Travel and Teach the World

Imagine yourself heading to the airport, knowing that you're jumping head first into the adventure of your life. You're traveling abroad, not for vacation but to live. In a few days, you'll have settled into your new apartment, and you'll meet your students. You're in for the amazing experience of teaching at an international school, and you don't even need to know a foreign language. International teaching jobs present great opportunities for teachers to expand their horizons, see the world, and experience teaching and everyday life in a manner that many can only imagine. But to a locally based teacher, international teaching jobs can also seem elusive. For most teachers, international teaching jobs are not familiar. International vacations are one thing, but a job search that will likely result in the signing of a contract to move abroad and teach in a new environment presents a number of challenges. However, international teaching jobs provide excellent opportunities for teachers who are willing and able to take this significant step. Who becomes an international teacher, and why is it becoming an increasingly attractive opportunity? What do international schools look for when they recruit teachers? How does one go about transitioning from a locally based teacher to an international one? While schools in the English speaking world are making cutbacks, domestic teaching positions have become increasingly difficult to find. Hiring freezes are in place and teacher lay-offs are on the rise. In addition to this, teacher salaries have not kept pace with inflation in recent years, and some teachers have even had their pay cut. And things are not looking any better in the near term. In the English speaking world, the competition is stiff for teachers who are looking for jobs. Fortunately this is not the case for international teaching jobs where there is still a buyer's market, and the demand for teachers at international schools is steadily increasing. Currently there are over 250,000 teachers employed worldwide by international schools. Every year thousands of teachers are hired through job fairs, through Skype interviews and through other means. International Schools that use an English Language curriculum are reaching record enrollments all over the world. Despite the global economic downturn this trend looks set to continue. It is likely that within ten years, the number of international schools around the world will double. This naturally makes the market for international teaching jobs more and more attractive and makes this an ideal time to begin taking the steps that will result in an international teaching job for you. While school districts in the English speaking world are cutting back, and teacher positions are more difficult than ever to obtain, international teaching jobs are becoming more attractive than ever to teaching candidates. Around the world, more parents than ever are recognizing the benefits of an international education and sending their children to English language international schools to give them early exposure to English to get them an advantage in the global economy that they'll grow up into. In many countries fluency in the English language is considered a prerequisite to success, as it opens up a tremendous number of opportunities that would not otherwise be available. This attitude is fueling the growth of the market for international teaching jobs and creating great opportunities for teachers. Don't miss out on this opportunity of a lifetime.