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Yup it's really difficult to find jobs nowadays if youre young. It feels like unless you have a PhD, 3.7+ GPA, years of work experience in college, and strong connections, then you are pretty much screwed my plan right now is to get a job in SouthAm so at least I can get the experience part down, and then come back to the states later when I can already meet the experience requirements. I have a feeling that if I keep looking for a job in the states (at least in my field) it's gonna be like trying to hit a basket from half-court. Literally everyone in the US wants 2+ years experience. I'd rather be an English professor in Latin America than work in McDonalds in the US
I think if you are yougner ( and if I am correct you are in your early 20s) going to somewhere else to get work and life experience is a great idea even if you are not doing the most amazing job. It helps build your resume. It also makes you stand out. I only went to London England to work for under 6 months and it always can up in converstaion when being interviewed. Also speaking more then on language is always a plus.
No one gives a care about your marks. They care about how to present in the interveiew and what you can offer them. A lot of the time they just skim your resume for the being able to meet the basic criteria and it weigh most of the decision on how you answer the questions and converse with them in the interveiew. They want to makesure your personality will also fit with theirs. The reason why I have often been able to beat out people with better grades for placements and jobes is because I am better at marketing myself and becoming who the interviewer is looking for. I look for cues about them, reasearch what their organization is all about and focus my resume and interview on selling the hell out of what I can do for them. Every crapy job I did to get to my recent job prepared me for this. Ex selling perfume taught me how to read people. Being a restuarant manager, scooping ice cream, working as a receptionists, working as a cashier ... etc all these jobs I took helped me developed the skills I need to day to do what I do now. If you want a good job you need to hustle to get one. Even Steven Jobs had to hustle.
Don't get discouraged. After graduating from my internship and having lots of work experience it took me like 8 months to find a job in my feild. I left a decent job in a very desirable company to do my internship and went from making like $25 an hour in Toronto to $6.40 an hour in another part of Canada while doing my internship to nothing after graducation because I could not work for 9 months. I went on so many interviews. Even for things I was over qualified for. It was totally depressing. I was crying myself to sleep on many nights because I was so angry I spent all this time and money going to school and no one wanted to hire me. Then out of no where I kept on getting job offers ! Like good ones. It is hard.... but you need to keep at it and be creative in your approach. Adjust your resume and make sure it focuses on what you can do for them. Don't continue to pump out generic resumes. You need sell the heck out of yourself.
If your are young and single going outside of your country to work is a good idea just for the experience of work and travel. Once you get older or married it becomes harder to do that and harder to get back in the work force in yoru country of origin.
I understand that some of the non profit organizations do have higher paying jobs.... but I find it really unlikely you are going to make 100k USA teaching. Not even likely if teaching as a University Professor unless you are a world class brain surgeon or a comparably skilled in something.
I think if you are yougner ( and if I am correct you are in your early 20s) going to somewhere else to get work and life experience is a great idea even if you are not doing the most amazing job. It helps build your resume. It also makes you stand out. I only went to London England to work for under 6 months and it always can up in converstaion when being interviewed. Also speaking more then on language is always a plus.
No one gives a care about your marks. They care about how to present in the interveiew and what you can offer them. A lot of the time they just skim your resume for the being able to meet the basic criteria and it weigh most of the decision on how you answer the questions and converse with them in the interveiew. They want to makesure your personality will also fit with theirs. The reason why I have often been able to beat out people with better grades for placements and jobes is because I am better at marketing myself and becoming who the interviewer is looking for. I look for cues about them, reasearch what their organization is all about and focus my resume and interview on selling the hell out of what I can do for them. Every crapy job I did to get to my recent job prepared me for this. Ex selling perfume taught me how to read people. Being a restuarant manager, scooping ice cream, working as a receptionists, working as a cashier ... etc all these jobs I took helped me developed the skills I need to day to do what I do now. If you want a good job you need to hustle to get one. Even Steven Jobs had to hustle.
Don't get discouraged. After graduating from my internship and having lots of work experience it took me like 8 months to find a job in my feild. I left a decent job in a very desirable company to do my internship and went from making like $25 an hour in Toronto to $6.40 an hour in another part of Canada while doing my internship to nothing after graducation because I could not work for 9 months. I went on so many interviews. Even for things I was over qualified for. It was totally depressing. I was crying myself to sleep on many nights because I was so angry I spent all this time and money going to school and no one wanted to hire me. Then out of no where I kept on getting job offers ! Like good ones. It is hard.... but you need to keep at it and be creative in your approach. Adjust your resume and make sure it focuses on what you can do for them. Don't continue to pump out generic resumes. You need sell the heck out of yourself.
If your are young and single going outside of your country to work is a good idea just for the experience of work and travel. Once you get older or married it becomes harder to do that and harder to get back in the work force in yoru country of origin.
