So You Want To Teach Overseas

If you are considering going overseas here are things you NEED to know.

Choosing a Company or School

1. If the school doesn't offer insurance, an apartment, or pay then be wary. There are scam schools out there that offer you a job and when you get to the country you find out you don't have a job or a place to live. You either live off your savings until you get a job or go home broken hearted.

2. If you need to pay the school to work there IT IS A SCAM! There are no schools that would be able to do that legally. They need your services not your money.

3. Some schools will sound like roses and chocolate but when you get there it can be a literal dump. There have been people who get jobs overseas thinking it is a top ranking school and find that it has a tin roof and no running water. Google Earth your prospective school, find their website, ask to talk to former teachers. If your school won't do that, then think again.

4. How big are your classes? How long are they? What are they expected to learn in a semester? There are schools who pride themselves in teaching fast. It is impossible to teach students to be fluent in a language in a semester especially if there are 100 kids in the class and they all have different learning levels. These schools don't scam teachers but parents. Parents pay a ton of money to get their children to be fluent in English in a semester and are shocked when their students "graduate" from the program barely knowing how to say, "My name is..." It will suck for you and the kids but as far as the school is concerned, they got paid.

I recommend going to the US site to find companies they recommend. Getting a TEFL/TESL if you don't have an education degree is a great idea too. My sister did that and she got to choose her country and everything.

Why do you want to teach overseas?

Want to party? Want to see the world and get paid for it? Want to have a low-key job in an awesome place? Congrats! Teaching is NOT for you. 

When my sister and I were both interviewed we were asked this question. A ton of people have gotten a teaching job overseas and quit in the first two weeks because they realized it was an actual job with actual responsibilities. It has gotten so bad in popular tourist countries they will not give you an apartment unless you have a recommendation from your company. Another issue is that people will spend their paychecks so fast that they have to go back to their home country because they are too broke to live there anymore. 

Going overseas can be amazing but it is not for the faint of heart either.