Cynnaminrye

Hi All,

My hubby and I are looking to move to the USA within the year. I'm American and he's British and we've lived in the UK for the past ten years.

We are concerned about my hubby not being able to work when we get over there and as he has had ten years teaching experience (English) we are wondering if recruitment agencies work as well over there as they do here?

Can anyone recommend a certain agency that is willing to recruit him living here so he can cement a working position before we move - we've got two little ones to consider so it's really important that he has earning potential asap over there.

civilservant

No advice about agencies, however aiming to move within the year is an unrealistic timeframe.

You may be unaware that unless your husband has American citizenship, or LPR status, he cannot just more to the US despite being married to an American.

Even a CR1 application filed direct to the American Embassy will take 5-6 months, and bearing in mind it would be very unwise to book flights before the visa was in hand, I think Feb 2014 would be more realistic as a timeframe - especially given we are nearly in August already.

The fact you have said he may not be able to work indicates to me that you may not have researched the correct procedure to allow him to live and work in the US, since arriving on an immigrant visa allows you to work from day one.

Cynnaminrye

Sorry, I should have been a bit clearer. When I said within the year I simply meant within the next 12 months. And yes I have researched the application process thoroughly -I am not worried that my husband will not be able to work; we were simply hoping he could register with some reputable agencies that could help him find work so we had an early start with him finding a job.

civilservant

That takes care of that concern then!

Jerseygirl

Hi and welcome to BE.

There does seem to be quite a lot of teachers out of work in the US...due to layoffs. Of course that will differ depending where you live. Your husband will also have to obtain a license before he can teach.

If I were in his shoes I would contact private schools directly...the schools my daughter attended had several teachers from the UK...they seem to like the accent.

Cynnaminrye

That's really helpful, thank you!

Jerseygirl

Any particular area you wish to move to?

Cynnaminrye

Anywhere down the East Coast, preferably Maryland - that's where the majority of my family live. That said it really depends on where we can get work - we're trying to remain open minded.

Pulaski

My experience was that recruitment agents have a very difficult task until you are actually "on the ground" in the US. Once I arrived, even just for a one week recce, I got a number of interviews immediately. BTW I am not a teacher, and never was.

Annecdotally, from what I have read of others' experiences here on BE, it is extremely difficult for British teachers to find employment as a teacher in the US. I recall one poster who reported applying for over 100 teaching posts and not getting a single interview!

In common with most other occupations with certifications and licenses, British teaching qualifications are not readily recognised. So the alternatives appear to be go back to college and requalify, or find a different occupation.

Obviously the poor state of the economy, and even poorer state of most local government finances, has made finding even tougher for all teachers, never mind "unlicensed" immigrant teachers.

Married2abrit

Yep, that would be my husband. He tried public, private, and religious schools. He works as a license examiner at the DMV. Best of luck on your immigration journey. Definitely get UK citizenship before you come to the US because the new UK guidelines are so much stricter than in years past.

Bob

Teaching what level? Uni? Then fair chances.

If school level, then back to the beginning and needing to get state certified. Probably needs a masters for any chance too and a recruitment agency won't be much help.

It's about networking and being on the ground.

Agencies can be great, for certain fields, but no school is going to spend 30-50% of a salary on a agents finders fee, unless possibly a head teacher kind of thing.

Cynnaminrye

Actually he can teach either secondary or university and is nearly finished his PhD - already has a masters in English literature. We thought that it would be easier him to find work in secondary but given these posts maybe not.

Pulaski

I don't know what the pay would be like, but the US has an embarrassingly large number of private universities and colleges (every small town or city seems to have a couple! ), so if he can teach at undergraduate level there is probably (given that I don't work in education myself), a fair chance he could find work teaching in higher education.

Michael

Both my son and his wife have taught in universities (both with Masters degrees) in New York (Parsons and NYIT) and Minnesota (University of Minnesota) and neither had a problem due to lack of credentials. My son decided to teach for a year between jobs both times and his wife always worked at Parsons. He was in architectural design and his wife in the arts. However most states require teaching credentials/licensing for K-12.

MostlyYank

Indeed! Very true. And a surprising number of kids in a middle-upper background would like it if he said 'I'm the Doctor'

Pete