Educators Overseas: Helping teachers secure a job teaching abroad.

There are many ways to secure a teaching job at an international school. The website Educators Overseas also offers such a service. Here is what they have to say about their philosophy of helping candidates find the “right fit” in their search to teach abroad (taken from their website):

Honesty Throughout the Process

The word “recruiter” is sometimes associated with the idea of telling a job candidate what they want to hear, just so that they’ll take a job. At Educators Overseas we pride ourselves on being the exception to this rule.

Realistic Outlook – Some schools can only hire people under or over a certain age. Others only want single, unaccompanied teachers or those who have experience working overseas. We will review your qualifications and will be honest with you about your chances and opportunities to find a job.
Honesty – Apparently there are some teacher recruiting companies who delete any Facebook posts that put their company or the schools they work with in any negative light at all. Rather than deleting such posts we address the issues straight on.
Quality Schools – we support the teacher bill of rights and work only with quality schools. This unofficial document was created jointly by international school teachers to communicate a few things they expect from their new international school. While we can’t enforce the Bill of Rights, we can and do let schools know that we support the Bill and do not represent schools in egregious violation of the Bill’s spirit or points.

Assistance as You Move Abroad

Unlike other teacher recruiting agencies, our service to you does not stop once the contract is signed and is not limited by the job you accept.

Travel Guidance – Although you’ll find a lot of information on your own via the internet, visit our Destinations pages for more information on the city and country you’ll be going to. For some jobs you’ll be given a mini travel guide to start you off right.
Cultural Acclimation – To help you prepare to transition abroad (and also while you’re in country if need be), you we will give you exclusive access to an e-course especially designed for expats moving abroad.
Transitions Abroad – Moving anywhere is a big deal, but moving overseas, especially for the first time, is even more of a transition. To help you prepare for your big move abroad Educators Overseas stays in contact with you every step of the way, providing your information about shipping, vaccines, the local language, and answering any questions you may have about moving to, teaching in, or living in your new country.

Support After Arriving in Country

What happens after you arrive at a school? If you used another teacher recruiting company chances are you won’t hear from them again once you move abroad. At Educators Overseas, once a teacher accepts a job at an international school, we continue to provide ongoing support to teachers to ensure a smooth transition overseas and an outstanding experience in their host country.

Expat and Teacher Community Abroad – Once you move abroad you’ll be considered an “expat”, short for expatriate – someone who is a citizen of one country but temporarily residing in another country. The good news is that expats stick together and develop their own sense of community and family in another country. We will put you in touch with expat groups so you can start building your own community even before you go. Educators Overseas will also provide you with resources and information about living in your new country and in some cases a mini travel guide.
Embassy Contacts Abroad – The Embassy (in the capital city) and Consulates (in other cities) of your home country provides services and support to its citizens residing in the host country. Educators Overseas will connect you with your country’s Embassy so you can receive important alerts and information distributed by the Embassy.
Help Finding Partner a Job – If you move to a new country with your spouse or partner and he or she decides they want a job, just let us know. We will provide you with prospects, ideas, and local contacts to help them find work. We also partner with some exclusive telecommuting job companies and will send you job alerts for telecommuting opportunities at your request.
Assistance While Living Abroad – If ever you have a concern, problem, or question as a teacher overseas, email Educators Overseas and we will do our best to help you. With contacts all over the world, we’ll work to provide you with resources to help resolve any issue, whatever your question. In many cases one of our employees will have lived or at least traveled to the city or country you are in. For as long as you are living abroad, Educators Overseas will remain your partner and will be here for you with any advice, suggestions, answers, or friendship.

Seems like they are making the decision to change your whole life and move to a foreign city somewhere around the globe a bit easier than if you were doing it all by yourself. The recruiting fairs like Search and UNI don’t seem to be offering these same services to their candidates looking for jobs at international schools. How nice and convenient to have the organization that helped you secure a job abroad help you even after you get the job and are living in your new city! We wonder though what this looks like in practice.

