If you have been looking at opportunities for teaching abroad, you are probably already raring to go. With all the fantastic opportunities available, it is easy to get sucked in to the hype and commit to spending time in another country and teaching there. Although teaching abroad is an exciting prospect, you should not lose sight of the overall point of going abroad to teach – to help disadvantaged children in poor or developing countries benefit from education.
Although not all teaching abroad opportunities are in poorer or disadvantaged countries, an overwhelming majority of them are and it is important that you keep this in mind; teaching abroad is about helping these children just as much, if not more, than going to experience the country for yourself.
Teaching abroad can be an amazing thing to do, and here are three of the main reasons why everybody who is able to should go and teach abroad at least once during their lives.
#1: Getting Paid to Travel
Although it is important not to lose sight of the whole point of going abroad to teach, you still cannot ignore the fact that you are essentially getting paid to live, travel and work in a new country. When teaching in places such as South Asia, Latin America and even some parts of Europe (Krakow, anyone?) your wage will enable you to live very comfortably, as you will still be paid in the currency of your home country (in most cases).
In addition to earning a good living and experiencing a new country, you are essentially being paid to travel. One of the best things about being a teacher is the generous holiday which students benefit from in most countries, and you can use this holiday time to explore your new home!
#2: Teaching is a Great Job Market
Teaching is already a great job market, however, teaching abroad as a foreign language enables you to massively stand out from the crowd and demonstrate some extra skills and personal qualities. Not only is the teaching job market great, but the demand for English teachers in foreign countries is constantly on the rise; hundreds of millions of people enrol in English classes all around the world each year.
The job market for teaching English as a foreign language is so strong in fact that pretty much any recent university or college graduate can easily secure a teaching post.
#3: It Provides You with Experience
All graduates know the pain of “real world experience” – the illusive phrase which many employers within the graduate jobs market use to whittle down the pool of candidates. Although we can never know for certain exactly what each employer means by this, teaching English abroad in a new country will provide you with some real-world experience beyond a doubt.
Top-flight graduate jobs and schemes are always seeking candidates who have experience outside of the classroom. Teaching English in a foreign country is certainly a way to make yourself stand out as a serious candidate and make it past the initial stages of many a graduate scheme.
