Your International Career Could Be Building More Than Your CV

Your international career has already built your CV.

It might be worth asking what else it could build.

If you’ve spent years working in international schools, you’ve probably become very good at starting again.

A new country. A new school. A new apartment. A new currency. A new bank account. A new contract.

That’s part of what makes an international education career so exciting. You can build an incredible professional network, experience different cultures and live in places that many people only ever visit.

But there is another side to being constantly on the move: it can be surprisingly easy to build an impressive career while putting off the question of what you’re building financially.

Whether you’ve been overseas for six months or fifteen years, it is worth taking time to think about how your international career could contribute to your longer-term financial goals. (Sign up to get a free financial health check)

Here are five questions worth asking.

1. What am I actually earning and spending?

It’s easy to compare international school salaries by looking at the headline figure.

But your salary is only one part of the picture.

Housing, flights, healthcare, school fees, tax, allowances, and the local cost of living can all significantly affect what you have available each month.

Two educators earning similar salaries could have completely different amounts left over after their regular expenses.

So rather than simply asking “How much do I earn?”, consider asking:

“How much could I realistically save or invest each month?”

That figure is much more useful when you’re thinking about your financial future.

It’s also worth looking at what happens to your spending when you move countries. A salary that gives you significant disposable income in one location may not stretch as far somewhere else.

Understanding your actual numbers is the starting point for making informed decisions about what comes next. (Sign up to get a free financial health check)

2. What is happening to my pension?

Pensions aren’t always straightforward when your career crosses borders.

You may have a pension from your home country, another arrangement from a previous international school and a new scheme through your current employer.

And if you’ve worked in several countries, it can become difficult to keep track of everything.

It’s worth understanding:

What pension arrangements you already have
Where your existing savings are held
Whether you can continue contributing
What happens when you leave a country
What fees you’re paying
What your options are for managing previous pensions
Whether your current arrangements fit your longer-term plans

You don’t necessarily need to make changes every time you move.

But you should know what you have.

Your pension is part of your compensation, even if you don’t see that money in your monthly salary.

3. Am I saving with a purpose?

Saving money is important, but where you’re saving and what you’re saving for matters too.

International educators can have a particularly complicated financial setup. You might earn in one currency, spend in another and still have financial commitments in your home country.

Start by considering the different jobs your money needs to do.

You might need accessible savings for emergencies and unexpected travel. You might have medium-term goals such as buying a home. And you may also want to build longer-term investments for financial independence or retirement.

Keeping everything as cash isn’t necessarily the same as having a long-term investment strategy.

Equally, investing money you may need in the short term can create unnecessary risk.

The important thing is to understand what you’re saving for, when you’ll need it and what options are available to you. (Sign up to get a free financial health check)

4. What happens to my finances when I move countries?

This is one of the biggest differences between an international career and a career where you stay in one country.

Moving is normal.

But your financial plan needs to move with you.

Before relocating, it can be useful to consider what happens to your:

Bank accounts
Savings
Investments
Pension
Tax residency
Insurance
Property
Existing financial commitments

Currency is another consideration.

If you’re earning in Singapore dollars today, for example, but expect to return to the UK eventually, your long-term financial goals may involve more than one currency.

And if you own assets in your home country while living overseas, there may be tax and management considerations to understand.

The goal isn’t to make international life financially complicated. It’s to make sure that moving countries doesn’t mean starting from scratch financially every few years.

5. Am I using my international career to build assets, not just income?

This is perhaps the most important question.

An international education career can provide periods where you have a good earning capacity and, depending on where you live, potentially more disposable income than you might have at home.

What you do with that opportunity is up to you.

You could build cash savings. Increase pension contributions. Invest in financial markets. Or explore other assets, including property.

The key question is whether some of your income is helping you build something that can continue to contribute to your financial future, rather than simply being spent month to month.

Could property be part of the picture?

For some international educators, property can be one way of building a longer-term asset alongside their career.

That doesn’t necessarily mean buying a home in the country where you currently work.

If you’re moving every few years, buying locally may not make sense for your circumstances. Some international educators instead explore property in their home country or other markets, particularly where professional management makes it possible to invest without being physically present.

Of course, property isn’t right for everyone. There are costs, financing considerations, tax implications, market risks and the practical question of how a property will be managed while you’re overseas.

But it can be worth exploring as part of a broader financial strategy.