Thank you for your words, I really appreciate reading about other people's personal experiences with this issue. I am in my very very early 20s so you are correct. I'm glad about the GPA part, I go to a very competitive university and my GPA is not as high as I would like it to be. You have to bust yourself just to get a B. Fortunately I can appear really extraverted, and can make people laugh, so I feel like interviews would be my time to shine. I'm in the same boat as you, I've had many jobs unrelated to my career, but each job gives you knowledge, even if it's not the sort of knowledge you expect
Damn that does sound depressing, I can imagine what you were feeling after 6 or 7 months of this I feel like that's how it goes for most of things in life. You don't have something for such a long time, and then suddenly it starts happening all at once. I'm glad that you did find good job offers after a while tho, and now it seems like you have a very good job
Fortunately time is on my side. I still have a lot to go before even my 25th birthday. 5 years ago I never imagined that I would be in South America, and I'm sure that in 5 years from now my life will be just as unexpected for me
Thank you for your words, I really appreciate reading about other people's personal experiences with this issue. I am in my very very early 20s so you are correct. I'm glad about the GPA part, I go to a very competitive university and my GPA is not as high as I would like it to be. You have to bust yourself just to get a B. Fortunately I can appear really extraverted, and can make people laugh, so I feel like interviews would be my time to shine. I'm in the same boat as you, I've had many jobs unrelated to my career, but each job gives you knowledge, even if it's not the sort of knowledge you expect
Damn that does sound depressing, I can imagine what you were feeling after 6 or 7 months of this I feel like that's how it goes for most of things in life. You don't have something for such a long time, and then suddenly it starts happening all at once. I'm glad that you did find good job offers after a while tho, and now it seems like you have a very good job
Fortunately time is on my side. I still have a lot to go before even my 25th birthday. 5 years ago I never imagined that I would be in South America, and I'm sure that in 5 years from now my life will be just as unexpected for me
You are still really young and if you are smart enough to be getting international experience now you are going to have that in your favour. Honestly you just need to graduate and get that degree in your hand. No one has EVER asked about my grades. They care that you passed and you have the document to prove it.
You never know when you are going to get a break. I did not get a big one until 26 and was hustling prior to that.
But any and everyone including me need to remember in the work force it is like snakes and ladders. You can get close to the top and make the wrong move and fall back to the bottom and have to start over again. It can happen to anyone. The forever until retire job situation is not really that likely any more.
I thought about teaching English in Latin America and visited and actually had interviews in several countries. The best paying k-12 jobs I found were in the Dominican Republic. But I'm someone who has a masters in English Education.
With just a bachelor's degree, you'll find English teach jobs, but they may be as low as $300 with free housing (though you'll get free meals). I don't think this is what the OP is looking for, but something like this maybe a good fit for Warszawa. I'm a freelance writer and I can still teach English on the side if need be. But due to being older than Warzawa and having a masters I'm pickier, so what's good for him wouldn't necessarily be good for me.
I personally decided to apply to PhD programs in Europe (particularly Spain). I'm waiting for the decision. European nations have free medical care, excellent public transportation and services. Plus I can easily go to the Apple Store and have full services from companies like Amazon. Latin America is underserved by these companies. You can still get these products, but you'll find them more costly outside of perhaps Mexico and maybe Brazil.
But teaching English overseas for a few years looks great on your resume when applying to grad schools, and it's definitely an experience that can segway into other stuff. Go for it.
Thank you for your words, I really appreciate reading about other people's personal experiences with this issue. I am in my very very early 20s so you are correct. I'm glad about the GPA part, I go to a very competitive university and my GPA is not as high as I would like it to be. You have to bust yourself just to get a B. Fortunately I can appear really extraverted, and can make people laugh, so I feel like interviews would be my time to shine. I'm in the same boat as you, I've had many jobs unrelated to my career, but each job gives you knowledge, even if it's not the sort of knowledge you expect
Damn that does sound depressing, I can imagine what you were feeling after 6 or 7 months of this I feel like that's how it goes for most of things in life. You don't have something for such a long time, and then suddenly it starts happening all at once. I'm glad that you did find good job offers after a while tho, and now it seems like you have a very good job
Fortunately time is on my side. I still have a lot to go before even my 25th birthday. 5 years ago I never imagined that I would be in South America, and I'm sure that in 5 years from now my life will be just as unexpected for me
After you've gotten solid work experience, it neutralizes your grades. Even if you do decide to go to grad school, once you get interesting work experience, all you'd have to possibly do is take a couple of classes to boost your candidacy. You'll get there.
What country in South America will you go to (or you already there)?
I thought about teaching English in Latin America and visited and actually had interviews in several countries. The best paying k-12 jobs I found were in the Dominican Republic. But I'm someone who has a masters in English Education.
