As of 1st September I became that dreaded word… unemployed. I mean, it was my choice to accept this fate but I didn’t expect to feel as vulnerable and under pressure as I currently do.
I never thought it would be easy to find a job, but I didn’t expect it to be this hard. Thank you global pandemic, please take a bow.
My partner and I are qualified English as foreign language teachers and it is our dream to move to Thailand. However due to the country’s travel restrictions and that little corona bug going around, we are unable to go.
OK, so finding out this news was not ideal but we wouldn’t let it dampen our spirits because I know we will go one day, so… where next? Well Europe was our next honeypot.
We quickly learned how competitive jobs in Europe are, and now more than ever because of the travel restrictions in Asia (where a lot of teachers go because there is the biggest demand for teachers).
This didn’t stop us throwing our line in and fishing for jobs, however. We had minor success and were offered a trial in the south of Italy.
We left Newcastle on a cold September morning with the hope of eventually living an Italian life. But, spoiler alert, it was not meant to be. We loved the area and the school but the location of the school and our accommodation was far from satisfactory. We were also told that there would only be one job for me and not my partner, as the owner wished to employ a female teacher and didn’t think he’d have enough students for 2 teachers.
So we left Italy, with the hope of finding success elsewhere. Luckily, we had second interviews for 2 positions at a school in Spain. The job sounded ideal and exactly what we were looking for.
Two days later we were dealt our second blow. They only wanted to employ my partner and not me. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t hurt, a lot. Not only did they not tell me themselves, they gave me limited feedback which felt like an attack on my personality.
After this set-back we decided to apply for Universal Credit, because we don’t know how long we are going to be unemployed for.
READ MORE: Online English Language Teacher available now
Cut to today and I am waiting to hear if I have a potential job as an Au Pair/ English Tutor. I am trying to stay positive, but I am finding it really hard. Many schools have started today and how already employed their teachers, so we are relying on teachers to drop out or be fired.
If by some miracle an employer in Europe reads this and is looking for 2 enthusiastic and committed English teachers to work in your school, please drop me a message.
In the meantime, I’ll be continuing my online teaching and applying like crazy for jobs!
Wellbean blog 