For international educators considering property, the ability to invest remotely can also be important. Professional management can mean that investors don’t necessarily need to be physically present to deal with tenants, maintenance and the day-to-day running of a property.

Property is just one potential option, alongside savings, pensions and other investments. The right approach will depend on individual circumstances, goals and risk tolerance. (Sign up to get a free financial health check)

Your career can be more than your salary

One of the great things about international education is the opportunity to build a life as well as a career.

You can live in different countries, experience different education systems, meet people from around the world and develop skills that stay with you wherever you go.

But your international years can also be an opportunity to build financially.

You don’t need to have everything figured out.

You don’t need to buy property.

You don’t need to invest every spare pound.

But it is worth asking yourself:

If I look back on my international education career in 10 years, what will I have built alongside my CV?

For some people, the answer will be a pension. For others, savings, investments, property or simply greater financial freedom and flexibility.

There is no single answer.

The important thing is to start thinking about the possibilities.

Want to understand your financial options?

If you’re an international educator and you’re not sure whether your current financial arrangements are working towards your longer-term goals, a free financial health check can be a useful place to start.

Thirlmere Deacon can help you review your current position and explore the different options available, from property and savings to other investment opportunities.

The financial health check is free, and there is no obligation to invest.

Melanie Johnson
Associate Director, Thirlmere Deacon

👉 Message me on WhatsApp
✉️ Email me
🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can also quote “FREECHECKISC” to Melanie to get your free financial health check-up via the contact links above. No pressure. Just a chance to look at your current position and explore what options might be available to you.

Your international career has already built your CV.

It might be worth asking what else it could build!

(Check Melanie’s previous article on the ISC blog titled “Is Your International School Pension Enough? 5 Ways to Build for Your Future”)

Has Your International School Appraised Its Teachers This School Year?

Schools say that staff members are going to be appraised, but for one reason or another, these appraisals simply don’t get done. It may be that having all staff members appraised within a single school year is genuinely an impossible task.

Even when the administrators divide and conquer (to appraise all the many staff members), it still often doesn’t get done. Sometimes they start off in August-October with a few goal-making meetings, but often that is as far as it goes for that school year.

This begs the question: are appraisals really necessary? I guess there are pros and cons to doing appraisals, maybe all pros. But if the appraisal is not done in an effective manner or is perceived as an inauthentic experience, it seems like it will not be so meaningful for both parties.

It is possible to just go on with your jobs and, through casual drop-ins, make informal appraisals. It’s possible that if you are not really doing your job very well, most staff members know…including the administration.

It is also nice when staff members just organically make their own professional goals, though, and work towards achieving them for that school year; inviting their administration and other staff to observe certain lessons or to even get involved.

It’s certain that some international schools have indeed figured it out, ensuring that all staff members are appraised from start to finish every year. However, for many schools, particularly those with high administrative turnover, having all staff members formally appraised each year remains a long-term goal. Establishing an effective appraisal system that works well for everyone involved continues to be a challenge.

This article was submitted by a guest author and International School Community member.

Luckily, International School Community has a comment topic on our school profile pages related to this topic of appraisals, so you can stay as informed as possible. “There are 200 comments (premium access only) that have the word appraisal in them, and a total of 509 comments in our comment topic called – “Details about the current teacher appraisal process.” Here are a few of those 509 comments related to appraisals about various schools from around the world:

Our veteran international school teachers have submitted a total of 509 comments in this comment topic (Oct 2026). Here are a few that have been submitted:

“Primary teachers are observed by newly-appointed Heads of Department that have little to no experience” – Wycombe Abbey International School (Changzhou, China) – 78 Total Comments

“The school has worked with Pam Harper over the last year to define student learning and align teaching to it. The model that has been adopted, the Teaching for Learning Index, serves as the framework for professional learning and appraisal.” – NIST International School (Bangkok, Thailand) – 176 Comments

“Teachers are observed, given a print of the evaluation and a brief feedback meeting. No data is formally collected/recorded.” – Canadian International School (Tokyo) (Tokyo, Japan) – 93 Total Comments

“In a year and a half of teaching here, I have only had one formal classroom observation. The principal gave me an excellent evaluation and apparently hasn’t felt the need to return!” – Misr American College (Cairo, Egypt) – 53 Comments

