My husband and I just returned from the fair in Atlanta. Before we had left, we printed of copies of our resume. We also made a resume cover sheet with two columns of info (one for my hubby; one for me) that listed the following info:

-Professional Teaching Objective
-Total Years of Experience
-International Teaching Experience
-Education
-Professional Accreditation
-Professional Training/Development
-Courses Taught

We actually forgot to pack our stack of resumes, so we actually ONLY ended up handing out our cover sheet. Recruiters seemed to like it! We got a lot of comments like, "how cool!," and "this is clever," and "how convenient!" We got a job as well. Doubt it was solely due to this (the school had contacted us before the fair), but it definitely stood out in the pile of paper on recruiters' tables!

My husband and I got this same email. ;). We still are anxious to hear back from SOMEONE! We've applied to more than a dozen schools we thought ourselves to be well-matched for, but haven't heard anything back. It's torture!

There are plenty of ITs who have zero experience before going abroad, end up at one of these "low-hanging fruit" schools for a few years, then move on to better gigs. The UNI fair is chalk full of them! It is possible to get hired at fairly decent (though by no means first tier) schools with no experience. But yes-many of these schools are in "undesirable" locations (I.e.-the Middle East). If you are as flexible as you say you are, find a decent school in the ME and then spend 2 or 3 years packing your resume by teaching a variety of classes, advanced courses, etc. Get IB training, if possible. Coach a sport. That's one of the benefits of starting out at one of these schools. Do most people with minimal experience move on from a tier 2 or 3 school in the ME to their dream school? No. But it does happen. At my school in Kuwait, 2 excellent but relatively "new" teachers (1-2 years teaching in the states; 3 years in Kuwait) were heavily recruited this year and ended up taking jobs at a tier one school in Asia. Another couple had zero teaching experience before starting at our school 3 years ago. Next year, they're heading to Singapore American School. Is it likely to happen? No. You have to play your cards right, make the most of your time at your current gig, and choose your first school wisely. There really are some stinker schools out there that won't result in anything more than a lateral move after any number of years. But if you can handle a "hardship" post at a fairly decent school for a few years, then it's certainly possible to land a great job in the near future.

Don't have any specifics as I don't work there, but know several people who do work there and have loved the school and experience. Many have stayed 5+ years (and many more stay longer). Unless things have drastically changed in the past 3 years, it's a great school!

File for an extension. Use an accountant. We did this our first year and it saved us a lot of headaches. When I tried to do it using Turbotax, it said I owed a couple thousand. By going through an accountant, filing the extension (I don't think we ended up filing until January of the FOLLLOWING school year (so, year 2 for us), we still got our refund after it went through for those 6 months of work in the US..just a year later. :).

Apply, and definitely go to a fair (I recommend the UNI fair for newbies). From personal experience, it's hard to get in to your dream school with the experience you listed (I had 1 year in the states, 1 year in S. Korea teaching ESL, and 3 years teaching at university while getting my masters). I'm currently on year 3 in the Middle East-pretty much the last place I wanted to go when I was originally looking to teach abroad. But the school I'm at has been great and now as I'm thinking ahead to recruiting next year, I know I'll be 100% more competitive with 5 years of classroom teaching under my belt and 4 years aboard at a "hardship" post (as they say). My advice is to recruit with an open mind and find the best fit professionally. Don't limit yourself by location. There are some excellent schools out there in places you never dreamed you would go! Good luck.

As far as I can tell, the only grade levels operating at this point are the very primary grades. Maybe K-2? Other than that, I know nothing. However, after working in Kuwait for 3 years, I would be very wary of working at a brand new school. If you're going to take the plunge, stick with one of the more reputable schools that has been around for longer. Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

I teach in Kuwait with my husband. We are able to save one full salary each month plus a third-half of another. Last year we paid off $20,000 of debt. Now we're debt-free and plan to save that much each year until we leave.

A lot of schools in Kuwait are decent places to work if you are new-ish to teaching and want to build your resume. We've been very happy with our school and the opportunities for advancement, so much so that we've resigned for another 2 years. We won't be here forever, but we're satisfied with our situation for the time being.

I just looked into this extensively last year because I'm a chicken and couldn't stand to do anything shady or anything in a gray area when it comes to taxes. ;)

For one, I found this service--they seemed to know what they're doing. Didn't use them, but seems legit:

http://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/

In the end, I ended up going with an accountant friend of my parents. Not an expert by any means, but he was able to file for what I needed. Basically, what I *think* you have to do is this:

1. File for an extension for your 2013 taxes. If you were in the US last year (I assume that's where you were), then you haven't been out of the country long enough to qualify for tax-free this year. In order to meet the requirements to not pay tax on your foreign income this year, you have to either meet the bona ride residence test (which, if you have a residency permit or something of that nature and have no intentions of returning to the US to work in the near future, you will probably qualify for, but only after a certain period of time) or the physical presence test (something like having to be out of the US for 330 consecutive days). Again, if you're like me and arrived at your school in August, you don't meet either for 2013. But hallelujah legal loophole--you file form 2350 and put the date when you expect to meet one of the two tests above and if everything is filled out correctly, the IRS will grant you an extension to file. Mine was until January 2 of this year (2014) so I literally just filed my 2012 taxes. After the first year, the filing is no big deal because you definitely meet one or the other tests so no taxes on your foreign income if it's below $90,000 or something like that.