Check out more about Educators Overseas and see if they are a good match for what services you are looking for in your job search. It might be a good alternative to signing up to go to an international school teacher recruitment fair for some teachers new to the International School Community. Does anybody have any personal experience working with Educator’s Overseas? We would be interested in hearing your experience on our blog.

Check out our website as well for the latest comments and information (now over 1600!) from members representing over 80 international schools around the world!

Lesson 4 at International School Hiring Fairs: “Being yourself is better, come what may, than trying to be someone else.”

“Think about it. Not only does pretending to be what you’re not cheat your interviewer – it also cheats you. Show your true colors now, so you’ll know whether it’ll be okay to show them over the length of your contract.

I love the fact that, at my second interview with the two interviewers for the school I chose, Singapore American School, I replied to a question by saying something to the effect of, “There’s no denying that people’s first impression of me is often, ‘Damn, Burell, you’re too intense!’ But after a while they see the rest of me, and realize I’m also mellow in my own way.” “Damn” is a soft enough word these days – and I certainly don’t toss out higher-level potty words like rhymes-with-fit or ends-many-limericks-about-Nantucket or leads-to-supposedly-eternal-damnation in professional company – and I wondered about the wisdom of the utterance after it escaped my mouth (and this was in like the middle of the second hour of the interview), but somehow the fact that the offer was still made left me feeling even happier than otherwise about accepting it when it came in hour three.”

Is it really that difficult to just be yourself, and just for a moment, maybe pretend that you are a better version of who you really? The thing about admitting your own true colors is that you might have to admit some of the things, that you yourself, might find questionable, or that society deems one thing or another. Even worse is when you realize mid-interview that you are indeed not the “best fit” as you had hoped you would be…for that international school you have been wanting to work at…in the city you really had been wanting to live in.

The famous psychiatrist Carl Jung operates with something called archetypes. Two of those archetypes are known as the Shadow and the Persona. The Persona is the way we want the world to see us at our very best, the peak of our personality, but always with a mask that protects the ego, and paints an uneven picture of the person we are. The Shadow is the exact opposite. This is, according to Jung, the essence of us. The Shadow contains all our traits, the good and the bad, the flattering and unflattering, but it is our true personality. With age comes sagacity, and we start to know more about who we are, and as years pass we learn to accept ourselves, flaws and all. We learn to deal with our shortcomings, and learn to see beyond what we aren’t and what we are. The human being is of a complex size, we contain so many different traits, and as we get older we learn, and become better to deal with what is giving and what we achieve, what we learn and the wisdom we obtain.

The thing about job interviews is that we only want people to see us at our very best, or to put in a more accurate sense: what we think they want! We somehow create an illusion, that’s inevitably going to burst, it might turn out for the better, but it could as easy turn out for the worse. Honesty is the best policy, especially in the international teaching world. We so desperately want to be everything a job applicant is looking for, when in the end, all that weighs the most, probably is our personality. Our own true personality and how that matches up with the administration and staff at a school.

“Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?” is a quote by comedienne Fanny Brice. When you create illusions or pose in a manner that is untrue to yourself, can you really expect to be liked or hired for the person you are. What sets us apart, and makes us different, is in the end what makes us unique, and when it comes to a job interview, it is the way we should be judged.

So is it really so difficult to just be yourself? If you let go of some kind of perfect perception of yourself, and just act natural, it really isn’t. Of course it takes years to accept yourself and to fully come into your own, but you will find that it somehow feels better in your own skin, when you are simply just yourself. And maybe, just maybe you will make one of the hardest and scariest decisions you will make in your life (accepting a job at an international school in a location of the world you have never been to; and not knowing anybody there) a bit easier on your mind knowing that you have done your best to show your true self at the interview.

“Nine Lessons Learned” taken from The Wonderful World of International School Hiring Fairs article by Clay Burell’s blog Beyond School.

Blogs of international school teachers: PlaneSimple Thoughts

Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad?

Our 12th blog that we would like to highlight is called “PlaneSimple Thoughts.” Check out the blog entries of this international school teacher who is currently working at an international school in Brunei.

