Hi guys, I’ve just finished an 18 month stint teaching in Thailand. I had tremendous trouble finding a decent job when I first arrived, in fact it was two months from the time of arriving in Thailand to my actual first day as a teacher. I thought I would write this piece to help those who are in the same position as I was. After having worked in a school with both farangs and thais, I had a lot better understanding of how things work by the end of my stint.
The reality is that most thai administration staff simply delete emails that are written in English, as they either can’t understand them or can’t be bothered to get someone to translate it to them. The best course of action is to make a list of the jobs you are interested in or schools/universities/language centres in your area, make a list of their addresses, dress decently and show something that resembles respect for Thai culture (a wai, greet the staff in Thai etc) and you are going to be ahead of the pack.
Emailing and phoning schools and agencies is a complete waste of your time, so don’t do it. You will invariably get an interview or you will speak to a principal by having done the leg work, which is more than probably 60% of your competitors. The clincher for me was my demo lesson. I presented to a group of thai teachers (mock students, all ladies!) and just made it fun (sanook), inclusive and got everyone excited. If you don’t think you can be fun, just base your demo lesson around a game, thais love games, they get excited, you’ll be seen as a ‘fun’ teacher and you won’t be forgotten once you walk out the door.
Finally, it’s up to you to follow up. Thais are lovely, caring, kind-hearted people, but they can be extremely forgetful and lazy and if someone tells you they’ll call you back, nine times out of ten they won’t. It’s up to you, you must follow up after your initial meeting, preferably again in person. In my time in Thailand I saw so many dead-beat teachers turn up for interviews under-prepared and then wonder why they didn’t get the job. It’s not rocket science. Be prepared, have a philosophy or style, make it fun and follow up. No one’s going to hand you a job in Thailand, farangs are a dime a dozen, it’s up to you to go out to a school, impress them and make them want to employ you.
Steve B
