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    Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home
    Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home
    Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home
    Ebook136 pages1 hour

    Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home

    By Jackie Bolen

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    About this ebook

    Are you going home after teaching abroad but are feeling stressed out about it?

     

    Life After ESL is the book for those who've been teaching English abroad but are planning to return to their home countries. If you want to make this transition in the smoothest way possible, you'll need to read Life After ESL for some solid advice to get you off on the right foot!

     

    In order to offer this advice, I surveyed 55 people about their experiences going home, post-teaching abroad in order to find out what they are doing for work and also what advice they could offer to those thinking about doing the same thing. They had some excellent advice as well as a wealth of information to share.

     

    Life After ESL has tons of practical tips that you can use as you make your transition home. These tips include things like how much money is recommended, skills you've gained while teaching abroad, work options, advice for returning to school, and how to become a certified teacher in your home country, to name only a few.

     

    If you're tired of teaching abroad, want to return home, but aren't quite sure what to do for work or how to make this transition, "Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home" is the book you need to pick up today!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJackie Bolen
    Release dateJul 29, 2020
    ISBN9781393822608
    Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home

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      Book preview

      Life After ESL - Jackie Bolen

      Copyright 2015 by Jackie Bolen

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher/author at the address below.

      Jackie Bolen: jb.business.online@gmail.com

      Table of Contents

      An Introduction to Life after ESL..............................................................................................4

      About Jackie Bolen.......................................................................................................................6

      The Survey-Straight Data..........................................................................................................8

      Question #1: Experience Abroad........................................................................................8

      Question #2: Preparation for Return Home.....................................................................9

      Question #3: Current Working Situation..........................................................................9

      Question #4: Mistakes when Returning Home.............................................................10

      Question #5: Time Abroad Helpful to Get a Job in Home Country?........................11

      Question #6: 3 Factors for Success.................................................................................11

      Question #7: Best Advice...................................................................................................12

      Life after ESL—13 Things you Need to Know.....................................................................14

      1. A Large Pool of Money: Get One! ...............................................................................14

      2. Make a Plan.......................................................................................................................22

      3. Finding a Job Will Be Difficult .......................................................................................26

      4. Doing a Master's: Not a Great Choice, Perhaps.......................................................27

      5. Is Something with a Well-Defined Career Path a Better Plan?............................28

      6. Humility:Start at the Bottom.........................................................................................30

      7. Flexibility: Get Some!......................................................................................................34

      8. Consider Location Carefully..........................................................................................36

      The Cheapest and Most Expensive Places to Live, by Country ..........................36

      9. Build your Network ASAP...............................................................................................39

      10. Stay positive: Time Abroad is not a Waste of Time.............................................40

      11. Reverse Culture Shock Does Happen......................................................................44

      Worth a Read: Reverse Culture Shock.......................................................................46

      12. Hit the Ground Running, or Not?...............................................................................48

      13. Use your Time Abroad Well .......................................................................................50

      Time for a Confession......................................................................................................50

      Teaching English in your Home Country....................................................................50

      Public Schools in your Home Country.........................................................................51

      Something besides Education.......................................................................................51

      Working for Yourself + Building Passive Income Streams....................................52

      Starting your Own Business back Home....................................................................55

      Some Words of Wisdom..................................................................................................55

      Job/Educational Options to Consider....................................................................................56

      Option #1: Certified Teacher in Public Schools............................................................56

      One Story of Becoming a Certified Teacher in the USA.........................................57

      Becoming a Certified Teacher, Requirements by Country....................................58

      Option #2: ESL Teacher......................................................................................................60

      Interview about the Canadian ESL Industry..............................................................63

      Advice from an ESL Teacher Working in Hawaii......................................................67

      Option #3: Temp Agencies ...............................................................................................68

      Worth a Read: Temp Agencies.....................................................................................69

      Option #4: Working with International Students.........................................................70

      Option #5: Entry-Level Business or Customer Service Position..............................71

      Worth a Read: Advice for Beginning a New Career................................................72

      Option #6: Short-Term, Practical Educational Programs...........................................72

      My Own Story: What to Do Post-Korea................................................................................74

      Some Final Words......................................................................................................................77

      High-Demand Jobs in 2020, by Country..............................................................................78

      Canada.....................................................................................................................................78

      United States..........................................................................................................................78

      The United Kingdom.............................................................................................................79

      Australia .................................................................................................................................80

      New Zealand..........................................................................................................................80

      South Africa............................................................................................................................80

      Worth a Read: Life After ESL..................................................................................................82

      An Introduction to Life after ESL

      A few months before I started writing this book, there was a question in an advice column in The Guardian that went viral in the English teaching world. It was about a teacher who had taught in Taiwan for 17 years, returned home with no plan or qualifications and I guess thought his best plan was to ask a random columnist for advice (I spent 17 years abroad as a TEFL teacher—what do I do now?).

      The English teacher netizens, at least in Korea were pretty harsh on him—who would return home after that long without putting even the most minimal amount of thought into what they were going to do for work? This article got me thinking—do people really return home without a plan after teaching abroad? Could I write a book that would help people with this transition? Is it really as impossible to go home as it seems from this side of things—i.e., as someone who is still abroad, teaching? Are people really still unemployed months later?

      I knew that the best advice and information I was going to get was from those who'd been teaching abroad and then gone back to their home countries. In some cases, those people had returned five or more years earlier, so they had the advantage of hindsight and time to reflect upon their experience. I designed a survey that aimed to discover the advice these people could offer to teachers who were thinking about doing the same thing they had done, and reveal the mistakes they made, as well as seeing what kinds of jobs they are doing now. When I analyzed the results, some trends were quite apparent and by writing this book I hope to help others make the transition home in as smooth a way as possible.

      This is the book for those who are serious about returning home and are willing to do whatever it takes to be successful, putting in the hard work to find a decent job and build a life for themselves, starting at the bottom. If you're ready, read on for some solid advice to get you off on the right foot!

      Before we get further in, I'd like to express my deep appreciation to all the people who answered the survey and gave such thoughtful responses. My old friends, and strangers from  around the Internet, were more than generous with their time and wisdom—this book wouldn't have been possible without them.

      Thank you: A., Anne, Ariela, Becca, Bill, Brad, Carly, Chris, Connie, Dawn, E., Heidi, Hester, James, Jenna, John, Jo, Joe, Julia, Justin, Karl, Karen, Kate, Kristofor, Leonard, Lyndon, Maija, Martin, Matt, Max, Megan, Mila, Monica, Paula, Pixie, Rebecca, RB, Robb, Samuel, Sally, Sarah, Tianha, Toby, Zach, and all the people who chose to remain anonymous.

      About Jackie Bolen

      I've been living in Korea for the past ten years and have loved most of my time here. Of course I've had bad days, weeks or even months (mostly involving a terrible for-profit private language school (hagwon) experience that I'd rather forget) but for the most part, Korea is an excellent place to live as an expat if you're able to adapt. I originally came to Korea after college for a bit of adventure and a chance to travel while paying off my students loans.

      Little did I know that it would become my real life and not just a stop along the way but I have no regrets about the way things have turned out. I've been able to work my way up in the job world from a terrible hagwon to a good one, to a decent university job in the countryside, and finally to a great job in Busan. However, as much as I love it here I know that it's time to return home and start the next chapter of my life in

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