Job Discussion Forums

[Jdub2141]

Hi all,

This is my first post as I have just joined the forum!

First, thanks in advance to any advice given to me!

My partner and I are currently exploring the opportunity to teach abroad. I foresee a few issues we may have in doing so and am hoping someone here has had the same or similar circumstances.

Currently we are looking at China because they do not require you to have a BA/BS.

Here's the basics:
1. We are NOT married - will that make it harder for us to get a job together?
2. I have a BA and should have my MS by August, 2012. He (my partner) does not have a degree, but has some college. Is there any chance that a school would hire us together based on my qualifications. i.e. would it improve his chances because of my qualifications or would he hurt my chances because of lack of qualifications?
3. I have a lot of student loan debt that I have not yet started making payments on ($100K ) I will be looking at putting those into deferrment.
4. We have cats. They are like my kids and will need to come with me. I have already looked at flight regulations regarding travelling with cats and at the policies for bringing cats into China. Has anyone on here ever moved overseas with a pet? What challenges other than costs and quarantines have you run into? I am a little discouraged about trying to work overseas because of my kitties - If I ever wanted to come home for a few weeks on breaks, I could not take the cats with me - Well I could, but not very effective. Any ideas or suggestions?
5. We need to save. What is the likelyhood of saving while teaching in China. I realize this depends on where in China. Our ultimate goal would be to make at least 7000RMB per month if the housing is paid for. After food and a few activities per month, how much could we potentially save?
6. My boyfriend is black. As bad as it sounds, we worry that it will be significantly more difficult for us to find a job because he is not white. He is western and a native English speaker. Has anyone on here had or heard of issues with getting jobs due to not being white.
7. Are there suggestions on any other countries to consider? Ultimately, we would like to be able to save at least $6K each after one year. We are also open to teaching more long term.

Any specific websites or employers we should look into?

I know this is a lot of questions, and I hope that all of these have not been answered by prior posts. I have done some research, and did not see many answers to what I think are our unique circumstances.

Thanks again for any input!

[Glenski]

1. We are NOT married - will that make it harder for us to get a job together?
IMO, yes and no. Depending on where you go (and I believe most places will require a degree for visa purposes if nothing else), you are each going to have to get a separate visa-sponsored job. That automatically just says you have twice the problems than one person looking.

And some places do not want couples, married or otherwise. For those that do want couples, that is in your favor as long as they sponsor visas.


2. I have a BA and should have my MS by August, 2012. He (my partner) does not have a degree, but has some college. Is there any chance that a school would hire us together based on my qualifications. i.e. would it improve his chances because of my qualifications or would he hurt my chances because of lack of qualifications?

IMO, he is on his own. I strongly suggest he finish a degree, or you get married. Most countries immigrations laws require degrees for work visas, but dependent visas (in Japan anyway) don't necessarily need the degree (but in Japan that would mean only PT work).


3. I have a lot of student loan debt that I have not yet started making payments on ($100K Crying or Very sad ) I will be looking at putting those into deferrment.

Is this a question? Let me ask one. How much do you need to pay off per month? That will help people respond. Not many countries pay a lot, just so you know.

4. We have cats. They are like my kids and will need to come with me.

I would strongly suggest that you learn to live without them, or realize that you will have to face a lot of issues. Basically, though, where do you want to work? If it's only in China, I suggest posting in that forum, not here.

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5. We need to save. What is the likelyhood of saving while teaching in China. I realize this depends on where in China. Our ultimate goal would be to make at least 7000RMB per month if the housing is paid for. After food and a few activities per month, how much could we potentially save?

Can't help you. Again, I suggest posting in the China forum.

6. My boyfriend is black. As bad as it sounds, we worry that it will be significantly more difficult for us to find a job because he is not white. He is western and a native English speaker. Has anyone on here had or heard of issues with getting jobs due to not being white.

Not so many problems here in Japan, but again I have to ask where you want to go.

7. Are there suggestions on any other countries to consider? Ultimately, we would like to be able to save at least $6K each after one year. We are also open to teaching more long term.

You can work in Japan. Right now, he cannot. He will need a degree or 3 years of experience to get a work visa, or you will have to get married so he can get a dependent visa and work PT.

Saving $6,000 means a mere $500 per month. Doable with no problem in Japan, especially if you share living expenses, but he is going to have to qualify for a proper visa first.