Eight Reasons International Hires Get Nervous When Turning Into a Local Hire<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Goodbye to your\u00a0annual or biennial flight benefit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The best part of going back home for a visit is not paying for that flight! Some schools just give you a set amount, others will buy your flight for you (in economy class, of course). Either way, you are not paying what could be upwards of EUR 1500 just to get back to your homeland every year. But the longer you stay in your host country, the more likely the school you are working at might think that your current country\u00a0is your new home. If that is the belief, then that might be the reason international schools eventually take away this benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. No more extra payment each month that internationally hires get<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some international schools give an extra payment to all internationally hired staff each month. It is meant to be a marketing tool that schools use to attract quality internationally hired teachers. You\u00a0can get very used to receiving this\u00a0extra payment in your\u00a0salary each month. This extra money can be used as your rent money or your travel money. If you are clever, you will use this extra payment and put it into some type of investment (see Top 10 Tips to Build a Solid Retirement<\/a>). After some time, though, say goodbye to seeing this extra payment in your monthly pay-slip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Now you need to move out of school housing and start paying your own rent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not always ideal to be living in school housing, but it is definitely ideal when your school is paying for your rent and part or all of your utilities. But as you gain more seniority at your school, the more and more new teachers arrive. Some schools will limit the number of years you can receive their housing allowance benefits (e.g., the new teachers require your\u00a0school housing unit). As you near the end of this wonderful benefit, it’s best to make a plan for whether you are to continue renting somewhere else or maybe even buy some local property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Leaving benefits go away or are diminished<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is nice to know that when you ultimately leave a school, they will help you with moving some of your things and buy your flight back to your home country. Locally hired staff often don’t get this benefit when they finally decide to move on, maybe to another international school, for example.\u00a0At some international schools, if you give enough notice before you decide to leave, they will let you continue to receive the leaving benefits. But at others, you will be on your own when you finally decide to leave after you become a local hire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. You slowly turn into the locally hired teachers that you maybe scoffed\u00a0at when you first arrived<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You probably said to yourself, I’ll never be like them. Internationally hired teachers often get too comfortable in their status as internationally hired and think they’re\u00a0on top of the world. \u00a0They look at locally hired teachers and think,\u00a0“Why would anyone ever\u00a0want to be locally hired!?” Meaning that if you are locally hired, you don’t get all those extra\u00a0benefits. But after some time,\u00a0finternationally hired teachers\u00a0slowly are turning into one of them. It is not all that bad being on a local contract, and many, if not all, teachers will survive that transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. You start to take part in some\u00a0low staff morale thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you are losing some benefits, even though you have put in years and years\u00a0of effort to do the best at your job, it doesn’t feel good inside. It is confusing to be losing<\/em> money as you gain seniority at your school, a bit disheartening. Your professionalism will be tested during this transition, but typically it won’t be that damaging. Nice, though, to talk with other teachers at your school who have recently gone through that same transition into locally hired status to get their advice. \u00a0The loss in benefits might not be as dramatic as you are\u00a0obsessing about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Am I going to stay here forever (like 30+ years)!?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You never know when you will move on to another international school. Many SISTs (see Top 10 Character Traits of a Seasoned International School Teachers<\/a>) will change schools every 2-5 years. Once you get to six years of working at a school, you are definitely turning into more of a local hire. Other teachers with locally hired status at your school have been there maybe 10, 20, or even 30+ years! \u00a0It can be a bit nerve-wracking to think that you will never work at another international school in the world. There are so many countries to live in and schools to work at!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Will\u00a0I have to pay full tuition to have my children attend my school?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the best benefits for teachers with children is that you typically don’t have to pay for tuition (if you want your children to attend the international school you are currently working at). Often this benefit is that the school will pay for 90-100% of your children’s tuition. At some international schools, tuition costs parents and companies 10s of 1000s of EUR a year. Locally hired teachers don’t regularly receive this same benefit for their children. They might receive a reduced rate of 50% if they are lucky, but many do not receive any<\/em> financial support for their children’s tuition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, many say that international schools should just give equal benefits and equal pay for all teachers at their school, regardless of whether they were internationally hired or not. It doesn’t create the best school climate anyway. But this concern\u00a0of wanting to save money wherever possible, the “tradition” of having this disparity will continue in many international schools all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"6565484319_c95a5e9744_z\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/6565484319_c95a5e9744_z.jpg?resize=640%2C285&ssl=1\")
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