Hey, I just watnted to get some information about doing an Intership with Search or through an International School directly.
I'm working towards being a Secondary English teacher and I have a husband and two kids. I am thinking about doing a teaching internship after I graduate college and just wanted to know if any of you have done an internship before?
Is it hard to be selected for a paid internship if you have dependants, like it is for an actual job in an international school? Do they provide housing? Is it best to go through Search after I graduate? Or should I go directly through a school? If I do get an internship and I work in an IB setting will this count as 1 actual year of work experience and 1 year of IB experience?
I think an intership would look great on my resume and be a good way to get my feet wet in the international teaching industry. Any information you can provide will be most helpful. Thank you!
Internship question!
Comments
Well internships are very competitive, though they are paid (and provide housing, if its typically part of the compensation package), they arent all that different from the compensation package of a regular teacher contract (with one big exception later). Not every school has an internship program, and when they do its either an excuse to hire cheap labor, or they only have one maybe two interns. Its not uncommon for there to be 20 or more intern applicants for a single internship. Usually they interview the interns in a block of time one after another with about 10 minutes per intern. When they contact you, you have to decide on the spot yes, or no they cant wait 24 hours to hear from you and go to the next person.
Some interns are indistinguishable from a teacher position. They have their own classes, and everything. Some interns have aid or assistant teacher roles, mixed in with clerical duties. Every year there are a couple internships for boarding supervisor positions, and other support staff type positions. Depending on your duties and what you do you can count the year of experience, and the combination of IB and international experience would make you considerably more marketable, as well as providing an opportunity to remain at the school as a regular teacher if everything works out well.
The "big" internship fair is the Search BOS (Cambridge) fair. I recommend using an agency considering not every school has an internship program, they arent very many of them and you have to be open to a wide geographical area. Many schools generally only post their internships on the agency website. It would be a lot of work trying to hunt them down yourself. Search also has a dedicated internship coordinator.
The biggest issue and unfortunately is likely to be a deal breaker is your family. Internships dont provide for dependents, and with a trailing spouse and two kids would be a very difficult if not impossible challenge to an internship. Schools just wont be interested, as youre too expensive, and in WE a family of 4 would not be able to live on one salary.
Some interns are indistinguishable from a teacher position. They have their own classes, and everything. Some interns have aid or assistant teacher roles, mixed in with clerical duties. Every year there are a couple internships for boarding supervisor positions, and other support staff type positions. Depending on your duties and what you do you can count the year of experience, and the combination of IB and international experience would make you considerably more marketable, as well as providing an opportunity to remain at the school as a regular teacher if everything works out well.
The "big" internship fair is the Search BOS (Cambridge) fair. I recommend using an agency considering not every school has an internship program, they arent very many of them and you have to be open to a wide geographical area. Many schools generally only post their internships on the agency website. It would be a lot of work trying to hunt them down yourself. Search also has a dedicated internship coordinator.
The biggest issue and unfortunately is likely to be a deal breaker is your family. Internships dont provide for dependents, and with a trailing spouse and two kids would be a very difficult if not impossible challenge to an internship. Schools just wont be interested, as youre too expensive, and in WE a family of 4 would not be able to live on one salary.
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FutureTeacher33
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm
Re: Comments
[quote="PsyGuy"]Well internships are very competitive, though they are paid (and provide housing, if its typically part of the compensation package), they arent all that different from the compensation package of a regular teacher contract (with one big exception later). Not every school has an internship program, and when they do its either an excuse to hire cheap labor, or they only have one maybe two interns. Its not uncommon for there to be 20 or more intern applicants for a single internship. Usually they interview the interns in a block of time one after another with about 10 minutes per intern. When they contact you, you have to decide on the spot yes, or no they cant wait 24 hours to hear from you and go to the next person.
Some interns are indistinguishable from a teacher position. They have their own classes, and everything. Some interns have aid or assistant teacher roles, mixed in with clerical duties. Every year there are a couple internships for boarding supervisor positions, and other support staff type positions. Depending on your duties and what you do you can count the year of experience, and the combination of IB and international experience would make you considerably more marketable, as well as providing an opportunity to remain at the school as a regular teacher if everything works out well.
The "big" internship fair is the Search BOS (Cambridge) fair. I recommend using an agency considering not every school has an internship program, they arent very many of them and you have to be open to a wide geographical area. Many schools generally only post their internships on the agency website. It would be a lot of work trying to hunt them down yourself. Search also has a dedicated internship coordinator.
The biggest issue and unfortunately is likely to be a deal breaker is your family. Internships dont provide for dependents, and with a trailing spouse and two kids would be a very difficult if not impossible challenge to an internship. Schools just wont be interested, as youre too expensive, and in WE a family of 4 would not be able to live on one salary.[/quote]
Yeah, I actually just spoke with D. Kerry from Search and she informed me that they wouldn't feel comfortable accepting my application/fee because the schools are very unlikely to be interested in me as an intern. I was more or less talking about an IS in the U.S. though, that way I don't have to be a 'foreign intern' and worry about the additional cost. So, what I'm going to do is just contact these schools directly and see what they say.
Some interns are indistinguishable from a teacher position. They have their own classes, and everything. Some interns have aid or assistant teacher roles, mixed in with clerical duties. Every year there are a couple internships for boarding supervisor positions, and other support staff type positions. Depending on your duties and what you do you can count the year of experience, and the combination of IB and international experience would make you considerably more marketable, as well as providing an opportunity to remain at the school as a regular teacher if everything works out well.
