10 Steps to Become a School Counselor Abroad

Bonus gems are included at the end !

To introduce the topic of moving abroad as a school counselor, I want to provide some background on myself. My current position is a Middle School Counselor for a private school in Kuwait which is in the Middle East. As of this upcoming school year, 2020-2021, I’ll be starting my third year living and working here!

With the school year already rolling in, I think it’s necessary to create this list of 10 steps to successfully move abroad as a School Counselor for my fellow educators looking for a change. A change in scenery, experiences, cultures, or career. If you are an intern, new or experienced School Counselor, this guide is for you.

1. Mindset

You read the title of this blog post and now you’re reading this sentence. This means you have some level of curiosity in the matter of living abroad as a School Counselor.

When determining if you want to move abroad, your mindset has to be healthy. By healthy I mean you are not fleeing from something or someone nor searching for something or someone. Identify your primary reason why you want to do this move that doesn’t jeopardize yourself.

For me, I wanted to move abroad in order to ground my independence as a person, a woman, and a woman of color by uprooting myself from familiarity and make use of this privilege I have to live my life somewhere else. I also wanted to embark on an adventure that is one ounce of the journey my parents made when they were my age. My parents were born and raised in Nigeria and decided to move away from their family to attend university in the U.S. Finally, I wanted to move abroad because I had no anchors keeping me where I was. I graduated school, I had my academic and professional credentials, I didn’t have a partner, and I didn’t have children. The loved ones I would move away from would still be in the same location when I return.

Identify your reason from moving abroad with a healthy mindset. I identified my reasons about a year and a half before I moved.

2. Internal Preparation

After you’ve concreted your reason(s) for moving abroad, you then want to mentally prepare.

In this stage of your process, further cement your decision of wanting to live and work abroad. Once I internally decided that I want to move abroad, I decided to share this certainty with others. I started sharing my desire to live and work abroad with my friends and family as well as my cohort and professors.

Then I started preparing myself to live life away from these people. I needed to continue building resilience. I needed to continue building self-esteem outside of my physical distance from loved ones. I needed to continue improving my mental and emotional health in order for me to overcome any challenges I knew I would experience living abroad.

During this time, you may get a range of reactions from the people you tell. Sometimes it was people projecting their fears on me and other times it was joyful disbelief. No matter what is reflected back upon you, your hard work from the previous step and this one should have cemented your desire to live and work abroad.

I was telling people of my goal about a year and a half before I moved.

3. Research Recruiting Companies

I started searching for recruiting companies about one year before I moved abroad.

In this stage of my moving abroad process, I was getting a wider range of search results when I input phrases such as “teach abroad” or “international teaching companies.” The comprehensive recruiting companies that recruit educators from all grade levels, subjects, specialties, and administration also have plenty of school counselor positions.

Recruiting companies are tiered based on their price, reputable and accredited list of schools, years of their recruiting services, and reviews. From the dozens of recruiting company websites I gathered, I narrowed down the list that were within my price range and were reputable sources according to the qualities stated above. This took me about three to four months to generate a list with several hours deep diving in the internet universe. I wanted to know all the websites in each tier of recruiting companies to ensure I spend my money where I will get the best return on my investment.

4. Get Connected

I joined groups related to teaching abroad on Facebook, website forums, YouTube channels and individual bloggers. On these various websites, I read reviews of individual schools as well as the way of life in different countries.

I was gathering information on the different locations that would offer me the same comforts of home while in a completely different location. Joining the international educator community further solidified my desire to move abroad.

I did this step about a year before I moved.

5. Academic and Professional Credentials

Throughout this time of solidifying who I was, getting connected to online groups, and researching recruiting companies, I was beginning my second (and last) year of graduate school. I am a former teacher and wanted to get my masters in counselor education to become a school counselor.

I made sure to read through the requirements list on the various recruiting websites for school counselor positions. Usually each school wanted to have school counselors with a master’s in school counseling, psychology, social work, or other related fields with or without teaching experience. Other schools only needed school counselors with a bachelor’s in psychology, social work, or counseling with or without teaching experience. I had all the “basics” that qualified me for a position in any tier of school. I go in depth with outlining tiers of international schools in the blog post titled “3 Tiers of International Schools.”

It’s essential you have all the academic and professional credentials to teach abroad prior to the school year you plan to move. You are more marketable and can work in different schools. If you are in your graduate program, you can apply for positions to start working in the fall. Just make sure your official coursework completion and graduation dates come months in advance prior to moving. This was my situation.

If you will not have these credentials in time for the next school year then you will have to push back your moving abroad process.