With just a bachelor's degree, you'll find English teach jobs, but they may be as low as $300 with free housing (though you'll get free meals). I don't think this is what the OP is looking for, but something like this maybe a good fit for Warszawa. I'm a freelance writer and I can still teach English on the side if need be. But due to being older than Warzawa and having a masters I'm pickier, so what's good for him wouldn't necessarily be good for me.
I personally decided to apply to PhD programs in Europe (particularly Spain). I'm waiting for the decision. European nations have free medical care, excellent public transportation and services. Plus I can easily go to the Apple Store and have full services from companies like Amazon. Latin America is underserved by these companies. You can still get these products, but you'll find them more costly outside of perhaps Mexico and maybe Brazil.
But teaching English overseas for a few years looks great on your resume when applying to grad schools, and it's definitely an experience that can segway into other stuff. Go for it.
I thought about getting a Master's Degree, but that will have to wait. I would prefer to get an MD in Europe where colleges are much cheaper than in the US, in Germany even for international students it is free I believe, and I would love to be in Germany
I definitely wouldnt work for only $300. I read that at least in Perú wages for English teachers are about $500-600 which is acceptable especially since it's experience. Latin America has many disadvantages but the good thing is that most of the disadvantages I dont really care about. Poor schools? Childless and in early 20s, so dont care. Lack of space? Same as above. Expensive cars? Well I don't want a car. Expensive electronics? All I care about is a cellphone and a laptop. Expensive upper end fashion? Don't care, I don't buy high end fashion anyway. Hectic lifestyle? I'm young, I can handle it. Latin America has tons of disadvantages, especially if you're a bit older and want to raise a family, but most of those I don't really care about. They are not a dealbreaker for me as they would be for other people
After you've gotten solid work experience, it neutralizes your grades. Even if you do decide to go to grad school, once you get interesting work experience, all you'd have to possibly do is take a couple of classes to boost your candidacy. You'll get there.
What country in South America will you go to (or you already there)?
Thank you! I appreciate it
I'm in Perú now, thought about going to Colombia too, but Perú seems more stable and safer
I thought about getting a Master's Degree, but that will have to wait. I would prefer to get an MD in Europe where colleges are much cheaper than in the US, in Germany even for international students it is free I believe, and I would love to be in Germany
I definitely wouldnt work for only $300. I read that at least in Perú wages for English teachers are about $500-600 which is acceptable especially since it's experience. Latin America has many disadvantages but the good thing is that most of the disadvantages I dont really care about. Poor schools? Childless and in early 20s, so dont care. Lack of space? Same as above. Expensive cars? Well I don't want a car. Expensive electronics? All I care about is a cellphone and a laptop. Expensive upper end fashion? Don't care, I don't buy high end fashion anyway. Hectic lifestyle? I'm young, I can handle it. Latin America has tons of disadvantages, especially if you're a bit older and want to raise a family, but most of those I don't really care about. They are not a dealbreaker for me as they would be for other people
I don't blame you for that. After getting a MA at Columbia University (expensive) I decided to apply to PhD and other graduate programs in Europe, particularly Spain. It's much cheaper and healthcare is free.
As for the rest of your comments, your needs are basic, so finding an acceptable English teaching job won't be too hard. You do need to be picky, as there are employers that exploit foreigners who have bachelor degrees, but no teaching experience or masters by having them work long hour for essentially little pay. Truthfully, since all you need is a room, a laptop, cellphone, and decent (not extravagant food or clothes) you could definitely get away with working part time.
There are definitely schools that will hook you up with housing, and if the housing and the terms of it are acceptable to you, that can affect your wage consideration. Meaning if you aren't paying rent you don't need as much money (not telling you to work for $300). I heard from a school that was paying 1200 a month in the DR and provided housing (but this I think was for more experienced teachers). Still this gives you an idea of what to look for.
I'm going to say k-12 in Latin America you should get 1,000 a month. Elite schools and universities requiring masters degrees pay more. The better ESL jobs will require at least some sort of TEFL certificate if you don't have a MA in English Education, TESOL, or Linguistics. If they aren't going to give you that least they DEFINITELY need to provide housing. Things do vary from country to country in terms of living conditions, how easy it is to get a school to provide housing, cost of living, etc.
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my plan right now is to get a job in SouthAm so at least I can get the experience part down, and then come back to the states later when I can already meet the experience requirements. I have a feeling that if I keep looking for a job in the states (at least in my field) it's gonna be like trying to hit a basket from half-court. Literally everyone in the US wants 2+ years experience. I'd rather be an English professor in Latin America than work in McDonalds in the US
! Like good ones. It is hard.... but you need to keep at it and be creative in your approach. Adjust your resume and make sure it focuses on what you can do for them. Don't continue to pump out generic resumes. You need sell the heck out of yourself.
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