Overseas Opportunities for Your Non-Teaching Partner

So you’ve decided to make the leap to teach overseas. Good for you! This will be a very exciting and rewarding experience. But now that you’ve made this immense decision to teach abroad, it’s time to come up with a plan for your partner as well.

There are always opportunities overseas for non-teaching partners, but they may not be what your partner is accustomed to. If he/she is willing to branch out a bit, then there will be lots of different jobs for him/her to choose from. The key is to keep an open mind, and remember that this is meant to be a once in a lifetime experience where you and your partner will experience new things. And for your partner, that may mean a whole new career experience.

Often there are opportunities for your partner right under your nose. For instance, the school you are teaching at will have openings for non-teachers. Some of the employment opportunities that may exist at your school are:

• Classroom/special needs teaching assistant
• Sports coach
• Admissions officer
• Buildings manager
• Sports/music coordinator
• Outdoor activities coordinator

If your spouse has the transferable skills necessary to take on one of these roles, it would be incredibly convenient, and you would get to see one another often. However, it is not always this simple. But there is a whole world outside of your school, and that means a list of possibilities for your partner.

If you look outside your school, there are many possible jobs for your partner. Some employment opportunities that might arise in the surrounding area are:

• Private language tutor
• Translator
• Editor
• Restaurant host
• Journalist

To help find work, your partner might consider joining national societies, hobby groups, or a gym to make contacts. There are many expatriates living abroad, and many times there will be whole sections of cities where expatriates are numerous. Your partner can utilize this resource by joining a club or sport for expatriates, or even just by going to a pub or local hangout popular with expatriates to help him/her network and make contacts. You can also try contacting your embassy or asking the recruiter to assist you in making contacts.

Another great idea for your partner, if he/she is so inclined, is to take this time to write a novel. Writing a book while taking a year off and being supported by you may seem like a great idea to them. If you’re going to be doing a lot of travelling, your partner could also make back the cost of your holidays by selling travel stories. You’d be amazed at the number of magazines that will pay you to write freelance for them.

If your partner is not the writing type, you could look into starting up a home-based business. Your partner could develop and run it out of your new home. You can search on the internet about how to go about building your own home-based internet business.

There is still the possibility that they may not find a position, or it may be the case that it takes some time to make useful contacts in your new community. Just remember that it may take some unorthodox searching in fields that are not typically your partner’s specialty. As long as he/she keeps a positive attitude, they could end up having quite the rewarding experience.