“They have a system called Responsibility for Learning which is tailored to the situation. New teachers go through a pre-determined portfolio process supporting professional standards. Returning teachers are given options as to how to best support their own growth. Administrative visitations are ongoing and both formal and informal.” – American School of Dubai (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) – 84 Comments

“Teachers are observed twice in an academic year. At the end of the year, the results of these observations are then combined with evaluations from the senior Thai admin (who never see you teach). The score is then tabulated and you are given a bonus based on this score. Teachers can see the results of the observations but are not allowed to see the evaluations from the Thai admin.” – Assumption College (Bangkok, Thailand) – 21 Comments

“Teacher appraisal at FBS is an ongoing process involving classroom observations, professional discussions, feedback from leadership, and review of teaching and learning practices. Teachers receive constructive feedback and guidance, with appraisal focused on professional growth, student learning, and identifying areas for further development…” – Future Bilingual School (Kuwait City, Kuwait) – 25 Comments

“Evaluations are from a checklist, but frequently items that are not on the checklist are included in the narrative in such a way they can be interpreted as negative, despite not being an item for appraisal…” – Gyeongham International Foreign School (Sacheon, South Korea) – 162 Comments

Choosing the Right International School: Advice for Your First Move Abroad (Part 1)

This is the first of a three-part series on choosing the right international school for your first move abroad. Parts 2 and 3, on life beyond the classroom and on management and autonomy, will follow over the coming months.

Part 1: Academic Culture in International Schools

The school that suited me almost perfectly on my first international move was one a colleague found far less comfortable. I had spent nearly my entire career in high-performing grammar and independent schools, and went looking for the same culture, plus the travel and leadership opportunities the international sector offers. The right school group made that surprisingly easy to find. My colleague, who joined from a different kind of school, had a very different experience, and it had nothing to do with their ability as a teacher.

International schools vary far more than most people realise, and when a teacher fails to thrive in one, the cause is rarely experience or qualifications. It is usually a cultural mismatch. For teachers, as for students and parents, there is no single best kind of international school. It is as much a question of fit as of quality. The task before your first move is to work out which types of institutions will bring out the best in you, personally and professionally.

That is harder than it sounds, and can involve some cognitive dissonance. In my experience, many educators define themselves according to the kind of environment they currently work in, and it is not always clear whether the school shaped the teacher or the teacher chose the school. Stepping back from that and starting with a truly blank canvas can mean questioning parts of your professional identity. It is tempting to answer as the teacher you tell yourself (and others) you are, rather than the one you actually are, and to end up choosing a school for a version of you that doesn’t exist.

It helps to have something concrete to test yourself against. Three aspects are worth thinking through: the kind of academic culture you want to be part of, how much time and energy you want to commit beyond the classroom, and the types of leadership and management you work best with. Each is a spectrum with teachers thriving at both ends and all points in between; the key is establishing where you sit. Once you know that, it becomes much easier to judge how closely a school matches your preferences in a given sphere. Most of what you need to make an informed decision can be found in the job advert, the website, and the conversations at the interview.

‘Academic’ can mean two very different things

The first question to ask about academic culture, and perhaps the easiest to answer from outside, is how hard the school pushes for measurable outcomes. At one end of the spectrum, results, university destinations and parental expectations shape much of daily life. Academic pursuits take priority over other activities and teachers are held closely accountable for their students’ performance. At the other, examination results matter but do not dominate. School life has a different balance and students spend a larger proportion of their time on co-curricular sport, the arts and other enrichment activities.

An outcomes-focused culture rewards teachers who are comfortable being judged on results, at the cost of frequent and sometimes difficult conversations with ambitious students and parents. A broader one leaves more room for holistic work and different interests, but can frustrate a teacher who thrives on academic ambition.

My colleague’s experience shows how sharply this can land. Almost as soon as they arrived in the school I was working in, they faced pressure from their Year 13 students and their parents about predicted grades and university applications. For me, this was the norm, but my new colleague was uncomfortable having those conversations. They did not enjoy the academic focus of the environment, because they wished to dedicate more of their time to supporting their students’ personal and social activities. Neither they nor the school had done anything wrong. The intensity that made the environment right for me was precisely what made it wrong for my colleague.

