You’ve just graduated with your hard-earned degree, or maybe you’re ready to be out of your home and exploring the world. You look at the thousands of teaching opportunities abroad as your mind takes you to beaches and mountains afar. The job descriptions all state “no experience needed,” paid and fully furnished apartment, and 20-hour work weeks. It almost seems to be too good to be true. That is because it probably is. In this article, we’ll talk about how a recruiter can help save you from financial disaster, awkward legal situations, and even jail time when you decide to teach abroad.

Run from the Visa Runs

No matter where you are from, in most situations, you will need a working visa to be employed legally in any country. Unfortunately, one of the most common sketchy strategies schools use to save a dollar or two is not providing their teachers with work visas. You may ask, “Well, how is that legal, and how do they get away with it?” To answer your first question, it isn’t, and we’ll talk about the repercussions a little bit later. How do they get away with it? Easy, they do it by lying or using the strength of one’s passport.

Most passports allow you to be inside a country for a specific time, whether 30, 60, or 90 days. A visa is similar to this, but with one added clause. Unlike passports, visa’s allow for a one-time entrance or multiple entrances into a country. Now with that in mind, schools will promise to provide you a work visa, but they never do. Instead, these schools require you to leave the country every few months and return. When it comes to a visa, typically, these schools require you to apply for a visa that allows for multiple entries, like a tourist permit.

You may ask me, “Free international Trips? What is the problem?”. Although the sound of jumping to a new country for a day or two when it’s time for the next visa run sounds excellent, it is precarious. As fun as it may be, you’re working illegally in a country and risk deportation, blacklisting, heavy fines, and even jail time if caught. I am not talking about one night in the jailhouse, either. In some countries, you will be required to stay in jail until you can appear before a court to be sentenced. This could be days or weeks or, in some cases, even months. Working illegally will also make airports and the immigration office more stressful than they already are since you will be lying to the face of government agents.

Our job is to ensure you stay out of a country’s prison system and in a classroom happily educating the youth. Recruiters can guarantee you are going to a school that will provide you with a legal work visa and ease of mind. We do not want to see our candidates inside a jail but instead inside a classroom.

Show me the money

You did it; your first-month teaching in a new country is over. Finally, you are ready for your first paycheck in a different currency. What will you spend it on? A night out on the town? The cute little travel spot you saw on Tik Tok once? You keep refreshing your bank app, but nothing is coming up. Chances are, that balance may stay at zero for a while.

Unfortunately, this has happened to teachers on numerous occasions. A teacher works and is paid less than agreed or not paid at all. The worst part is there is little the teacher can do about it. In addition, you are at a legal disadvantage as a foreign teacher. If you want to lawyer up, the school could cancel your work visa or blacklist you from working in that country again. Teachers who face this problem have little recourse besides hoping their manager pays them or leaving the country without a dime paid for their hard work.

{Read here about Teaching Abroad Horror Stories: tinyurl.com/2p8dwkmt}

Not using a reliable recruiter can lead you to apply to school teaching roles that will scam you out of a paycheck. In addition, you are taking a financial risk without prior knowledge about the specific schools you should and shouldn’t work for. We only work with legal and licensed schools at isoemployme.com, guaranteeing your hard-earned salary will arrive safely to you.

How our recruiters can save you from jail and a lousy job environment.

Here at isoemployme.com, we work to find the best fit for your teaching abroad aspirations. This means both avoiding the jail cell and a hostile classroom environment. As mentioned earlier, we only work with licensed schools that pay competitive wages, have positive working environments, and a safe space for teachers to teach.

{Find out how we match schools and candidates here: isoemployme.com/about}

Most schools you will apply to will be legal and safe. Teaching abroad is a fantastic experience where you will learn and grow exponentially. Whether you go to China or Chile, you will never forget the memories you make on your journey. Ideally, those memories do not include jail time or financial ruin, but that is why we are here to help. When you’re ready to begin teaching abroad, feel free to contact us anytime at isoemployme.com, and we will find you the perfect fit.