Thank you scooter93! That does make me hopeful.

Thank you all for your advice! It's very helpful.

I know my situation isn't ideal, and COVID certainly doesn't help matters, but at the same time, it's not ideal for new English literature teachers in my home state either.

I have no logistics issues, no trailing spouse, and no kids. I'll reach out to get my references and start searching asap, and I definitely will ask my former cooperating teacher to keep me in mind if any positions open up. I can get a religious character reference too, since I sang in a Catholic church choir for many years. Although my preference is not working at a religious school, I'm willing to do it if I must.

I understand the arguments in favor of staying in the US for two years. It's not my preference, but if that's the direction things go, then I'll make the best of it, even if I have to be a long-term sub or move to a different state. And if it's in NJ and I can transition my lifetime CEAS to a lifetime Standard certification, all the better.

Ultimately, I'm just going to be flexible, apply as much as I can, and hope for the best, and then as PsyGuy says, if June comes and I don't have a job, I'll have to figure out where to go from there and where I want to be. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks again!

Hi everyone!

First of all, thank you all so much for your contributions to this forum. It's really a tremendous resource. I've been lurking for a few years now, and I've found it very helpful.

I'm currently a college student, and I'm due to graduate this coming May with an MA in English. I already earned my BA in English Secondary Education last winter, and I have a CEAS from the state of NJ.

Through my university's "global student teaching" program I had two different placements: one at a DS in NJ and the other at an IS in SE Asia. I'm hoping that this can be an asset.

I'm very much aware that most ISs prefer 2+ years of experience, which obviously I don't have. All I have is my student teaching and some tutoring experience. I'm also aware that the hiring season for 21-22 will be unusual due to COVID-19, that English Literature is a particularly competitive subject, and that ISs typically don't have as many resources for new teachers as DSs.

Finding a job in NJ in my subject is competitive too, however, and it's very possible that I will be unable to find a job here unless I move, at which point I would rather work at an IS. Even if I do get a job in the states, it's most likely to be at a Title I school or a long-term sub position. International teaching is my end goal, so I don't especially want to teach in DE any more than I must.

With that said, I want to try to get a job as an IT for the 21-22 schoolyear. I am flexible about location (my preference is probably E or SE Asia, but I would go anywhere) and I'm honestly flexible about school quality as well, as long as I can get my foot in the door, stay for a year or two, and then move on to better schools. My current plan is to register for Search as an intern in order to access their database and just apply for as many schools, especially lower tier schools, as I can. And if I fail to obtain a job in IE for 21-22, I can always fall back on trying to find a job domestically. The number one thing I want to avoid is not getting a job for next year since I want to start building up those two years of experience.

Do you have any advice? Does my plan seem like a smart one? What expectations should I have, especially given the unusual situation going on in the world right now and its impact on IE? I can't imagine that it helps my prospects, but if I'm extremely flexible do I still have a chance?

Also a few additional questions:

-If I do go abroad immediately, my CEAS will never be able to become a Standard certification since I won't have taught in NJ. I'm aware that that's not as good (though functionally really should be the same), but is that something that could become an obstacle later in my career if I have no way to become fully certified? It's not a huge consideration, but something to at least keep in mind. My impression is that most ISs will treat it the same as they'd treat a Standard certification, but maybe not all.

-Who should I be getting as references? I have a different student teaching supervisor for each placement, so would just the two of them be enough? I could also get my tutoring boss or my professors but I'm not sure if their recommendations would be less meaningful. My former cooperating teacher is also now an Assistant Principle at the IS I student taught at, so would it be inappropriate to ask him? Honestly if there's an English opening at his school, I'm fairly confident that he would hire me based on some comments that he made, but I don't want to bank on that.

-What expectations should I have in terms of timeline? I know usually the hiring season starts in October (so about now), but since I have no experience I imagine I'm probably not an early hire, though that doesn't mean I won't be applying. COVID-19 also could alter things, since a lot seems to be uncertain.

-Would it be worth it for me to do the virtual Search fair in December? I've been considering it, since it does explicitly say that it's open to new teachers, but I have no idea if it's worth my time or if I should just stick to applying to schools individually.

Thanks in advance for your help! I know I wrote a lot. It's a very strange time to be trying to plan for the future, but any of your guidance/wisdom would be much appreciated.