Couple questions about working in Europe:
1. How valuable is a EU country passport in getting a job? Are there that many schools there who will only hire those w passports? If you have one, would it help supersede other "negative" aspects of your candidacy, like multiple dependents?
2. Are the schools that require EU passports really that interested in hiring non Europeans (this seems like a dumb question, I know)?
2. What if only the teacher has an EU passport, but dependents don't ? Does that matter? If so, how?
3. Any chance of two tuitions paid for? Just curious, as I know typically the answer is no.
Not a math or science teacher, but do have 15 years experience (5+ international) AP, and tech.
Thanks!
Europe questions
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An EU passport is very valuable, though it depends on the country. Germany is easier then France, etc. Many schools either wont go through the trouble of getting a visa, or really cant.
Averaging all the european schools, yes its really a lot of schools. Understand that Europe represents only a small portion of international schools. When you start comparing them to China they are a very small minority.
Would a EU passport make up for negatives like a large family? Yes, but its a qualified yes. If you have children and a non working spouse youd starve in europe on a single salary. Since you have an EU passport EU law that protects foreign hires from poverty conditions wouldnt apply to you. So yes it would make you more attractive a hire, but it wouldnt put you in a better situation.
Yes schools in the EU are very interested in hiring non EU citizens. You have to understand that by the time a position is posted on a global recruiting site, they have already exhausted the pool of local candidates. These schools are composed of very diverse students many of them foreign expats, and so native english fluency is very important. Additionally these schools such as american schools or british schools want teachers experienced in these curriculum. These are ISs or at worst private/independent schools were not talking local municipal schools looking for an ESL teacher.
The teacher has an EU passport but the dependents dont? That would be very strange and raise an eyebrow, since you can sponsor your dependents for an EU passport from the country the teacher holds a passport from. Are your dependents stateless? I cant imagine a scenario where you would have an EU passport from a signing nation but your dependent children would not?
Yes you could get two tuition waivers its harder but its not rare. By the time a school posts a global vacancy they are usually desperate enough that tuition waivers arent going to be a deal breaker. The real issue for you to consider though is that you will have to pay the tax on those tuition waivers as if they were cash equivalents to your salary. Your typical tuition waiver is €9K-€10K and depending on the tax rate (30%-50%) thats at least an entire months salary per tuition waiver, two months for two waivers. Thats a 20% (10% per waiver over 10 months) monthly deduction on top of your regular taxes (average 40%) and your looking at more then half your salary gone before you even see any of it.
Its becoming more common for parents in that situation to send their children to a municipal/trust/charter school.
Averaging all the european schools, yes its really a lot of schools. Understand that Europe represents only a small portion of international schools. When you start comparing them to China they are a very small minority.
Would a EU passport make up for negatives like a large family? Yes, but its a qualified yes. If you have children and a non working spouse youd starve in europe on a single salary. Since you have an EU passport EU law that protects foreign hires from poverty conditions wouldnt apply to you. So yes it would make you more attractive a hire, but it wouldnt put you in a better situation.
Yes schools in the EU are very interested in hiring non EU citizens. You have to understand that by the time a position is posted on a global recruiting site, they have already exhausted the pool of local candidates. These schools are composed of very diverse students many of them foreign expats, and so native english fluency is very important. Additionally these schools such as american schools or british schools want teachers experienced in these curriculum. These are ISs or at worst private/independent schools were not talking local municipal schools looking for an ESL teacher.
The teacher has an EU passport but the dependents dont? That would be very strange and raise an eyebrow, since you can sponsor your dependents for an EU passport from the country the teacher holds a passport from. Are your dependents stateless? I cant imagine a scenario where you would have an EU passport from a signing nation but your dependent children would not?
Yes you could get two tuition waivers its harder but its not rare. By the time a school posts a global vacancy they are usually desperate enough that tuition waivers arent going to be a deal breaker. The real issue for you to consider though is that you will have to pay the tax on those tuition waivers as if they were cash equivalents to your salary. Your typical tuition waiver is €9K-€10K and depending on the tax rate (30%-50%) thats at least an entire months salary per tuition waiver, two months for two waivers. Thats a 20% (10% per waiver over 10 months) monthly deduction on top of your regular taxes (average 40%) and your looking at more then half your salary gone before you even see any of it.
Its becoming more common for parents in that situation to send their children to a municipal/trust/charter school.
Thanks for your replies. They are sunnier than I would have guessed.
My spouse will have income too. It is not dependent on location.
Our kids have US passports. My EU passport, if attained, would be through descendency, so it cannot be conferred on our children.
Do you have any schools/countries you would recommend, in western, central, or eastern Europe? I know it's all subjective, yadda, yadda.
Also, I have read here that European schools recruit much later than the rest of the world. Why? Is it true for all of Europe, or just certain schools/countries?
Does that mean if you roll the dice on Europe, and lose, you miss out on the rest of th world( barring emergency, maternity, people backing out, etc.)?
My spouse will have income too. It is not dependent on location.
Our kids have US passports. My EU passport, if attained, would be through descendency, so it cannot be conferred on our children.
Do you have any schools/countries you would recommend, in western, central, or eastern Europe? I know it's all subjective, yadda, yadda.
Also, I have read here that European schools recruit much later than the rest of the world. Why? Is it true for all of Europe, or just certain schools/countries?
Does that mean if you roll the dice on Europe, and lose, you miss out on the rest of th world( barring emergency, maternity, people backing out, etc.)?
Reply
@Trojan
I would be interested to know what EU signing country you can not sponsor your children for a passport once you have yours. You may be confusing "no gap" regulations that require ones immediate parents to posses citizenship for a dependent to obtain it.
European school generally have a later recruiting cycle typically in May. These countries have various labor laws and unions that stipulate a maximum time limit when a letter/notice/intent of resignation becomes binding. These school may ask for teachers notices in advance say in October, but they arent legally binding until around 30 days before the last day of the contract. This varies by country of course.
Yeah it kind of does. There is hiring and recruiting that occurs over the summer, but if you dont job search and instead hold out for europe, you will be missing a lot of other opportunities that will likely be gone by the time you find out if europe is going to work.
Many teachers that have their heart set on Europe will just bale on an earlier school and contract if they get an offer for a european school they want.
I would be interested to know what EU signing country you can not sponsor your children for a passport once you have yours. You may be confusing "no gap" regulations that require ones immediate parents to posses citizenship for a dependent to obtain it.
European school generally have a later recruiting cycle typically in May. These countries have various labor laws and unions that stipulate a maximum time limit when a letter/notice/intent of resignation becomes binding. These school may ask for teachers notices in advance say in October, but they arent legally binding until around 30 days before the last day of the contract. This varies by country of course.
Yeah it kind of does. There is hiring and recruiting that occurs over the summer, but if you dont job search and instead hold out for europe, you will be missing a lot of other opportunities that will likely be gone by the time you find out if europe is going to work.
Many teachers that have their heart set on Europe will just bale on an earlier school and contract if they get an offer for a european school they want.