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It is not difficult for a qualified teacher to find work in Europe. Everybody needs English within the EU and so there is an abundance of work available. Obviously some places will be more popular with teachers than others and so the opportunities will also be more difficult to come by. Where and how to look for work? If you are quite open with regards to your destination country, the established TESL websites are the places to start your job search. Their search engines allow you to search for roles by country and there always schools looking for new staff. You can also find English jobs in Europe on TeacherHit.com. Of course, you will be going for jobs against other teachers, even when applying for remote places, but if you have prepared a decent CV and are able to come across well during interview, it will only be a matter of time before you are offered a role. A teacher looking to move into TESL in one of the more popular city destination across Europe would, in my opinion, be better off applying for work once in your city of choice. Things move quickly in big cities and peoples requirements are constantly changing. It may seem a little risky to move your life to a new place without the guarantee of any work, but I believe it is the best way to get your foot in the door. You will need perseverance, and you may have to work your way up from a small number of hours, but if you hang in there and keep at, work will appear. When to apply for work? Timing is important in terms of finding work. The English teaching calendar in Europe generally runs on a parallel with the traditional school one. Classes start in September and run through until June/July. Bearing this in mind, you need to get ahead of the game. A teacher arriving in a city in the middle of September will struggle to make contacts and find work more than one who arrives at the end of August. Employers often need people immediately. Classes are programmed to start at such a date and the teacher needs to be in place then. Don’t miss the boat by not thinking ahead. The same rule applies later in the year. New opportunities may arrive with the New Year. As with the summer, these need to be looked into then before the end of the year. Always follow up with schools after sending in your CV Whilst this advice with regards to timing generally rings true, do not be afraid of following up on places you have left your CV with. A company or academy receives hundreds of CVs and cannot keep track of all of the people who may be interested in working for them. A phone call or an email every now and then to a company you would like to work for, but haven’t heard back from, could lead to something. You never know what is going in that work environment on the day you call, something could have just become available. Don’t be too proud to go knocking again if you aren’t successful first time out. Why teach English? All of this advice is only useful if you really have a passion for teaching. You will almost certainly fail in terms of organisation, CV writing, or sheer perseverance if your reasons for wanting to work as an English teacher are the wrong ones. Before you decide to go into the world, ask yourself twice whether this is something you really want to do. Have you really considered what it would be like to move away from the home you have known for all of your life? Do you really know anything about the country you are thinking about working in? English teaching in Europe is a great way to travel, explore new cultures, and to learn new things about yourself. It is a profession that demands patience, determination, and real passion for the role. If you are thinking about doing it because you are a native speaker and you think it will be an easy way to make money while you decide what you really want to do, you are mistaken and should probably think again. If you go into for the right reasons, though, it will be a decision that you never regret and one which changes your life forever. Hi I'm Vickie Talsma and I'm a travel-addict turned English teacher and social marketing maven. I teach in Europe and enjoys sharing tips & tricks to follow in a similar teaching - traveling lifestyle. Learn more about how to teach English in Europe.
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