What personality is best for teaching abroad?

Do you have the right personality to teach abroad?

In Germany, a one-a

rmed cyclist was fined 25 euro for breaking road safety laws... by riding his bicycle with only one arm. This kind of dogmatic inflexibility is what gets you into the international news. (click to read the whole article)

It's a good thing this police officer was not an international teacher. But what personality traits are needed? Below are my top 4. Do you have what it takes? 

What the police officer did not have... Flexibility to think outside of your normal ‘box’ is certainly one trait that is required to teach abroad, because what seems normal to those in your new country will probably not be the normal that you are used to.  

Sense of humour: You will make embarrassing mistakes and you will encounter absurd situations. If you can’t laugh you will probably spend your time crying and, really, who needs that?

Confidence: Just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears you need not too much, not too little but juuuust the right amount of confidence.  With real confidence comes the ability to take a risk and  put yourself out there. You need it to make new professional and personal connections. You need to be confident enough to take the leap into the unknown knowing you’ll be fine, but not a know-it-all who won’t listen, learn and grow.
Finally…

Resilience: This is a biggie. One of the things every international school looks for on your CV is to see how long you have worked in each of your jobs. Have you broken a contract? That never looks good because personal resilience is something every international teacher needs. You will face challenges wherever you go, and you must be the kind of person to figure out a way to make the best of any situation, rather than to descend into a vortex of blame and/or run away when the going gets tough.

If you have these four things: flexibility, sense of humour, confidence and resilience and are a good teacher to boot, then you will have the time of your life abroad. 

If you are still looking for a job with an August/September start, we have a number of VERY good jobs now- and our clients are getting more flexible too! Now is a super time to 'date-up' - you can often get considered by a school now that will not consider you later when the competition is fiercer. Yes it takes resilience and determination to leave in 5 weeks, but it will be worth it in the end. I promise.