Entries we would like to highlight:

Dining at Home

“Living as expats in this part of the world we are fortunate enough to be able to employ a maid. Although the main reason for doing so is to look after family member #3 when she comes along in December, we have enjoyed getting used to having someone ‘live in’ and complete the chores and prepare some great meals.

This blog post is going to showcase this coming week’s meals prepared by our hard working maid, May. Usually May cooks 4 or 5 evenings in the week. She is happy to follow recipes out of books (in fact, I think she prefers doing this) so it is great fun browsing through cook books as though they are menus!”

Life in Brunei doesn’t seem so bad! The pictures of the meals this international teacher has posted look amazing. Many international school teachers are able to employ a house keeper to clean their place a few times a week or every two weeks, but the number of international school teachers that are able to employ one to cook meals as well is less (usually that is just for the Head or a teaching couple). It is probably more possible than we think though (for single teachers) to employ a maid to cook as well as clean, but it is just that we can’t believe that it would even be possible. If your school is paying for all your housing and utilities, then surely there is enough money for you to spend on a house keeper while you fully enjoy your expat life. Some international school teachers just prefer though to do their own cooking and cleaning themselves, probably because that is the way that they have been doing it most of their adult life. After looking at these meals prepared by May, those teachers just might change their mind!

The unfinished story of a new car…

“The next afternoon I returned to collect the Praire and take it to the mechanic. A few hours later I was at the seller’s cousin’s house enjoying some curry and naan bread with some tea as the negotiations began (everything was being done the true Pakistani way!).

We chatted about Pakistan, Brunei, living abroad and different cultures. Eventually I explained the problems I felt the car had and how this needed to be reflected in the price. I made an offer and a bit of to-ing and fro-ing later we agreed on a price! I would return the next day to collect the vehicle. So three and a half hours after collecting the car I made my way home. I hadn’t envisaged being out the house for more than an hour or so but it was all good fun!

Of course, the story doesn’t end there as the next day the Mrs and I returned to collect the car. Before handing over the cash and being given the keys we were invited in for some more Pakistani food and more tea! The Mrs also got ‘Mendhi’ done on her hands! Buying a car the Pakistani way surely has to be one of the more interesting and enjoyable ways to do so!”

In some locations in the world, international teachers do need to get a car. Actually, in some locations (e.g. the Caribbean) you basically have no choice but to get one. Some international teachers leave their host countries though because they are tired of their dependence on having a car; like in the United States when you most likely cannot live without one. This blogger’s experience getting a car in Brunei is quite the inter-cultural experience! Probably a series of events that would not happen to you if you bought a used car in your host country. How amazing to get invited into their house and share a meal with your sellers!

*If you are an international school teacher and would like your blog highlighted on International School Community contact us here.

Great resource: Association of International Schools in Africa

Curious about what international schools there are in Africa? The Association of International Schools in Africa website has 100s of international schools listed that are found in many of the African countries.

“Representing international schools on the continent of Africa, AISA has a membership of schools which range in size from 20 to 3600 students. AISA schools are strongly influenced by their location in Africa and their cosmopolitan student enrollment and teaching staffs who emanate from countries across the globe. Some AISA schools have an American based curriculum, others are British, and still others have an eclectic mix. All have an international focus.”

According their their website, there are nearly 42,000 students and over 2,500 teachers and administrators in their association of international schools in Africa.

They have a directory of schools which can be found here. Here are just a few of the many schools listed in the directory:

Currently there are 91 international schools listed in the Sub-Saharan region and 37 international schools listed in the North Africa region on the International School Community’s Schools List page.

Check out all the detailed information about these schools on their school profile pages on our website. International School Community’s school profile pages are organized into 4 categories: School, Benefits, City and Travel information. Each category is designed to provide information and comments about the things international school teachers want to know about and give an excellent glimpse into what life would be like working at an international school and living in the city in which is resides. Here is an example school profile page on International School Community for American International School of Conakry in Guinea (Sub-Saharan Africa).

Check out the other international schools in Africa on International School Community here.

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