The "big" internship fair is the Search BOS (Cambridge) fair. I recommend using an agency considering not every school has an internship program, they arent very many of them and you have to be open to a wide geographical area. Many schools generally only post their internships on the agency website. It would be a lot of work trying to hunt them down yourself. Search also has a dedicated internship coordinator.
The biggest issue and unfortunately is likely to be a deal breaker is your family. Internships dont provide for dependents, and with a trailing spouse and two kids would be a very difficult if not impossible challenge to an internship. Schools just wont be interested, as youre too expensive, and in WE a family of 4 would not be able to live on one salary.[/quote]
Yeah, I actually just spoke with D. Kerry from Search and she informed me that they wouldn't feel comfortable accepting my application/fee because the schools are very unlikely to be interested in me as an intern. I was more or less talking about an IS in the U.S. though, that way I don't have to be a 'foreign intern' and worry about the additional cost. So, what I'm going to do is just contact these schools directly and see what they say.
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FutureTeacher33
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm
@PsyGuy
I just wanted to say that I have also been networking with a lot of teachers here in the States and they are telling me that it's truly hard to find a job here in some parts of the country. I am not so sure that after graduation I will be able to gain two years of teaching experience here.
I am thinking about QSI or possibly applying for schools in the Middle East or Africa after graduation. With no experience, but with a M.A. English, minor in French, and an ESL endorsement, do you think that could be a good option for me? I haven't really considered jumping right into the international teaching field, but things are looking bad in the U.S. and I want to make sure I can get my foot in the door.
I just wanted to say that I have also been networking with a lot of teachers here in the States and they are telling me that it's truly hard to find a job here in some parts of the country. I am not so sure that after graduation I will be able to gain two years of teaching experience here.
I am thinking about QSI or possibly applying for schools in the Middle East or Africa after graduation. With no experience, but with a M.A. English, minor in French, and an ESL endorsement, do you think that could be a good option for me? I haven't really considered jumping right into the international teaching field, but things are looking bad in the U.S. and I want to make sure I can get my foot in the door.
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FutureTeacher33
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm
[quote="FutureTeacher33"]@PsyGuy
I just wanted to say that I have also been networking with a lot of teachers here in the States and they are telling me that it's truly hard to find a job here in some parts of the country. I am not so sure that after graduation I will be able to gain two years of teaching experience here.
I am thinking about QSI or possibly applying for schools in the Middle East or Africa after graduation. With no experience, but with a M.A. English, minor in French, and an ESL endorsement, do you think that could be a good option for me? I haven't really considered jumping right into the international teaching field, but things are looking bad in the U.S. and I want to make sure I can get my foot in the door.[/quote]
That was a typo!
I meant to say, with a B.A. in English, minor in French, an ESL endorsement, and a Master's in Teaching degree.
I just wanted to say that I have also been networking with a lot of teachers here in the States and they are telling me that it's truly hard to find a job here in some parts of the country. I am not so sure that after graduation I will be able to gain two years of teaching experience here.
I am thinking about QSI or possibly applying for schools in the Middle East or Africa after graduation. With no experience, but with a M.A. English, minor in French, and an ESL endorsement, do you think that could be a good option for me? I haven't really considered jumping right into the international teaching field, but things are looking bad in the U.S. and I want to make sure I can get my foot in the door.[/quote]
That was a typo!
I meant to say, with a B.A. in English, minor in French, an ESL endorsement, and a Master's in Teaching degree.
Comment
Yeah sorry, it just wasnt going to happen. An "international" school in the states is just a private school, and your not likely to be hired for an a literature position right out of school. if your going to stay in the states you really want to get into an IB school as soon as possible (doing your student teaching in an IB program would really help).
Your not graduating for a long time (5 or more years), the teaching field may be very different by the time you are ready to enter the profession. The economy way well have recovered by then.
I dont like QSI, and i wouldnt work for them, they have too many issues they havent fixed (or more accurately they have a culture i dont agree with). Every time i hear of someone who leaves QSI theres always a horrible story behind it. Its never just "well it was time to move on", or "we outgrew the options available to us".
What would make QSI attractive to you, is they will hire you with your family size, and provide housing (in most cases).
I think logistically your family situation is going to be an issue anywhere you go. You will have no experience, and a teaching area that isnt overly hard to fill. That said the ME is likely to be "better" relative to many other regions. The 2nd and 3rd tier school in this region can get really desperate, and you may be the best they can get.
Your not graduating for a long time (5 or more years), the teaching field may be very different by the time you are ready to enter the profession. The economy way well have recovered by then.
I dont like QSI, and i wouldnt work for them, they have too many issues they havent fixed (or more accurately they have a culture i dont agree with). Every time i hear of someone who leaves QSI theres always a horrible story behind it. Its never just "well it was time to move on", or "we outgrew the options available to us".
What would make QSI attractive to you, is they will hire you with your family size, and provide housing (in most cases).
I think logistically your family situation is going to be an issue anywhere you go. You will have no experience, and a teaching area that isnt overly hard to fill. That said the ME is likely to be "better" relative to many other regions. The 2nd and 3rd tier school in this region can get really desperate, and you may be the best they can get.