When it comes to teaching English abroad, there’s a common misconception that to get an English teaching position in a foreign country all you need to do is wave your TEFL certificate about, and show that you’re a native speaker, before being inundated with amazing opportunities. It would be brilliant for teachers if it was this simple, but unfortunately, it’s not.
Often, teachers who are looking to teach English for the first time will usually have limited knowledge about things such as; what the average salary for teaching in certain countries is, how the recruitment process works, how the visa process works, and what the typical teaching schedule looks like, amongst a whole host of other things.
This is where a recruitment company can help, as they can answer the questions that you struggle to find answers to, and most importantly they can help you find a teaching position that matches up with exactly what you’re looking for. In this blog post, we’ll talk through the pros and cons of using a recruitment company to teach English abroad, and we’ll help you consider whether this is an option worth taking.
Pros
The Service Is Free
First and foremost, one of the main pros of using a recruitment company is that they don’t charge teachers for their services. A recruitment company operates by charging the schools that they work with a fee after they’ve successfully supplied them with a teacher, meaning that all of the advice, support, and opportunities that are presented to you are completely free of charge!
Your Salary Is Not Affected
Contrary to popular belief, the salary that you’re offered by a school is not impacted in any way if you’ve gone through a recruitment company. Some teachers think that if they use a recruitment company to find a position, the salary they’ll be offered will be less than if they’d found the opportunity themselves. This, however, is not the case. All schools have a set salary range that they pay all teachers depending on experience and skill level, and whether or not a teacher came to them via a recruitment company will have no impact on this.
Help With Negotiating
If you want to earn the highest salary available for the position you accept, then it makes sense to use a recruitment company to help you with negotiations. There are two reasons for this, firstly most people who work within recruitment have experience in negotiating, so know exactly how to get you the best salary possible. Secondly, a recruitment company charges a school a fee for any successfully supplied teacher, and this fee is usually a percentage of the placed teacher’s salary. Therefore, it is in the recruitment company’s best interests to get you the best salary possible, as the more money you make the bigger their fee is!
Variety of Opportunities
Recruitment companies that operate within the TEFL industry, such as Teach English Global, work with a wide variety of different schools, in different locations, and have many different teaching opportunities available at any one time. By speaking with a recruitment company and describing to them exactly what type of teaching position you’re looking for, the likelihood is that they’ll be able to present a variety of different opportunities that match your preferences. This means that you won’t have to spend endless hours surfing the internet and scrolling through job boards, trying to find the ideal teaching opportunity for yourself. A recruitment company may be able to present you with a number of opportunities matching exactly what you’re looking for, and you’ll then be able to decide which opportunities stand out to you the most.
Open and Honest Advice
Teaching English abroad is a big deal. You’re moving away from your family and friends to go and live in a foreign country and begin a job that you may not have done before. Deciding which teaching opportunity to accept is a huge decision, and you certainly don’t want to sign up for something that you’ll later regret. When searching for a new job by yourself, and interviewing directly with foreign schools it can be difficult to know exactly what information to trust and whether what you’re being told is reliable.
Some TEFL recruitment companies, such as Teach English Global, were founded and are run by former teachers who have taught English throughout the world. This means that they’ve been in your shoes and have gone through the same job-hunting process that you’re currently going through. Therefore, they’ll be able to give you open and honest advice about teaching abroad, the country you want to teach in, and how the whole process works – from your first interview to your first day actually teaching in the school. More importantly, they’ll be able to give you accurate and detailed feedback about each school that they present to you, so you know exactly what you’re signing up for if you accept a position.
Cons
Do Your Research
One of the downsides to using a recruitment company to help you find a teaching position abroad is that it’s essential you do your research to find a good company, which can be time-consuming. There are some recruitment companies that simply want to make a quick fee, and aren’t too bothered about the long-term consequences for the teacher. These companies may not really listen to exactly what you’re looking for, and as a result, they may not match you with opportunities that best suit your preferences. One of the best ways to find out about a recruitment company is to look for testimonials about them. Most reputable companies will have a testimonials section on their website which shares the experiences that previous teachers have had with them, just like our testimonials section.
The Process Is Longer
It is true that by working with a recruitment company the process for finding a teaching position is longer. In order to find out exactly what type of position you’re looking for, and to make sure that you meet the requirements of the schools that they work with, recruitment companies will usually interview you first, before presenting different opportunities to you and arranging further interviews directly with the schools. For teachers who are in a rush and eager to find a new position ASAP then this may not be ideal, however, in the long run, this extra bit of time taken by working with a recruitment company will most likely mean that you end up in a teaching position and a location that is the perfect fit for you!
To conclude, we at Teach English Global believe that whether you’re a fresh TEFL graduate, or an experienced teacher, using a recruitment company to help you find an English teaching position abroad is definitely worth your consideration. By using a recruitment company you’ll be presented with a variety of opportunities that match what you’re looking for, such as school type, location, salary range, and social life. They will also help you negotiate the best salary and benefits package possible!
Furthermore, a good recruitment company will offer you open and honest advice about teaching abroad, the country you want to go to, how the process works and what salary you should expect. For teachers who’ve never taught before this kind of advice can be priceless and will ensure that you’re fully aware of what you’re signing up to before accepting a position. If you want to use a recruitment company then all you need to do is make sure that you research the company, and choose to work with one that has great reviews. By working with a company that has a history of helping teachers find their ideal teaching position, you’ll be on your way to guaranteeing that your time teaching English abroad will be successful and with no regrets!
