Meet The Teachanywhere Team: Helping you teach overseas!

Introducing Alice Collins!  Alice represents Teachanywhere in Australia - helping teachers in Australia and across Asia find their dream teaching jobs across the world......

What made you want to work as an International Recruitment Consultant?

Prior to joining Teachanywhere I worked as a Maths Teacher in the UK.  I relocated half way around the world to Sydney and decided it was also time for a career change. I still wanted to remain involved with education, and as I also love to travel I thought it was a great idea to combine the two and become an International Recruitment Consultant.

Have you ever taught or lived overseas?

I have never taught internationally myself but I am aware of the challenges and rewards that come with living and working overseas. I have lived and worked in Canada, Italy and now Sydney. I have also travelled extensively and love to experience new countries and their cultures.

What do you love most about your job?I love hearing from my teachers who are scattered all over the globe. It's so interesting to hear first-hand what it's really like to live and work in some of our more unusual locations. Our teachers get up to allsorts and have such fantastic experiences.  I have had e-mails from teachers off to the Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi, off snorkelling for the weekend in Langkawi, living the life of luxury on friend's boats in Dubai and brave teachers helping to reshape and rebuild Libya. I also get excellent travel advice such as how many layers to wear to keep warm during Winter in Northern China, the best hair and nail salons in Kuwait, how to find a good tailor in Bangkok and how best to haggle in Indonesia!

In your experience, what are the attributes which best befit the most successful international teacher?

You definitely need to be flexible and open-minded. Living overseas can be very frustrating. I find this myself when I'm longing for an English country pub with a log fire, or a proper "British curry". Rather than try to recreate what you're used to back home, you need to be able to adapt and change your routines. The only way that you will truly experience living and working in a different country is to fully embrace the culture and way of life, surely that's what you're there for after all?

What are some of the repeat difficulties you come across when recruiting teachers for International schools?

The International School year runs from August which does not align with the Australian school year. If you are an Australian teacher, serious about going overseas then you will need to be flexible enough to consider an August start date. We do get vacancies for January but you won't get such a large selection of schools or locations to choose from.

Also, Australian Teachers are often put off by what they perceive as a low salary but they forget two important things;

1) Your salary is often tax free and accommodation, flights and other allowances are also provided. 

2) The cost of living in Australia is one of the highest in the world. Your local salary will give you a far greater spending power. This is a great website to compare cost of living of two cities .

What 3 top tips would you give to teachers seeking international teaching roles?

1)      Be organised. Make sure I always have an up to date CV, your earliest available start date and all other required documents on file. Always check the weekly job mailer or our website for new jobs in case I have overlooked anything.

2)      Be open-minded about location.

3)      Ask us as many questions as you like, we are here to advise and help with your decision to move overseas, but please make sure you do your own research.

What location that might not spring to mind for teachers would you recommend and why?

People are often cautious about China and I have come to the conclusion that it is because it is such a vast and varying country and people just aren't unaware of what it has to offer. I have to admit, I didn't know an awful lot about China myself before I started this job and I even had to print myself a map and mark on the major cities and locations of our schools. Once I had done my own research (!), I realised that it had such a lot to offer from skiing in the North to surfing in the tropical climate of the South. I now have around 10 teachers in China and they all love it.

We already have a lot of schools in China but as it's going through such a rapid period of growth new schools are opening all the time and are using Teachanywhere to help recruit. Ask your consultant for our in depth China guides, they are a fascinating read and a real eye-opener.

Why sign up with Teachanywhere?

We are a truly dedicated team, globally dispersed with placement offices right in the heart of our main regions. They visit our schools on a regular basis, and provide us with up to date and detailed school and location reports. As consultants, this allows us to provide accurate information and sound advice to our teachers.

Thanks Alice!  If you wish to know more about Teachanywhere - check out our website where we currently have a large number of teaching posts across the continents.