How to Find a Job Teaching English Abroad

Want to go abroad? One easy way is to teach English abroad. But before you start jet setting, make sure you have a job waiting for you and make sure you know exactly what that job entails.

What to Expect

Know what you are getting yourself into. Prepare yourself for culture shock, and figure out ways ahead of time how to keep in touch with family and friends back home. For more information on keeping in touch while traveling, read my article, Top Five Ways to Stay in Touch While Traveling.

Before you accept any job to teach English abroad, make sure you know how much you are getting paid, whether or not you have housing, and who you are teaching-so you can prepare lesson plans accordingly. You may also want to know whether or not the school will provide textbooks. For a more complete list of questions to ask, check out So You Wanna.

Finding a Job

Right now, South Korea and China are the easiest countries to find a job teaching English. Asia in general, however, is a very popular destination. Some helpful websites for finding jobs in Asia are Aclipse-for Asia in general, Talk-for South Korea, and Journey East and China Study Abroad for China.

Japan also offers some excellent programs. The JET program, or Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, is a government-sponsored program. However, they have a stringent application process and application deadlines are in October. So if you do want to participate in this program, plan ahead.

If you want to teach somewhere other than Asia, then take a look at the Transitions Abroad and Teach Abroad websites. Both of these websites advertise jobs all over the world. Transitions Abroad, in particular, divides the jobs up by world regions, which makes it easier to find jobs in a particular country.

Before you start looking for a job, you may want to become certified to teach English. Being certified will help you make more money while you are abroad. For more information, read my article How to Become Certified to Teach English Abroad.

Most teaching jobs require a year long contract, however, there are some schools-mainly in China-that allow you to work as little as one month. This is a good opportunity to get your feet wet, and see if you like teaching English abroad. And, once you have some experience, you can use that to your advantage in landing your next English teaching job!