I am a certified K-12 ESL teacher with a Master's degree and 12 years experience. My husband has been in tech support and the corporate world for 13 years. We are in the US. His company is going through some major changes and he will have no choice but to quit within the next couple years (because he hates his job and because the company is relocating to another state).

My question is, if we decide to look overseas for jobs, who should get a job first? Should he secure a position first (not with an IS) and then I'll apply to international schools in the area and hope I'm hired? Or should I be the one to hunt for work and he'll follow me and research companies in the area once I have a job? If he gets a job first, does that mean I can only be hired as a local hire?

I think it'll be a hard sell to convince my husband to get certified. And I don't want to force him to take a career path he doesn't really want to take. He did say he'd be willing to do tech support or web site work for a school, so even if a school doesn't want or need that, at least we can offer it.

I will focus on ESL for now, but it's nice to know I have a math certification option. I wouldn't mind teaching middle school math.

That sounds almost too good to be true. So all I need to do to become a certified math teacher is pass a math test? I took the practice "Middle Grades 5-9 Mathematics" test on the Florida web site and got 25/30. I don't know yet what a passing score/percentage is, but with some studying, I know I could pass. Seems odd that I could become licensed to teach math without much coursework or experience. But if that's the case, then I don't see why I *shouldn't* do that, if it'll increase my chances of getting a job.

wrldtrvlr123, thank you for your response. Psyguy, thank you for a useful post that is not totally discouraging.

I'm in Minnesota where certification standards are pretty strict. As far as I can tell, all licensure here requires 10-21 credits of coursework as well as an exam. I will look into getting certification from other states. I could take some continuing ed. classes here and pass subject area exams, I'm sure.

It looks like these are the subject area exams in Florida: http://www.fl.nesinc.com/tests.asp
Does anyone know if I'd have to to take the Florida General Knowledge test, or if I would just need to take the subject area test for licensure in Florida? I assume that my Minnesota licensure and scores would transfer and I'd just need the subject area exam, but correct me if I'm wrong...

I will check out DoDDS schools as well; thanks!

What would take an hour tops? I must be missing something.

We talked about moving overseas even before we got married. He had only a two-year Associate's degree when we met. After we had our first child, he made the decision to go back to school and complete his B.A. degree for the sole purpose of being able to work overseas (since most countries require a 4-year degree to get a visa). He hates homework, it was a stressful three years for both of us, and the degree wasn't necessary for his current job at all. He wouldn't have done it if he wasn't serious about going abroad someday. The time is just not quite right yet, and like I've said, we need to figure out what kind of work he could do abroad.

Some of this will be repetitive from my other recent posts, but I am trying to plan out my life for the next few years. I'm 35 years old (36 on Saturday) with a K-12 ESL teaching license and an M.Ed. in ESL. I have seven years teaching experience in the US and two in Japan (at a conversation school). I would like to teach ESL at an international school.

I realize that Psyguy doesn't think I have a chance in hell of landing an ESL job with two kids and a non-teaching spouse, but for argument's sake, let's say I will eventually hit the job jackpot.

From what I've seen on job postings and on faculty lists on school web sites, some schools combine ESL positions with other positions, like SpEd or Drama. I don't want to teach Drama, but I'm open to teaching computers/technology, reading, social studies, health, or even math. My question is, would certification be absolutely necessary for those subjects if it's combined with an ESL job? Or would experience and graduate credits be enough? I am able and willing to take a bunch of continuing ed classes (with graduate credits) in the subjects I mentioned, and those classes could include field experiences and practicums. But they wouldn't result in licensure. I guess I could possibly pursue licensure in computers/tech, but it's still expensive at over $6000.

So, should I pursue graduate credits and field experiences in any of those subjects? Which one would be most marketable? Or should I just stick to ESL and maybe get more presentation/teacher training experience under my belt?

Thank you for any advice.

Actually, he would love to be a "house husband," LOL.

I don't blame him for not wanting to get certified. I just wish he knew what he wanted to do, because he hates his current job.

That is great to hear! Congrats!

Yes, he could definitely do all of those things. I think he'd love working at a school in that regard, especially if it involved taking photos for the web site, LOL.

How would I make it clear to schools that my husband could help out with tech support or web site development? Is there a space on applications for that info, or would I just include that in the cover letter?

Does religion even come up in interviews? As an atheist, would I feel comfortable working there?

I hadn't heard of Joyjobs before. Thanks! The more resources I know of, the better.

My husband does want to go abroad; I think he's just not all that excited about teaching, and I obviously can't force him to do something he doesn't want to do (even though that would help our situation tremendously!). Trouble is, I don't think he knows what he wants to do, either. He's got a B.A. in Business and has a computer/technology background - but not computer programming or coding. He's currently a Project Manager at Reuters. (They've got an office in Tokyo but require Japanese language proficiency to be transferred there, which he does not have.) He doesn't like his current job and is eager to get away with me and our boys, but we're always stuck wondering what job he can do abroad. He's into photography, particularly plane and air-to-air photography, but there's no money in that. He seems interested in perhaps opening a Japanese-style cafe somewhere with coffee/tea and Japanese treats, but he'd need a partner and I don't know how that would work overseas.

Sigh.

We'll have to do more research on tech-related jobs. It's a possibility, though he's not a computer programmer, which I'm sure is the most in demand.

Well, I shouldn't say doesn't WANT to go. My husband is perfectly willing to live abroad, and my kids are too young to have a say in the matter, but my husband now says he doesn't want to teach (meaning he doesn't want to go back to school to get certified to teach). It's really frustrating for me, because I've got my heart set on living abroad again and exposing my boys to another culture. I had such a fantastic experience living in Japan ten years ago and yearn for those days living abroad again. Now it seems more and more unlikely. I was hoping my husband would get certified someday so we could be a teaching couple.

What do you do if you want to live abroad and just can't make it happen? Are there homestay programs abroad for families? For those of you with trailing spouses, what does your spouse do for work?

We have the financial means (for now) to travel abroad for a short vacation every year or two, so I am grateful for that, but it's just not the same as living overseas. :-(

Well, forget that idea. A couple years ago, my husband said he'd think about getting certified "in a couple years," but today he looked at the TeacherReady program information I showed him and said he doesn't really want to teach. So we are back to square one, wondering what the heck he'd do if we go abroad. I guess it's up to me to go back and get further certification so that I have a chance of getting hired.