How to Teach Abroad

There are a lot of different paths you can take to teach abroad. But which path is going to be the safest, quickest, and most effective? You might have Googled “How to Teach Abroad”, and found that there are so many vague resources available. The searches typically pull up an endless supply of TEFL companies. But is TEFL right for you? And if so, which ones are legitimate? Let’s talk about the real questions and answers you have about teaching abroad.

What Are Some Different Options for Teaching Abroad?

You might just have a general idea of what teaching abroad could look like, but there are truly so many possibilities for everyone. If you’re a certified teacher, you will have more options than non-certified. However, there are still choices for anyone who isn’t a certified teacher! (And no, it does not involve going back to school for an education degree.)

• Working in a typical classroom setting in an international school anywhere in the world.
• Teaching children and/or adults English either privately or in a school setting anywhere in the world.
• Teaching online while traveling.

In my online course The Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Abroad, I help you understand your options based on your experience and certification level. Not only will you learn the differences between TEFL and international schools, but you will also learn which path is going to be the best for you depending on your qualifications. No beating around the bush, we lay it all out for you!

When Do I Need to Start Looking?

Something that surprises a lot of people trying to teach abroad is how early you need to start. Although our schools back in Oklahoma would start interviewing in April, the hiring season for international schools is typically October-December the year before you would begin. But I recommend gathering your documents during the summer before you start applying. This gives you time to get your forms, legal documents, and references together to make sure you are ready to take advantage of the full hiring season.

This means, if you are looking to teach abroad during the 2022-2023 school year, then you need to start gathering your documents during the summer of 2021. Of course, you could always wait. But jobs go pretty quickly. And just like anything in life, the best jobs get filled first. If you wait until April to start applying, you will be looking at jobs that couldn’t get filled during the hiring season. Red flag.

So if I have any advice to give, it’s this: START EARLY.

What Are the Benefits of Teaching Abroad?

This is my favorite question because I don’t think a lot of teachers realize all of the benefits of teaching abroad. There are SO many and they will completely change your life!

• Money- When I talk about money, I don’t only like to talk about the salary. I like to talk about all the benefits and savings that come with it. Some schools might only pay you $40,000/year. But what you don’t realize until you’re on the inside is that those schools might also pay for your housing, car, utilities, etc. So that $40,000/year is used to pay for your groceries, and the rest is yours to do with as you wish! Could you imagine putting $40,000 into your savings each year?
• Ease of Travel- Most locations allow access to a lot of other destinations. You could potentially be teaching in Germany and have a 3-day weekend coming up. So you hop on a train and go to Prague. I live in the middle of the Caribbean Sea on an island, so traveling for me is a little more difficult than most. But that doesn’t stop me because flights to other islands are below $200. So I can take my long weekend and travel to the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Honduras, or one of the Sister Islands. Most locations will have some amazing destinations to travel.
• Incredible Schools- Depending on what path you take, you could find yourself teaching in the most incredible schools. My current school is not only gorgeous, but it is an incredible space for the children. It is filled with resources (that I didn’t have to pay for) and the students have so many opportunities that weren’t available in my local school back home.

How Do I Find Schools and Apply?

The hardest part of any job search is finding your options in the first place. A lot of people struggle with this, which is why I designed The Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Abroad in the first place. There are millions of schools across the globe. But which ones allow expat workers, what are the conditions like, and how do you apply?

The application process is pretty typical. Here are some things you need to have ready before you apply anywhere:

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• References
• Career and Criminal History

When you join The Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Abroad, I show you step-by-step how to apply to different schools and which ways are the easiest! And if you enroll before July 1st, you’ll receive a free list of hundreds of international schools available for you to apply!

Related Articles: Teaching Abroad in Grand Cayman, Teaching Abroad in Ecuador, Teaching Abroad in Czech Republic, Teaching Abroad in South Korea

Have some extra questions about teaching abroad? Download my free video or comment down below! I’d love to help you out.