@ National
It's great to hear that the good schools do not count people out based strictly on their nationality. I'm used to the Korean hagwon world, where people have trouble getting hired for every little reason imaginable. What a relief to know that ISs, at least some of them, operate differently.

@ Shadowjack
You've inspired me to email a handful of schools to see if she might be marketable without a certification. If so, that would save us a whole lot of trouble. Thanks for your input!

@ vandsmith
Lots of good ideas here. Thank you! The life you describe- lots of gigs with private 1-1 teaching on the side- is exactly what she does now. Recreating that in another country, preferably legally, would be optimal. We hadn't thought about contacting universities, but that's a really good idea. She has a bit of university teaching experience, so she might be able to get her foot in the door.

@ Quijanotango
It's great to know that others out there are being offered contracts as non-native English speakers. Good going!

@ psyguy
Thanks, as always, for your thorough response. You've given me a lot to think about. It seems to me that having her get certified to teach here in Korea might be the best. We can then look into transferring her certification to the States or the UK if need be. If she were to transfer her credentials to, say, DC, could she then transfer her DC license to other states? In other words, would she be stuck with a DC license, or could she take tests to become qualified to teach in other states as well? I only ask because we are considering an eventual move back to my home state of Colorado.

My spouse is Korean, speaks English fluently, and is planning to become certified to teach music. She already has a masters from an elite US conservatory and an extensive background as a professional musician, as well as many hundreds of hours as a one-on-one music teacher. Our goal is to land couple teaching positions once she is certified. I'm a bit nervous about her marketability as a non-native English speaker.

In your experience, will schools consider hiring someone in my spouse's position?

Also, she is currently considering various avenues to certification. The first option would be to get certified as a music teacher here in Korea (we live in Seoul). The second would be to get a US certification via TeacherReady or a similar program and do her student teaching at an IS here. I'm assuming the latter would be preferable in the eyes of an IS, but how big of a difference would it make? It would be much simpler for her to get the Korean certification, but obviously we shouldn't move forward with that option if it will render her unmarketable.

On a side note, I just want to express my gratitude to everyone on this forum. I've had so many important questions answered here over the past couple years. It really is awesome that so many of you are willing to go out of your way to guide those of us who are new on the scene.

Thank you for the insight ion.

Unfortunately, my certifications (ESOL K-12 and K-6 gen. ed.) are not in high need areas. That said, I may work on adding a high need endorsement in order to make myself a bit more marketable.

Shadowjack-

She's logged many hundreds of hours teaching music privately to high school and university students, but she's never run an orchestra or band. She does have a masters from Boston U though, so I'm sure that would help. She's not well-known, but she has played with some big names in Korea.

All that said, she has no way of obtaining a license from the US- at least not that I know of. Wouldn't that be a deal breaker? Do you think a school might hire her even though she's not a native English speaker (although she is fluent) and doesn't have a license?

Hello all, and thanks in advance for your help.

I am looking to break into the world of IS teaching. I am recently certified, and do not have any teaching experience outside of 4 years at a Korean private academy (one year as an administrator). I plan to be married to a Korean woman who has a child from a previous marriage. How much of an issue is this going to be for me? In your experience, how many schools out there will still consider me?

I'm not sure how much this matters, but my girlfriend is a world-class professional musician and could probably qualify for an artist visa in many countries. Would it perhaps be better to remain unmarried and apply to schools as a single teacher, then have her deal with her own visa separately?

I'm hoping you guys will help me to get some realistic expectations of the hiring climate I'll encounter, and perhaps also help me see this from any angles I might be ignoring.

Thanks again!

I am hoping to teach elementary at an international school, but unfortunately my only teaching experience is three years at Korean hagwons (very high quality hagwons, but hagwons nonetheless). My plan is to get dual certified in ESL and K-6 gen. ed, land an ESL job at an IS, then move to elementary when a position at my school opens up.

Do you think this will work?

If not, can you recommend a better course of action?

Will schools consider my Korean ESL experience relevant if I am applying for certified teacher ESL jobs? Or will my Korea experience be for naught no matter what?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Hey everyone. Right now I am trying to decide whether to get my certification in ESL or K-6 gen. ed. To be honest, I'd prefer to be teaching K-6, but I worry that the job market may make my life very difficult. I have two years of ESL experience under my belt, so continuing on to the ESL cert. makes some sense. I think I will enjoy teaching either way, I just want to do whatever is needed to make sure I can land a job.

I am 27 and willing to move just about anywhere to gain experience, so I suppose that's a significant advantage.