The second question is whether going beyond the prescribed curriculum, for teachers and students alike, is the exception or the norm. At one end are schools built around the specification, where the syllabus and its assessment objectives define what is taught and to what depth, and success means mastering what will be examined. At the other are scholarly cultures, where the curriculum documentation is a floor rather than a ceiling: teaching regularly reaches beyond it, and courses are shaped by the subject’s wider debates and the interests of the students. Either can sit alongside intense or modest pressure for results.

A scholarly culture rewards teachers who love their subject beyond the specification, but asks for sustained intellectual engagement in return, and this can be taxing for those who see themselves as teacher first, academic second. A more specification-focused one offers clarity and a well-worn route to results, but can feel narrow to a teacher who came into the profession for the love of their subject more than the pedagogy.

Finding your fit in the international school community

Ask yourself:

Do you prefer working with students who focus on improving their work and getting better marks, or those who ask tangential questions that lead to interesting conversations but perhaps take the lesson off track?
Are you more excited by the latest pedagogical research, or the latest news in your main academic subject?
How comfortable are you being judged on your students’ results, and fielding conversations about grades with (perhaps overly) ambitious students and their parents?
During a lunch break, would you rather run a revision session, a discussion of the news of the day or a service activity?

Look for:

Where the school’s language about teaching and learning puts its emphasis: rigour and scholarship, inquiry and independence, or wellbeing and the whole child. Most schools mention all three; what matters is which comes first and most often.
Which student successes the school celebrates most on its website and social media: exam results and university offers, academic competitions and work beyond the syllabus, or sport, the arts and service.
How prominently exam results and university destinations feature on the website, and how much detail the school publishes about them.
The wider academic culture of the country and its families, which often shapes parental expectations more than the school’s own statements do.

Ask at interview:

What a successful student looks like here. Listen for whether the answer emphasises outcomes, curiosity or character.
How free teachers are to go beyond the curriculum, and whether doing so is actively encouraged or simply accepted.
How the school handles students and parents who challenge grades and reports, and how far teachers are supported in those conversations.
Expectations around homework and academic engagement outside of lessons.

Academic culture shapes teaching and learning, but the job never ends there. The next post in this series will turn to what the school asks of you beyond the classroom.

About the author

Rob Earl is an independent adviser to international schools and education groups, based in Budapest. He began his career teaching economics and business in the UK, before senior leadership roles at British international schools in South Korea and Singapore and a year as Academic Director for a new education group in Vietnam. earl.pro

Is Your International School Pension Enough? 5 Ways to Build for Your Future

Not every international school offers a pension. And even if yours does, it may not be enough to fund the future you want.

A few years into my international career, I started thinking about what I was building financially alongside my career. I knew I didn’t want to reach the end of it with a great CV but not enough financial security for the future.

So I started exploring different ways to build long-term financial security while continuing to live and work overseas.

I chose one of the options below, and it helped me build assets alongside my career, create an additional income stream, and eventually have more freedom over how I spent my time.

I’ll come back to that one in option 3.

But there are several ways international educators can start building their own retirement plan, whether you’re just starting your career overseas or you’ve already spent 10 or 15 years abroad.

1. Build your own investment portfolio

One way to take more control of your long-term finances is to invest regularly yourself.

Depending on your circumstances, this could include investments such as funds, ETFs or other financial market investments.

The advantage of investing regularly over a long period is that you can build your portfolio gradually rather than needing a large amount of money upfront.

However, one of the challenges is that you are responsible for managing it yourself. Markets change, your circumstances change and your portfolio may need reviewing over time. Building a long-term investment strategy can require you to stay active, informed and on top of your investments rather than simply putting money away and forgetting about it.

The important thing is to understand what you’re investing in, the level of risk involved and how accessible your money needs to be.

2. Look at pension options from your home country

If you’ve previously worked in the UK or another country with a pension system, you may already have retirement savings sitting somewhere.

Don’t forget about them just because you’ve moved overseas.

It can be worth finding out:

How much you already have
Where your pension is held
What fees you’re paying
Whether you can continue contributing
What your options are if you have multiple pensions

You may have more retirement savings than you realise, simply spread across different countries and employers.

3. Consider property as a long-term asset

This is the option I chose.

I built my own UK property portfolio while teaching in Shanghai, The Bahamas and Bangkok.

For some of the opportunities available today, you can start from around £800 a month, with payments spread over time while a property is being constructed.

That can make property investment more accessible than many international educators might expect.

