Ask anyone who has taught overseas, and they will tell you that it’s one of the most life-changing experiences they’ve ever had. Some educators go for a short term, like a gap year or two, sometimes taking a leave of absence from their school board or district, before returning home, while others go for their initial two-year contract and discover that international teaching can be a rewarding, lifelong career. I fall into that second category, having initially taught ESL in Korea for three years in the late 90s, where I learned that working at international schools has a lot of professional, personal, and financial benefits.

PROFESSIONAL BENEFITS

Respect

First and foremost, what strikes teachers when they start to work abroad is how profoundly educators are respected in the world at large. When travelling outside your country, you’ll see the locals’ faces light up when you say you’re a teacher. In many parts of the world, we are seen as experts in our field, confirming our choice of profession as noble and worthy. From students, parents, and the whole school community, respect is extremely rewarding, refreshing, and freely given.

Impact

As international teachers, we have the ability to bring our culture and values to schools around the world, affecting change and challenging stereotypes. Our presence expands students’ minds and ignites their curiosity for the world surrounding them. In the end, we help raise open-minded and tolerant children, who can accept behaviours and beliefs that are different from their own.

Professional Growth

International schools are often innovative centres of learning, where teachers have the flexibility and support to experiment with teaching strategies, programs, and resources. Teachers are encouraged to work and plan collaboratively with their grade-level teams or subject areas, as well as make interdisciplinary connections for the betterment of student learning. In some cases, teachers benefit from learning from each other, where their internationally-trained colleagues can present alternative teaching methods. Consequently, good-to-great schools assist with their teaching staff’s professional development by creating professional learning communities, hosting guest experts on PD days, giving access to annual stipends for attending workshops and conferences, and even offering financial aid for postgraduate degrees.

PERSONAL BENEFITS

Travel the World

When living overseas, the holidays and multiple long weekends throughout the school year become amazing opportunities to visit and explore new countries, especially those surrounding your host country. Sometimes it’s just a drive across a border; other times it’s a regional flight to a neighbouring capital. I’ve known teachers to easily rack up five or six countries each school year; my maximum was 12 on 3 continents between 2013-2014. This included a couple of paid weekend trips where I accompanied a girls’ volleyball team as an assistant coach and travelled to PD workshops. Getting to see the world, one country at a time, is a major perk of teaching overseas.

Cultural Immersion

The flipside of being a tourist is becoming a temporary resident of a country. As a resident, you are afforded the chance to dive deep into a culture, learn the local language, discover their customs and values, and participate in their traditions, especially during any unique holidays. For example, spending 28 years of my life living in seven foreign countries has wholly changed my perspective in a variety of ways: cooking and food tastes, leisure pastimes, fashion, what I like to collect, my habits and thoughts, and my understanding and empathy towards people. Without these experiences, I would not be who I am today.

Self-Discovery & Work-Life Balance

Both travel and cultural immersion inevitably lead you down the path to discovering yourself. Prioritizing this journey of introspection and self-awareness brings about a natural work-life balance. You will find that your personal time is spent examining what’s important to you, with fewer outside obligations and commitments monopolizing your time.

FINANCIAL BENEFITS

Budgetary Freedom

When the majority of your expenses (income tax, housing, utilities, transportation, medical insurance, even lunches) are covered by your overseas teaching contract, you will suddenly find yourself with a lot more discretionary income. Many international teachers are able to quickly pay off student debt, credit cards, car loans, and even mortgages back home with this surplus of income. It also facilitates the previously mentioned world travel, not to mention the option to acquire expensive hobbies, spend on premium entertainment, and experience the finer things in life, such as five-star hotels, gourmet restaurants, and custom-made fashion.

Savings

Smart, longtime international educators opt to funnel much of this extra income into savings, real estate, and investments. This is especially important considering that there might not be a pension plan in place for their retirement, depending on when they first headed overseas. For example, I taught for only three years in my home country before heading abroad, so my pension, when I eventually collect it, will likely pay for a really nice steak dinner once a year!

Financial Independence

Lucrative contracts allow savings to accumulate and grow more rapidly when living abroad, and many international teachers reach their financial goals sooner than expected. They can find themselves debt-free with enough of a nest egg to stop working and retire early. If they choose to retire in a country with a low cost of living, their savings stretch that much further. Others enviably switch from a “need-to-work” mindset to “want-to-work” and remain in schools for the love of what they do, long after they’ve reached financial independence.

BONUS BENEFITS FOR FAMILIES

Your Children’s Education and Raising TCKs

There are many additional reasons to head overseas if you have children. International schools often have tuition-free student placement, first-rate facilities, and an excellent teaching faculty with a familiar curriculum. You can find schools offering US Common Core, British Cambridge, Australian national curriculum, or various Canadian provinces, not to mention IB programs such as PYP, MYP and DP. Raising your children internationally also makes them Third Culture Kids and global citizens with friends from different nationalities. Through their experience of living in another country, they’ll learn to be adaptable, empathetic, and resilient, 21st-century skills that will help them in their future.

As you can see, there are many benefits to working abroad. If you’re looking for expert help in your international job search, I would be happy to work with you. For the past four years, I have helped hundreds of clients obtain great overseas contracts, from newly qualified teachers to veteran school leaders. First, we create a strengths-based CV and cover letter, then meet in a video call to go over your new documents and next steps. Throughout the course of the recruitment season, I will email you teaching and leadership jobs from around the world, prepare you for upcoming interviews, offer advice on schools and positions, as well as help analyze your various offered contracts, providing you with follow-up questions for HR and the Head of School to negotiate your best contract. You can reach me through my website at www.JPMintConsulting.com, where you can read through over 100 testimonials from teachers and leadership clients whom I have helped. I am now here to help you in your job search!