Hello all. I am curious to know if international schools hire school psychologists. If so, what functions do they generally tend to serve? Are psychologists and counselors interchangeabe, or do schools hire both? Many thanks!

Read poor Teacher by Andrew Hallam. He will teach you everything you need to know.

Sorry about that, it was a type. I meant to say the school you are already working at.

Anyway, I'm going to start looking for an IS to take me on. Let me know the name of your last one so I can avoid it. Thanks!

@psyguy

I just don't know if I'm really as stuck as you're making it sound. Right now I word a job 1-9pm. Assuming I can find an IS in Seoul that is willing to take me on, there's no reason why I can't easily get those hours done in the morning before work. There have been many other TeacherReady folks here in Seoul who've successfully found placements (Calipro included), so I don't see why I wouldn't have the same success. My major concern isn't getting through the certification part of the process, it is finding a job afterward. I am willing to put in my time for a couple years at a less than desirable location, so hopefully this flexibility will work in my favor. I am totally mobile, ready and willing to relocate just about anywhere in order to get some experience under my belt.

[quote="PsyGuy"]@andybaxley86

I generally agree that there is no ladder in EFL/ESL. There is movement but with the exception of DOS all the movement is lateral. You move from language schools to public schools to universities, but in all those places its essentially the same job.

You are going to have a very hard time, and this is where my advice parts from the other contributers. Your going to find yourself very stuck.
First in the case of the Teach ready program, you have to do your field work (Internship) at an accredited IS. You cant do it at a language school.
Second, you really CANT come back to the states and do an ACP program. They require you to get a position with a local school district to do your field work, and for primary coming from an ACP program and not a Uni program you will essentially never get hired or placed. There is an over saturation of Uni trained primary school teachers.
Third, you will be working two jobs your day job at the IS doing your field work and then a night job to pay the bills, and youd have to find a school that is willing to train a primary school intern thats also accredited, and meets the training requirements AND find job in the same location. Thats a difficult enough task for certified teachers with experience who arent trailing spouses are part of a teaching couple.[/quote]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think those of you who say there is no ESL ladder are probably absolutely right. I was thinking of maybe shooting for uni jobs, but I can't see myself doing that into my 30s and 40s.

Calipro- I think I'm going to stick with the plan of starting TeacherReady this October. I am looking forward to finding out how you do coming out of the program. I wish I had an interest in teaching secondary math or science, but I really don't. I think I'm going to have to stick with elementary.
One question for you- did you student teach at the school you were already looking at, or did you find a spot at an IS?

My goal in the coming years is to transition into a career in international schools. As of now, I am on year 2 as an ESL teacher in Korea. I work for a great school and make good money, but the vacation time is terrible and the subject material doesn't inspire me.

My question is this- [b]is there any way I could plausibly get a job at an international school without first going home to gain teaching experience?[/b] I am not yet licensed, but I'm looking into doing the online TeacherReady program through the Uni of West Florida. If it can be avoided, I just really don't want to have to return to the states to gain experience.

If it is unavoidable, I may just have to climb the ladder in the ESL field instead, but this is definitely not the most attractive option in my mind.

Many thanks for your help!

Thank you so much for the advice everyone. I am actually very excited about the idea of going back to school for a counseling degree. It seems to be a perfect fit with my interests and talents. I absolutely love planning for the future, whether it be my own or someone elses, so I think I will feel right at home in the position. Once I finish my current contract in Korea, my next step will be to move back to CO to do an MA in school counseling. My primary concern right now is that I may have lost my in-state status, having spent so much time abroad in recent years. I may need to spend a year working in Colorado to re-establish residency. That wouldn't be the end of the world, but it definitely isn't preferable either. In any case, I should be able to finish up a degree no later than my 31st birthday. This is later than I wanted to be finishing with grad school, but such is life!
Anyway, many many thanks to you all. I'm sure I'll be back sooner or later to post additional questions. I look forward to the day that I can answer some as well!

[quote="nikkor"]Yes, ISs do have school counselors. Student/counselor ratios are usually much better than what they are in the States, which means more jobs per school. For a better idea, check the websites of schools you are thinking about. If you sign up for TIE, Search or ISS next year, there will probably be about 30-40 openings. If you have previous experience, I think there is a very good chance you would get several offers.

Oh, and I pretty much love my job most days. Work weeks fly by, and the compensation, benefits, vacations are amazing. Of course it's not like that for everyone though.[/quote]

Awesome, that's great to hear! I definitely want to live/work internationally, but at this point I'm feeling as though counseling may be more up my alley. I'm wondering, what part of the world are you in? And how much can counselors expect to earn there? Generally speaking, how much of the monthly salary are people able to save?