Survey -Can you afford to teach overseas - international schools review

Survey: Can You Afford to Teach Overseas?

As all of us who just made the move overseas know all too well, securing an overseas teaching position is far from free. When you factor in recruiting fair, air fare, hotels, meals, and transportation, you're looking at a price tag in the neighborhood of $3000, and that's with no guarantees of securing a position.

If you're fortunate enough to secure a job, hidden costs include: a police check, health clearance, visa, passport, shipping of personal goods, renting an apartment, including first and last month's rent along with a cleaning deposit -- all out-of-pocket. Don't forget you'll also need pots, pans, mop and broom, TV, and furniture. If you want your own transportation you'll need to invest in a car and a local driver's license. Some teachers report not breaking even on the entire process until after their third or fourth paycheck. And what about financial responsibilities back home?

With the object to help teachers entering the world of overseas teaching, we invite veteran teachers to share information on the costs associated with finding an overseas job, the actual move, beginning a job, and what to keep an eye on to avoid being ripped-off.

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Please read over the questions before you begin - This will avoid topic overlap.

1) If you attended a recruiting fair, which fair did you attend and what was the total cost to register and recruit? Please include prices and a total. We'll ask you about other costs in following questions.

2) In addition to recruiting fees, what did you spend on resume and photo reproduction, air fare, hotel, transportation, meals etc? Please list theses items and approximate costs along with a total cost. Add any additional comments in item 3, below.

3) Use this space to share comments and advice in relation to items #1 and #2, above. For example, advice on staying at the conference hotel and splitting the room cost with another teacher. Feel free to elaborate and offer advice on any related topic you feel may be beneficial.

4) If you accepted a position, what costs did you encounter next? This category includes: visa, police check, health physical, passport, movers, excess baggage, flight tickets, etc. Did you pay for these things with the expectation of being reimbursed? Were you reimbursed? What was the total cost for this category?

5) Upon arrival at your new school. What costs did you encounter? Tell us about apartment rental and deposit, furniture/appliances, pots/pans, utilities, internet/cable TV hook-up, etc. Please fill us in on any helpful details that may be of value to people new to overseas apartment rental.

6) Did you purchase a car? What was the cost? What did you lose on the sale of the car? Do you recommend buying a car? Do you recommend getting a local driver's license and/or insurance?

7) From registering with a recruiter to actually getting moved into your new location, what was the total cost of securing an overseas teaching position? Compared to your salary, how many months will/did it take you to break even?

8) Include any additional comments or advice on this topic that could be of value to teachers venturing overseas.

Thank you for you participation in this survey. We'll post the results soon.