Job hunting???

I am in the process of job hunting....NO FUN!!!! I have been living here in Wales for three months. Now that the settlling in is over , I am really anxious to work again. I am looking for a position in the field of Education. My degrees and experience seem to not have much effect on Welsh human resource officers. It appears as if it is harder to find a job when you are not already working...I don't get this at all!!! The only reason that I am not working is because I relocated to the U.K. Also, all of my professional references are addresses and phone numbers from the states...I know that everything takes time, but it is just a little frustrating....UHHHH!!!

Have you looked at our Jobs board, doniwales?

Welcome to UK-Yankee!

Hiya hon. Have you looked into any agencies in your area? I'm afraid I don't know much about the education field however I believe there are a couple of people here who are teachers.

My advice is to find an agency (or 2 or 3 or 4!) and sign up with them. They do all the leg work for you and they will tell you openly and honestly what your CV will need to impress the employers.

Hey, doniwales! 

Welcome!  I used to live in JP off Vet's.  Went to Grace King High School when it was new.

Have you tried jobs.ac.uk?  One tip is to throw some local jargon in your cover letter, just enough so they know you are familiar with the education system in Wales.  I'm trying to find a job in Scotland with only US qualifications.  Let us know how it goes.

Chris

Doniwales, here's my tip: READ. Go to www.dfes.gov.uk and have a look at the free publications. Request copes of any and everything that sounds relevant to you. Study them. Read the DFES site and visit the links to Key Stage 3 Strategy and National Curriculum Information. Read about teachers unions. Go to www.amazon.co.uk and order Sue Cowley's 'Guerilla Guide to Teaching'...it will tell you the basics of working in the UK schools.

I advise you not to seek a teaching job through an agency. Good schools turn to agencies as a last resort. It will be better for you to use The Times Educational Supplement to look for work, and make cold calls to the good schools in your area. Apply directly.

Get in touch with NARIC and have your qualifications verified as UK equivalent (that would be your high schol diploma and university degrees). Your US teaching license does not count here, so do research about the Graduate Training Programme's employment-based scheme for Overseas Trained Teachers (OTTs). When you interview, express your desire to fast track that programme and gain QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) as soon as possible. For interviews, you must be able to use UK teaching jargon comfortably, so you are going to have to study, but your studies will show you that things are pretty much the same here, just the jargon is different. It will come down to the fact that you know you can do the job but they might not be sure than you can, and your saying, well, I'm not from here but I know I can teach is not going to be good enough. So do study! Know more about your situation and what will be required to get you up to the same level as any other UK teacher than they do. Be confident and knowledgeable.

I got a job here on my own and earned QTS, so this is all from experience. PM me with anymore questions you may have.

Good luck!