perhaps we'll have more luck.

Czeszcz