Hello. My name is D and I am just embarking on the crazy pursuit of an international school job. I realize that a lot of newbies post on this forum, all with a million questions and their own unique situation, but I am hoping that one of you "veterans" will take a minute to read my posting.
Still with me? Awesome. Basically, I am wondering if I stand a chance to get an offer with an international school. In lieu of writing my personal history here, I'll just do a little pro/con listing. Here goes:
Pros:
1. I have my B.A. and M.A. (in politics) from a U.S. university
2. I am young (26- not sure if that is a "pro" or not) and unmarried. No dependents.
3. I have been working in South Korea for the past 4 years teaching ESL (2 years elementary, 2 years university)
4. I am currently pursuing an Idaho teaching certification (endorsement in secondary English language arts)
5. I have a CELTA certificate
6. I am well-travelled and have lived in 5 different countries (U.S., Palestine/Israel, India, South Korea, and Poland)
7. I speak advanced-level Spanish and Korean (I was hoping that my Korean might help me, as there tend to be a lot of Korean students in international schools in Asia)
8. I graduated college early (M.A. in hand at 20), and then started working. As a result, I have a diverse work history prior to my entrance into the teaching profession. I worked for a year in journalism in the West Bank, and for a year in the nonprofit industry in Utah.
9. I am willing to go anywhere. Really, anywhere. Bangladesh? Cameroon? Mindanao? Nebraska? (Does Nebraska have an international school? haha) Bring it on!
10. I don't mind starting out at a "tier 2" school.
Cons:
1. I have no international school teaching experience.
2. I don't expect to have my teaching certification in hand until spring 2013 :(
3. Although I have 4 years of teaching experience, little of it is in the grade range I would ideally like to teach: middle/high school.
4. I am not Christian, and don't have much of a desire to work at a Christian school (although I would consider it if they were not conservative and had a diverse student population . . . I mention this because I've seen a lot of Christian schools lately that seem to have disconcerning recruiting policies. ie. "Reaffirming your faith in Jesus Christ") Yeah.
Well, what do you think? Am I doomed? There are many more "Pros" than "Cons," but admittedly, the "Cons" carry a little more weight.
To sum up, I'm open to going anywhere, but I'm primarily looking in Asia and the Middle East. I would like to teach secondary English language arts, but am also open to teaching social studies or ESL.
I'm considering attending the Search fair in January 2012 (Bangkok and/or Hong Kong). I'm concerned about going to such an early fair, knowing that probably the most competitive schools will be there, but it's unlikely that I will be able to go to a later fair (I'm beginning a volunteer teaching opportunity in late Jan. and won't be able to leave until May).
Right now, I'm just browsing schools and designing my plan of attack.
Can any of you give advice? Do I stand a chance? Will my lack of certification make it impossible for me to find a job?
Thanks in advance,
D
A little advice?
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goinggoinggone
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:38 pm
Since you really lack the two most important qualifications for getting a job at an international school, teacher certification and 2 years of K-12 teaching experience you might want to consider rethinking your timeline. Your first option would be to wait to attend a fair until you are closer to having your actual certification (January/February 2013). You might stand a much better chance at that time, but it's important to remember that you will still be lacking the years of required experience. If you really want to get a job before you finish your certification another option is to attend the Search fair in 2012, but apply for intern positions. Intern positions pay less, but they do provide people without certification an opportunity to gain valid teaching experience.
There are international schools that may hire you without certification and relevant experience, but they may not be the most legitimate schools out there. The people I know who got jobs without being certified happened to have connections with people who taught at international schools and were around when the school needed a teacher unexpectedly. Also, I can say from personal experience that working at a bottom tier international school can be just as bad if not worse than working at a poorly run hagwon in Korea.
There are international schools that may hire you without certification and relevant experience, but they may not be the most legitimate schools out there. The people I know who got jobs without being certified happened to have connections with people who taught at international schools and were around when the school needed a teacher unexpectedly. Also, I can say from personal experience that working at a bottom tier international school can be just as bad if not worse than working at a poorly run hagwon in Korea.
There are many private high schools in China that are not necessarily "international schools", but use the international IB curriculum. You would be teaching Chinese students in English. They are not exactly the best places to teach, but I think it is your next step. At least you will get IB experience.
The problem you will run into is that you will need a degree in the subject you want to teach. There usually aren't any polysci classes in high school. You may be able to get into English or history. Although, the supply of history teachers far outweighs the demand from my experience.
Good luck.
Yadu
The problem you will run into is that you will need a degree in the subject you want to teach. There usually aren't any polysci classes in high school. You may be able to get into English or history. Although, the supply of history teachers far outweighs the demand from my experience.
Good luck.
Yadu
I am not a "veteran" but maybe can offer some advice with your current situation. There is a lot of ambiguity with what constitutes an "international school", so maybe you have to define this for yourself. My concept of an international school consists of a multinational/multilingual student population, local+expatriate staff, and an internationally accredited curriculum.
Judging from my previous job search, the schools that fit my definition will not likely hire teachers with no teacher certification. However, there seem to be many purported international schools that will hire teachers without qualified teacher status. From what I gather, these schools tend to be those where the student population is comprised of host country nationals.
Judging from my previous job search, the schools that fit my definition will not likely hire teachers with no teacher certification. However, there seem to be many purported international schools that will hire teachers without qualified teacher status. From what I gather, these schools tend to be those where the student population is comprised of host country nationals.