Will I find a Job in Thailand?

Will I find work in Thailand?

(Is there a definitive answer to this incredibly common question?)

 

(reposted from Ajarn.com Oct. 21, 2012.)

Will I find work in Thailand? OK, let's begin with the main reasons why teachers ask if they will find work in Thailand.

1)      The teacher lacks a degree.
2) The teacher is not a native speaker of English.
3) The teacher has no teaching experience to speak of.
4) The teacher considers himself / herself to be ‘too old' or in some cases ‘too young'
5) The teacher considers himself / herself to be at a disadvantage when it comes to skin color and/or appearance.

I think I've covered the main five reasons there.

I wish I could look at the five possible scenarios above and give everyone a straight "yes, you will" or "no, you won't" answer. But unfortunately it's nowhere near that straightforward.

Let me pull no punches here. Here's how it is and I think most long-term Thailand teachers, having spent a good few years in the system, would probably agree with me.

1) Teachers with degrees will find work much easier than those without degrees (but that's not to say finding work without a degree is impossible) A few years back I would have said degreed teachers will find work easier, instead of ‘much easier' but there's no doubt that things have become tougher for those who lack the required qualifications.

2) English native speakers will generally find work easier than non-native speakers but the key word is ‘generally'. Much depends on where you apply to for work. Many schools out in the rural areas gave up trying to hire native English speakers long ago. They simply can't or won't pay enough so they have to settle for ‘second best' (their words, not mine) And in many cases, a good European non-native speaker will be considered for a job on a par with a native speaker anyway.

3) Teachers with experience will generally find it easier to get work than those without. There's that key word ‘generally' again. If you're wondering why I'm not saying whether it's ‘much easier' or ‘a little easier' it's because I haven't got the first clue. No one has. It's all just based on opinion and supposition.

 

4) and 5) you could bundle together quite easily. Appearances and ‘packaging' count for almost everything in Thailand. It's no good pretending that ageism and racism don't exist because they quite clearly do! however not in every school thankfully. So to summarize, younger teachers generally find it easier to get teaching work than older teachers and I'll stick my neck out and say white teachers find it much easier to secure teaching positions than black teachers.

Let me reiterate that not for one moment does this mean that a black or old or inexperienced teacher won't find work. Period. I've worked with black teachers who have been easily the most popular teacher in the school and years ago, I worked with a 75-year old American guy, who not only got more student requests than everyone else but was still buzzing with energy at the end of an 8-hour teaching day while us ‘youngsters' were slumped over our desks in a corner of the teachers room.

Once again it's about appearance, ‘packaging' and the image you project. There are 30-year olds who look forty and 60-year olds who would pass for fifty. It's only a number!

But what makes all of the above almost completely irrelevant is this - the fact that ONLY YOU KNOW YOU! This is the point that the majority of people miss when they e-mail me to ask the question ‘"will I find teaching work in Thailand?"

To use one of my father's favorite expressions - "are you the kind of guy who could fall off a department store roof and land in a new suit?" Are you the kind of guy who can land in a strange country and within 48 hours, you've made three good contacts in local pubs and restaurants and got half a dozen good job interviews lined up? People who tackle what life throws at them in this manner are all out there. We've all met them.

Do you perform well at job interviews?
Are you good at making a first impression?
Do you get on well with people?
Are you a good team player?
Do you have a good sense of humor and a go-with-the-flow personality?
Do you have some savings behind you?
Is your resume as professional as it could be?

I could go on and list hundreds of these questions. The more of them that you can answer ‘yes' to, the more successful you will be in finding your dream teaching job in Thailand. But only you truly know the answers to these questions.

Is there anything I've missed out here?

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