Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) may be preventing themselves from beginning their international teaching career as soon as they qualify because they are finding misleading information on the internet.
How does this happen? When NQTs search the internet for teaching jobs overseas, the companies that host international teaching recruitment fairs usually show up on the first page of results. And so, the first information they are exposed to contains the selection criteria for candidates to be invited to attend one of these recruitment fairs which is that candidates have at least two years practical teaching experience.
These organisations pre-screen candidates for international school recruiters. While this can save time for the recruiters it can cut them off from a number of exemplary candidates who have recently gained their credentials, NQTs.
NQTs are mistaken if they think their lack of experience means they are not an attractive candidate for many international schools.
NQTs are attractive employment prospects for many reasons:
1. NQTs are cheap, if a school operates a salary scale based on qualifications and years of teaching experience.
2. NQTs have up-to-date teaching pedagogy and methodology that will bring a fresh perspective to the experienced teachers already employed by the school.
3. In an educational environment that is utilising information technology more and more, NQTs bring cutting-edge techniques for utilising cutting-edge technologies.
4. NQTs that are applying for overseas teaching jobs are determined and passionate about teaching abroad. They have to be to find positions in spite of the wealth of information that says they can’t. Therefore they are more likely to adapt quickly to the challenges of living in another country.
So, how does an NQT find a job teaching abroad?
They do it by using job-hunting strategies that bypass attending recruiting fairs. One of the best places to find teaching vacancies in international schools is the TES Jobs website. While the website is affiliated with a newspaper in the UK , it is the #1 resource for teachers of any nationality searching for teaching vacancies abroad.
The TES Jobs website has vacancies listed that say ‘NQTs welcome.’ These are the schools that newly qualified teachers should be applying to in the first instance. But not exclusively, as many international recruiters include a ‘wish list’ of qualifications and experience in their advertised vacancies, but often realise that they may end up employing someone with fewer qualifications.
How can NQTs enhance their resume?
There can be no argument that NQTs don’t have two years of teaching experience… But they can make sure that their resume shines with additional qualifications and experience that will cause international school recruiters to overlook their lack of practical teaching experience. This may take some time and effort on the part of the NQT, but the payoff will far out weigh the cost:
1. NQTs can get a TEFL qualification which can be done online or face-to-face at a TEFL teacher training provider. A TEFL course will provide the NQT with techniques and tactics to support second language learners that they will encounter in an international school. It can also count as experience with multi-lingual and multi-cultural students.
2. NQTs can volunteer to spend time (or get a part-time job) tutoring students who have English as an additional language. A recommendation letter from the parents can provide evidence that the NQT has sought opportunities to interact in multi-lingual situations and has had practice with the needs of a learner who is trying to learn a subject in a language they aren’t familiar with.
3.NQTs can volunteer to coach or act as assistant coach for a multi-cultural sports team. The head coach can then write a recommendation letter that can show the candidate’s willingness to get involved in extra-curricular activities as well as experience in coping in multi-cultural situations.
4.Completing a teaching practice in an international school is an excellent step in the right direction for an NQT, if the situation arises. Whether the international school is local to the teaching college the NQT is attending, or if the NQT is able to travel abroad, a recommendation letter from the principal at a prominent international school can’t be beaten in value. If attending an international school to complete a teaching practicum is not possible, then the candidate should consider making arrangements to visit one while on vacation abroad.
Teaching abroad is not only for the experienced teacher, there are plenty of vacancies suitable for NQTs. If you’re not sure you are going to get a job teaching overseas then by all means, apply for domestic jobs at the same time… But don’t cut yourself off from the opportunity to make more money for less stress and to truly enjoy your first experience as a professional educator simply because you have received incorrect or incomplete information!
Kelly Blackwell has been teaching abroad for over 10 years, and began as a newly qualified teacher herself. She has refined a number of successful job-hunting strategies over the years that utilise resources that bypass the international teaching recruitment fairs. NQT, or not, secure yourself a teaching job abroad with her proven strategies.
» left by Daisy from USA (1 year 115 days ago.)
Thanks for the tips. Now I know more of what to expect in my search to teach overseas. Respond to this comment
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