[quote="Tyshine"]Ok so I need to find a hagwon for money, and an IB school for field work experience. I asked in another post, but might as well ask here. I am getting married and my fiance is also looking to do the same career path. What teaching specializations would allow us to each find positions? Neither of us will consider Math.[/quote]

One of you do Elementary. The other do Science or Computers / Technology preferably since neither of you want to do Math. Any certification will do though. Just depends on how competitive / desirable you want to be.

Good info.

I think I am gonna try to go ahead and plan to attend the UNI Fair and just eat the 700 usd.

This is assuming I pass my licensing exam on the first or 2nd go around.

Ill arrive home on Jan 15 which will give me roughly 2 weeks to pass the exams before attending the fair.

As far as messaging the schools prior to the fair.

You said sending my email / resume to recruiters. So I dont just email the principle or are you lumping the admin with recruiters? I am abit confused on that part. And if they are different should I email both?

Also you mentioned using Search, IB, and regional accreditation lists. I am familiar with Search, but what is the IB and regional accreditation list you speak of? Is it on Search or a different website?

Great points on the resume. I assume I will just have to put an asterisk beside my certification saying pending or something? As I will email / contact them prior to being certified.

Ugh I got lots to do between now and December! fml

[quote="Tyshine"]Thank you PsyGuy. I suspected that much.

Could you recommended a course of action? My plan is to shadow at a real IS school so I can actually learn something. However, my application is still going to be ESL experience and an online training course. What can I do to get my career started?

What if I go to another country while working wherever I can find a position, and try to make contacts for a third tier IS school?[/quote]

You only have 1 course of action.

Its get a hagwon job working at night that will allow you the time / opportunity to go to a International School during the day to do all your field work (observations, interviews, student teaching, etc)

Public Schools are not accredited therefore it will not count for your field experience / work.

After completing the program you will have to fly back to the USA and take your licensing exams.

After that you will need to start the job hunt. Job Fairs, Agencies, Emails, Skype, etc.

Then you take the best job you can get.

Same course of action as if you graduated university with an Education degree. (well, same course of action in regards to the job hunt)

Brush up on your interview skills and do alot of research on prospective schools, countries, cities, and regions.

@Psy

Hmm, seems like that is gonna be alittle difficult (getting an offer prior to the fairs & my certification) esp with me doing the alternative route.

I suppose it is worth a try though.

Where is the best place to see a list / database of most the schools in Colombia? (Search?)

Also how would you recommend my initial email to them look like? ie How to go about writing it and explaining my situation?

Also, who to contact / email (the principle?)

Thanks in advance.

[quote="PsyGuy"]The SA BOS fair and the SA SF fairs would be your best options as far as a fair goes. Having you certificate in hand would be beneficial but given your certification areas and your resume the schools that would be interested in you, wont see a delay of a couple weeks in getting your certificate as an issue.

If the ME or the lower tier asian schools are your target goals, you dont really need to attend a fair. Those schools would just as easily hire you with a video interview as a F2F interview.[/quote]

I am starting to rethink things at the moment. Kinda thinking I need to go somewhere fun for the first 2 years atleast.

My initial plan was to go straight to a country / school I could save the most money and slave / save away the next 10 years and attempt to passively retire by 40. However, by 40 I will be married and have kids and my priorities will be different. So I am thinking what is the rush, ie 50 seems like a more appropriate target base.

I think now I am leaning towards trying to get hired in Colombia for my first contract.

Contemplating if I can skip the Fairs and get hired through emailing the admin at the schools in Colombia and doing skype interviews.

Would rather save that 600-700 bucks it would cost to attend a fair.

Hmm decisions decisions.

From my calculations, I can stay about a month in Philippines after Korea and return home on Jan 15th. That would give me roughly 2 weeks until the UNI Fair.

That is really pushing it as I will have very little time to take my licensing tests before the fair. So I would have to pass it on the first go around.

Then go to the UNI Fair with proof that I passed and would be getting my official certification soon.

I know seniors in college that have went to the UNI that hadnt graduated yet that got jobs for the Fall.

If that falls through I will have 2 options.

Attend the SF Fair or simply try to get a job solely from online / skype etc.

Ugh this is gonna be a stressful next 6 months!

Guys, a question for you all.

I am in Korea now and will finish my contract in December. Initially I was planning on going straight home for Christmas and taking my licensing exams and then attending the UNI Fair. Then after the fair going to SEA for 1-2 months before heading to Colombia for an additional 1-2 months, pretty much a big vacation before summer and school in the Fall 14'.

I would really rather not fly back to SEA (looking at 1,600 usd) and would rather just go straight there after my contract and come back to the states in early February. 1,600 usd is like 3 months rent abroad.