There are other options, of course. I tried to use TurboTax first, but when it asks you about foreign income, it asks you stuff like "do you pay taxes currently in the country you live in?" We don't, because we live in a country with no income tax. So, you either have to fudge your way through or TurboTax figures you don't qualify and taxes your foreign income. At least it did when I tried it--I went from supposedly getting a couple grand back in a refund to having to pay $1200 or something. That's when I decided to talk to an accountant and see what I could figure out.

You could always, of course, just declare the income you made in the US before you moved abroad. Some people I know have done that. I'm guessing the chance for getting audited is quite low, but I don't know. Seems risky. But I'm a rule-follower. :)

Anyway, that was what I did! And the IRS approved my extension for 2350. Fingers crossed, but I should be getting my refund directly deposited in my account in a few weeks.

Hi all-

My husband is certified to teach industrial arts (aka: wood shop, tech-Ed..whatever you want to brand it). We're looking to job search next year and are wondering what international schools offer classes in industrial arts. He could also teach pre-engineering, construction/architecture, robotics, auto-cad, etc.-any sort of applied technology skill. If your school has any classes or programs like this, we'd love to hear about it! These types of courses are common in high schools in the states but less so abroad. We'd love to stay overseas and aren't picky about locale, but really want to get him a job in this area if it's possible. Thanks for the advice!

Go to the UNI fair. You can absolutely find a job, even if your only "real" experience is student teaching. You'll have to be flexible about where you go, though, but if you're okay with the Middle East you'll definitely come out with some offers.

I got hired at UNI this past February and am currently teaching in Kuwait. Love the school, love Kuwait, and am really happy I made the choice to come here. The school I'm at counted the year I taught in Korea (ESL) towards my salary. They also looked on it favorably in interviews because it shows that my partner and I are adaptable, can live abroad for an extended period of time, and will be less likely to break our contract.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. You'll really enjoy the UNI fair--it's a lot of fun!

My family, ESPECIALLY my dad, hates us living abroad (my husband and I) and can only come to grips with it by telling themselves it's just a phase that we'll grow out of eventually or that it will end when we're ready to "settle down" and have kids. We taught in Korea for 1 year (ESL) and they were beside themselves throughout the entire spring and summer leading up to our move. Of course, once we were there everything settled down and no one fell apart. It's the anticipation sometimes that's worse than the actual reality! Then we came home for a few years and everyone was holding their collective breath that we would want to stay put this time until we went to the teaching fair in Iowa and signed contracts to teach in Kuwait. Let's just say it's been a tough summer here in Colorado.

As you can imagine, with a family like mine (whom I love dearly--don't get me wrong..), teaching abroad is a VERY appealing lifestyle. ;)

Getting ready to teach abroad for the second time. Glad I've done it once so that I remember that the few months of stress and heartache leading up to the big move are not indicative of the how the actual experience of living and working abroad will be. Still get jitters, though, and family pressure doesn't help. The thing that's getting to me right now are the guilt trips coming from my family--"We're not getting any younger," "When are you going to have kids?," "What if we die while you're gone?" (yes--that's really been cited as a reason for us sticking close to home). So nice to be able to come to this forum and find like-minded folks who know how amazing it can be to teach abroad. So--thanks! :)

As teachers, we (well, most of us) want our students to be critical thinkers able to participate in a democratic forum in a thoughtful and conscientious manner. Part of that privilege is recognizing that not every opinion shared will be one that we agree with. If we do our jobs correctly, our students should be able to read something and not necessarily be seduced by it--that if something seems suspect it probably is, and that online forums allow even the best of people to behave in insulting and even derogatory manners. That is the price of a truly free democracy--having the liberty to say what you feel (as long as it is not infringing on the rights of others to do the same) and the liberty of others to disagree.

Alright--enough with the soap box. The advice I've heard from everyone that has ever been to the ISR website is "take what you read with a grain of salt." As a teacher new to the international scene (my fiance and I will be starting our first international job in Kuwait this August), I have never felt misled or duped by anything I've seen on this website. It's fairly easy to understand that reviews are often written by those who are disgruntled while those who are satisfied with their positions tend more often to keep quiet. The same goes for this forum--even though I'm new to international teaching, I'm not new to the phenomenon of the internet--that there are always people who dominate forums, that (gasp!), they might embellish their credentials, etc. As someone who has been using the internet for the past 20 years, I feel capable of reading something like a post from PsyGuy and reading between the lines.

So--why the need for censorship on this forum? Can't we all just think for ourselves and not lose sleep over who PsyGuy really is, where the recruiter lounge was located at the Sydney fair (it was the first floor! No--it was the second! The first floor IS the second! Pure comic gold I tell ya..) or what anyone says on an online forum? Sheesh.

**Commences slow clap**