How does teaching overseas with Educators Overseas work?
1. Complete an application to teach abroad.
2. Once your application is complete and approved by Educators Overseas, international schools will view your profile and information when they search on our website for teachers and school administrators. Or, we will send out job alerts as schools request teachers and then you’ll respond and let us know you are interested and we’ll forward your profile or resume to the school.
3. When an international school recruiter is interested in interviewing you for a position, they will contact us to request your contact information. At this point we will email you to let you know that a school will be getting in touch with you to discuss employment (we don’t get involved in contract details and offers).
4. The school will contact you to request a phone interview, or they could just offer you a job outright. Please note: It is VERY important that you respond to a school’s contact or offer, even if your answer is “Thanks, but no thanks.” Non response is very unprofessional and is grounds for expulsion from the Educators Overseas program.
5. If you accept the offer and sign the contract, you’re on your way to a new adventure teaching overseas!
In addition to receiving job alerts and proactively contacting schools through the Directory of International Schools be sure to check out our ongoing teach abroad vacancies page in case you missed a job alert of interest.
What do you recommend for school administrators wanting to teach abroad?
Many schools hire administrator candidates from us. Please register on our website and indicate your job preference. We will be in touch as soon as we have an administrative job opening.
When will I receive job alerts for teaching jobs abroad?
Job alerts are sent out as schools request them, usually once every week or two during our busy recruiting season of March to July. Many schools are still hiring even into August and September.
How much will I get paid as a teacher abroad
Everyone wants to know how much they will get paid teaching abroad. Unfortunately a straight answer is impossible because teachers must consider salaries in light of other benefits offered by the school, like housing and health insurance, as well as the cost of living in the country. A teacher working in Africa could make $8,000 a year and be able to save $6,000 while another teacher working in a city like Dubai could get paid $35,000 and barely get by. Your contract should outline not only how much you’ll get paid, but also how it will be paid, including the salary’s currency and the way in which it will be paid (i.e., by local bank account, in cash, etc.). However much you earn you can still save a lot by managing your money well.
When would a teaching job abroad begin?
Although most schools begin their school year in August or September depending on hiring needs, you could be offered a position at any time during the school year.
Can a teacher choose where they want to teach?
All applicants should be flexible and open minded in terms of where they will teach. Applicants can choose regions in which they ideally would like to be considered for a teaching position, but an international school outside your preferred region may extend a job offer, which you are free to accept or reject. That said, we will do everything we can to try and place you in your desired location. Visit our Where Can I Teach page to see all available regions. You can read more about the opportunities for travel wherever you go on our travel abroadpage.
Do teachers have to attend a job fair to be selected for a job through Educator Overseas?
No. However, schools usually want to hold interviews with candidates via telephone or skype. You can read more about the interview process at our overseas teaching job interview page.
Other recruiting agencies charge high fees and make teachers attend expensive recruitment fairs, why are your services free for the teachers?
Other recruiting agencies do charge teachers application fees and require them to attend fairs. We are able to not charge teachers high fees because we do not hold recruitment fairs (and therefore avoid that added expense). In lieu of recruitment fairs schools can view interviews of teaching candidates online and avoid the additional expense of attending recruitment fairs. For other international school recruiting agencies as well as our own nominal fees are charged to the hiring school. However, this does not impact your salary at all. All foreign teachers hired from any source receives the same salary rate for a particular school (depending on the teacher’s experience) to avoid the possibility of salary conflicts between the teachers.
How long is an overseas teaching commitment?
Although some international schools will accept a teacher for a 1 year contract, most schools only offer 2 year contracts. All applicants to Educators Overseas must be willing to commit to working for 2 years overseas. In any case the contract can be extended upon agreement of the school and teacher.
What about a teacher’s current job?
Teachers can often negotiate a leave of absence with their school systems and return to their old teaching job upon completion of an overseas contract. Many schools welcome the international experience that comes with a teaching abroad position.
Can family members accompany a teacher overseas?
Some international schools will pay for accompanying spouses and/or children, although most schools prefer non-accompanied teachers or teaching couples for simplicity’s sake. Some schools will only consider unaccompanied teaching candidates.
What happens if something goes wrong after I’m hired?
Unfortunately Educators Overseas is not in a position to mediate between schools and teachers. You should deal directly with the school with any issues you have with them and we will encourage the school to do the same with you. While we do provide information about schools and countries, all candidates should also do their own thorough research before accepting a teaching position abroad.
Does a teacher have to be certified to teach overseas?
In most cases teachers must be certified due to school or host country requirements; however, some schools will accept non-certified teachers that have extensive teaching experience. Visit our Teacher Qualifications page to see all desired and required teacher qualifications.
How can I get a teacher’s certificate if I do not have one?
You can increase your job opportunities overseas by becoming a certified teacher. Several programs can help you get certified without having to go back to school:
Passport to teaching: http://www.abcte.org/
Fast-TRAIN: http://gse.gmu.edu/programs/fasttrain/index.shtml
What can I do to increase my chances of being offered a teaching job overseas?
See our Teacher Qualification page for a list of desired and required qualifications; the more of these qualifications you have, the better.
If you have a question we have not answered here, please email us at info@educatorsoverseas.com