So my questions are

1) What other job fairs are held in the US from late Feb - March/April?
2) What would be my chances of finding work in the ME or Central Asia by only online means (Search, Skype, etc)?

[quote="andybaxley86"]Thanks for the responses everyone. I think those of you who say there is no ESL ladder are probably absolutely right. I was thinking of maybe shooting for uni jobs, but I can't see myself doing that into my 30s and 40s.

Calipro- I think I'm going to stick with the plan of starting TeacherReady this October. I am looking forward to finding out how you do coming out of the program. I wish I had an interest in teaching secondary math or science, but I really don't. I think I'm going to have to stick with elementary.
One question for you- did you student teach at the school you were already looking at, or did you find a spot at an IS?[/quote]


What do you mean school I was already looking at?

I work at a hagwon from 2:30-10:30pm. As you should know hagwons and korean public schools are not acceptable for doing your field work / placement. I had to find an International School willing to take me on. I am probably gonna find another International School to finish up my program as the one I was placed with before school finished is not the most professional imo. Principal takes 2-3 weeks to respond to emails (last one I sent about a month ago in reference to finishing the program in the Fall still has not been replied to)

[quote="marieh"]CaliPro - Have you already taken the required exams? If so, how did you find them in terms of difficulty? I am starting the TeacherReady program in July and will be taking the tests in October. Just want to have an idea of what i'm in for.
[/quote]

No, I will leave Korea in December and take the exams in January.

I dont think they will be that difficult. I am taking the Math 9-12 exam and a bit worried as I am currently reteaching myself from scratch everything I forgot in school some years ago! lol

Have you read the forum? Plenty of info on this.

I am also a esl teacher in Korea doing the TeacherReady program and will finish it in the Fall.

You absolutely do not have to go back to the U.S. to get experience first.

I am certainly not gonna do that.

There are people at tier 3 International Schools without even a license.

With that said, you need to keep some things in mind.

1) Get a desirable certification / license (secondary math and/or science) If not get a elementary license.

2) You cant in anyway be picky / choosy about where you work. As a newbie your most likely gonna have to take the first / best offer you get anywhere in the world that will prob be at a lesser school in an undesirable location.

3) Use all your resources when hunting for a job. Job fairs, Search, and the other online agencies.

You will have to return to the U.S. to take your licensing tests. Keep that in mind.

Id personally recommend the UNI Job Fair as its more gracious to new and inexperienced teachers.

Good luck.

If you are willing to go anywhere in China (China is huge and with tons of schools of all tiers) id bet you would be able to find a job without experience if you use all your job searching avenues. Will it be a good job / tier 1 school, prob not but that is irrelevant. You gotta take the best job you can get, what ever / where ever that might be.

[quote="Dawson"]Please ignore PsyGuy. He doesn't live in Bahrain and he hates the Middle East. Those prices he quoted aren't even close to being accurate. Hey PsyGuy, don't post if you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

The salary and benefits you talked about sound quite reasonable. I live in Bahrain and the cost of living is quite good. If you can cook and don't need to use certain "western" brands then you'll be able to save a lot of money. Electronics, phones, ect. are cheaper than in the west. Alcohol is about twice what you'd pay in the States. For example, a 12 pack of Corona Beer costs 11 BD, which is about 28 dollars. The nice thing is there are no limitations on liquor. You can go to the liquor or bottle store as they call it here anytime and buy as much as you like. Not that we're all lushes here, but it is nice to have that option. The one thing you didn't mention is a car. Bahrain is not quite as taxi friendly as other GCC countries where taxis are readily available and cheap. I rent a car here for about $400 dollars per month. Depending on where you live that may be a necessity you are not budgeting for.

All in all, I think Bahrain is great. You get a great glimpse into Middle Eastern culture while still enjoying the perks of the west. You can also fly so easily and cheaply to many great places (Dubai, Jordan, Oman, etc.) I highly recommend Bahrain. Like I said please ignore Psyguy he has no clue about Bahrain and his hate for the Middle East is quite evident if you read too many of his posts.[/quote]

What prices were not accurate? When you make a claim it helps to substantiate it.

[quote="shadowjack"]And if they don't fill it with a married teaching couple! Cheaper for schools to do that, especially if the other spouse also fills a need for the school.[/quote]

when i get married, ill work on getting my wife certified. (if I dont meet another teacher) western women dont really do it for me though.... lol

Yes you can do the ACP program abroad. Yes you can get a US SSN as a non US citizen. You need to apply to a consolate or something. Google getting a social security number for school.

also here is a good ACP

TeacherReady.org

Why do the program in England? Takes a long time and costs a pretty penny.

Better option would be getting a US social security number (for school) and doing a online/onsite ACP program that you could complete at your current job.

You could be finished with the program in 8-10 months for only 5-6K usd.

After that go get your feet wet where you can then after 2 years I think you would be fairly marketable.