alya

Have tried googling to look for teaching jobs being advertised, but all it throws up are recruitment agencies and a) not sure i really trust all these companies who are paying google to advertise them and b) i read on the Wiki that they don't really take you seriously unles you are already in the states.

Not sure where to start with my job search. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Bob

You already in the US?

Do you have a greencard or other work authorisation?

Other wise it probably won't happen.

Also where in the US? Each state has different requirements on being certified, some might waive certain requirements or at least let you get certified within x number of years while some other states won't.

But as for where to search, monster.com and careerbuilder are pretty good for teaching jobs as are local papers.

penguinsix

Hi

It's highly unlikely that you will find a teaching opportunity in the US that will get you the necessary visa (though ignore this post if you already have a visa / green card).

To get a job here you'll need a visa to work here, and that visa has to be 'sponsored' by your employer. As most public schools are government funded, they are a) underfunded and b) unwilling to use 'tax dollars' to pay some foreigner to do a job that 1000s of Americans would be willing to take.

Private schools might have greater financial resources, but the steps necessary to get a visa for a teacher are almost insurmountable (I think some on this board might have done it a few years ago, but most will advise it's basically impossible now).

The one exception is college professor, but even then most schools won't even consider you until you have a PhD.

Another possible route is to come to the US and do a masters degree at an American school (which will be expensive) but then you'll have a year of 'work training' afterwards in which you can work relatively easily without all the visa hassles. Or you could get a job as a 'corporate trainer' or something, teaching folks in a company how this or that works and then have the company transfer you to their US offices.

But short of marrying an American (how almost half of the posters on this site got in) it's going to be extremely difficult.

lisa67

Here's another thread started by the OP. She is living in the Uk and doesn't have a visa (from what I can tell)

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=624800

Manc

The UK.

Bob

So she won't be teaching in the US then....nor be a nurse most likely either.

Englishtart

Qualified teachers here in the US are having an almost impossible time finding jobs at the moment, lots of them were laid off at the end of the school year.

My MIL is a sub in CA schools, she now has an extra 100+ teachers competing for sub jobs. My Neighbours daughter has a Masters in Education and is a HS English teacher, she is losing out to jobs she applies for, because of her Masters, they are taking on younger less expensive teachers.

She just took a job in a Gym!

alya

Have a job here that I hate, but thanks.

I don't have a visa and am still in the uk - the other thread was me thinking or trying to think around the situation - is re-training an option or look for something that I am already skilled in - but i guess either option is not much good There must be people somewhere, although i guess not in the states from the opinions of people who have answered,who have wanted to emigrate,their skills were not in demand so have retrained in order to make themselves more appealing to overseas employers?

Question: if teachers are being laid off who teaches the kids - do class sizes just increase? Over here (at least in our authority) jobs only go if pupil numbers decrease -are pupil numbers in the states decreasing? Has the birth rate fallen? Sorry if I am not upto speed on the population stats, we have only been thinking about the states as an option for a short time (Although it has been a long term dream for me, it is only recently we are able to start thinking seriously about emigrating)What is the situation - is it purely a $ thing?

I am going to keep a small bit of hope alive though, i want this, and refuse to spend the rest of my life over here so will do what i can to get out of here.

lisa67

My son's HS employs 5 full time band directors...if they get strapped for cash they'll lose one...just an example of how things differ here where I live now to where i used to teach in the UK. Class sizes are also smaller here, some cities are closing schools due to cost and transferring the whole school to be part of another one..needless to say the teachers from the old school aren't needed.

Bill_S

Pharmacists are in demand in the US, but in order to get foreign credentials accepted you'd need to take a full-time 5-year undergraduate pharmacy program. But even if you started tomorrow, there's no guarantee that the same demand will exist several years from now.

meauxna

Yes! And school days are cut. And programs are cut (music, arts, sports). And parents are asked to contribute more and more every year in donations and supplies and fund raising.

I appreciate your thinking, but I do recommend that you do some reading of the news in the US; google news is a good place to search (make sure you're searching US sites) so you can get a hint of what all the gloom and doom is about. You may not be able to make a firm plan this year since so much is in transition, but get to know the issues so that when the economy/life/etc does shift, you are prepared and can start your efforts when and where they will be fruitful. This week just isn't the right time, and if it's really your dream, you've got to take a bigger picture approach.

Bluegrass Lass

Bingo!

alya

Sounds like US govt are very similar to the UK - £ before the kids! Not great for the kids or parents.

meauxna

It's very often the parents who don't vote for the additional funding. Each state runs its own business, and the funding models are different in every community.

fatbrit

Go ahead! It's pretty harmless and most probably won't harm animals or small children. When I starts to get you down, try a realistic proposition like OZ or NZ instead.