My own properties are professionally managed, so I’ve never needed to visit them. I don’t deal with tenants, maintenance or the day-to-day management myself.

That was particularly important to me as an international educator. I didn’t want an investment that required me to be physically present when my career and family life were taking me around the world.

Of course, property isn’t right for everyone. There are costs, financing considerations, tax implications, market risks and management fees to consider.

But my experience showed me that investing in property while living overseas didn’t have to mean finding a property, dealing with agents and trying to work everything out from the other side of the world myself.

Through Thirlmere Deacon, I now help other international educators explore their options. The team guides clients through the process from start to finish, so they aren’t trying to navigate it alone from overseas

For me, the ability to build assets while living overseas was a big part of why this approach worked.

And ultimately, those investments helped give me the flexibility to step away from full-time school life, travel and spend more time with my young family.

Here’s a real-life example:

In 2018, a teacher reserved a Birmingham apartment with a pre-launch discount for £200,000.

They paid the 30% deposit of £1,250 a month across a four-year build, and it was completed in 2022 with a £140,000 mortgage, and a tenant moved in.

They kept putting the same £1,250 aside each month. In 2024, the apartment was valued at £270,000, when they remortgaged the property and released £62,500. That, plus two years of continued saving, funded the down payment of a second property at £270,000.

Today they have two properties worth £540,000, £135,000 of equity, and around £1,066 a month in rental income after costs.

They are now using this net income towards property number 3…

Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. Prices and rentals can go down as well as up.

4. Create your own retirement savings pot

Another option I explored was building a dedicated savings pot alongside my investments.

For international educators who don’t have access to a traditional pension, an international savings plan can be one way to create your own long-term retirement pot. Options start from around 300 a month and can be portable between international postings, with plans available in currencies such as sterling, dollars or euros.

For me, having something that could move with me as I moved between countries was particularly relevant to life as an international educator.

It meant I could continue building towards my longer-term financial goals without having to completely rethink everything every time I changed country or school.

5. Make a plan that can move with you

This is particularly important if you’re an international educator.

Over my 10 years overseas, my country, currency and employer changed more than once. So I found it useful to keep an eye on where my savings and investments were held and how they fitted into my longer-term plans.

Before each move, I would think about:

Where are my savings?
Where are my investments?
What pensions do I have?
What currency am I earning and saving in?
What happens to my finances if I move again?

I didn’t want every new posting to mean starting from scratch financially.

Your school doesn’t have to provide the whole plan

A career in international education can give you an incredible lifestyle.

But if your school doesn’t provide a pension, that doesn’t mean your retirement planning has to wait.

My own experience of building investments alongside my international education career has shown me that there are different ways to build towards your financial future.

There isn’t one retirement plan that works for every international educator.

Want to talk it through?

If you’d like to talk through your own situation or simply hear more about what I’ve done, I’d be very happy to chat and share my experience.

After going through this myself, I now help other international educators explore the different ways they can build towards their financial future, whether that’s through property, savings or other investments.

Melanie Johnson

👉 Message me on WhatsApp
✉️ Email me
🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn

Your school may not provide your retirement plan. But that doesn’t mean you can’t build one. The sooner you start, the more choices you give yourself later.

IS Community Blog

Has Your International School Appraised Its Teachers This School Year?

Choosing the Right International School: Advice for Your First Move Abroad (Part 1)

Is Your International School Pension Enough? 5 Ways to Build for Your Future

Comparing the Schools and Comments: Working in Kuala Lumpur (2026)

Categories

Your International Career Could Be Building More Than Your CV

1. What am I actually earning and spending?

2. What is happening to my pension?

3. Am I saving with a purpose?

4. What happens to my finances when I move countries?

5. Am I using my international career to build assets, not just income?

Could property be part of the picture?

Your career can be more than your salary

Want to understand your financial options?

Has Your International School Appraised Its Teachers This School Year?

Choosing the Right International School: Advice for Your First Move Abroad (Part 1)

Part 1: Academic Culture in International Schools

‘Academic’ can mean two very different things

Finding your fit in the international school community

About the author

Is Your International School Pension Enough? 5 Ways to Build for Your Future

1. Build your own investment portfolio

2. Look at pension options from your home country

3. Consider property as a long-term asset

4. Create your own retirement savings pot

5. Make a plan that can move with you

Your school doesn’t have to provide the whole plan

Want to talk it through?

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