For those of us who have been in the international teaching profession for numerous years, it is still very daunting having to think about acquiring a new international teaching post. There are so many new fresh young teachers out there that are eager to fill the same post that we are vying for and often times at a lower salary!

There are various ways of going about acquiring such a position, one being through attending one of the elusive job fairs that are held each year. These events tend to be pretty much like a cattle call of sorts; in and out of hotel rooms to ‘sell’ oneself to principals and directors from schools all over the world. I myself have been to several and it is a very exhausting procedure!

I have been to four job fairs in my career and I had no desire to attend another one due to the time and effort involved in attending one and not to mention the cost of attending them. I much rather communicate with the schools directly when I see there is a job opening that I might be able to fill. I just kept putting myself out there and had faith that the right job would come my way! I am in no means saying do not attend these fairs, I am just saying I prefer not to go to them.

I feel the best way to see which international schools have teaching positions is to sign up onto one of the various international job sites such as TIE On-line, Search Associates or ISS to name a few. And in recent years it seems like some folks are cashing in on the international job search market and are becoming ‘head hunters’ of sorts to locate teachers for the various openings that are still not filled after the job fairs. Getting your resume/CV on there is of utmost importance. This way the schools can see that you are interested in relocating.

After being in the international teaching profession myself since 1995, I have encountered countless connections with educational professionals who are now spread out all over the world. Through these connections I have been able to reach out and obtain inside information on various openings that I might be able to fill. But it seemed that even with these connections I still had a hard time getting a Skype interview after applying to numerous openings.

Just recently, another venue for locating an international teaching post is by joining one of the Facebook groups ‘International Teachers’ or ‘International Language Teachers’. These groups are very helpful in letting one know if there is an opening at their school. It is also a good place for a teacher to post a desired job in hopes that one of the members will know of an opening.

I believe the key in acquiring the desired job is networking, networking, networking! Tell people what you want and keep putting yourself out there. Persistence does pay; do not give up! Those last-minute jobs are out there, you just need to your eyes peeled to your computer screen to locate them. It is possible to get a job in June!

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This article was written by International School Community member Joni Kerr.

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