My graduate program was organized for a May graduation date which I was sure I would reach. I moved in August of that same year.

6. Research Desired Countries

The next step is to categorize countries or regions you would move to. Three categories labeled “yes,” “no,” and “possibly.” The countries you will add to each category come from the schools you see on the recruiting sites that have started listing your desired position(s). Do this prior to applying to gather insight on the mix of regions and countries that are hiring. As well as forming your preferred locations to move to. With living and working abroad particularly as a school counselor, there may not be an overflow of positions compared to teaching positions. Therefore, be as open and flexible as you can when deciding which countries you would move to. Remember, your curiosity? Keep that!

I was doing this from September through November, about 10 months before I moved abroad.

7. Resume and Applications

Fix your resume. Get up-to-date on the resume or CV “must haves.” Additionally, ensure you have reached out to the people who will write your recommendation letters well ahead of time; two to four months prior to applying is a good time.

Once your resume is updated, you have your recommendation letters, you have signed up for a variety of recruiting companies (both free and paid depending on your finances), and you see several positions open in your desired position(s), you are officially ready to begin your application process! Some recruiting sites will direct you to a direct school application link, However, most recruiting websites are designed like the common application for colleges and universities. You complete a comprehensive application on the website where you upload a picture of yourself, teaching portfolio, resume, and perhaps a few more documents. You select the position(s) you are applying for as well. Then, different schools worldwide check applicants who applied for positions the school is hiring for.

The prime application season is from August through March. The prime interview and hiring season is from November through April. You can certainly begin applying for openings before August and you can certainly get hired after April.

I started applying by the end of September. I began interviewing by the beginning of November. I was hired and accepted an offer by the end of January the following year. However, I was still getting emails for interviews well into June and July.

8. Interviews and Researching Schools

By November, I was beginning to get responses from schools I applied to.

Once a school emailed me, I immediately did a full online search on them. This included Google, social media, YouTube, and international community review forums.

If everything checked out, I would reply to the email in 24 hours or less.

Be mindful when confirming interview times. Ensure the school set the interview in your time zone. If the interview is set in the school's time zone, then make sure you identify what time that is for you. Confirming an interview for a school in Chennai, India at 9am when you live in Pheonix, Arizona equates to 9:30pm your time may be inconvenient for you.

With international schools, video interviews are standard. If not video, then phone calls. I was mindful of my professional attire for video interviews just as I would be for in-person interviews. For phone only/audio interviews, I was mindful of my location with background noise. Also, I was more inclined to use slightly more intonations with my voice to emphasize certain sentences.

Additionally, Interview questions are similar to standard U.S. questions with strengths and weaknesses questions and prior experience working with students. International oriented questions include questions on moving abroad, how you will relate to students from another country or a different nationality from you, and how long you plan on being with the school.

I entered my interview phase from November through January.

9. Paperwork

At this step, you have received at least one offer by around March or April; ideally earlier (Yay!). Let’s say you have already accepted that offer informally through a phone call, email, or video. You will receive your letter of intent first and then your contract (or you may just get your contract with no letter of intent). It’s essential you thoroughly examine the contract.

• Dates of arrival

• Start and end dates for the year

• Traveling during the school year

• Residency/visa/passports

• Any phrasing that is not your native language is properly translated

• Salary (convert the salary amount to your native country’s currency to ensure the numbers sit well with you)

• Role responsibilities

• And more!

If everything looks right with you and perhaps you reviewed the information with a school representative you will then have to complete a series of time consuming tasks. Paperwork!

Prepare to update or apply for a passport, medical tests that your school requires, annual check ups, filing paperwork with the country’s embassy, money orders, and more tasks in the starchy to-do list. I will say, it’s not uncommon for prospective international educators to drop off at this step. The times may conflict with current work or school commitments, the cost may begin adding up, or it’s just too complicated to create a structured plan for completion.

I started my paperwork step mid-February and was still expecting paperwork I needed to travel one week out from traveling. I was close to pushing my travel date by a few days if I didn’t receive an item in time.

I will also suggest not taking the first offer you receive especially early in the season. If the school aligns seamlessly with you then yes! If not, if you have doubts, you can wait. This is your decision on where you want to go. Therefore, you can delay any decisions for a week or two for other schools to contact you. Just contact the school you have interviewed with of needing some time to make your decision. Again, two weeks or less is fair.

10. Pack Up and Move

The desire of you moving abroad is coming to fruition! You accepted an offer, thoroughly examined your contract, and signed it! Obtain an email from the school - paper, electronic paper trail is best practice rather than phone confirmations. As you are waiting for your next embassy appointment or scheduling a doctor’s visit you will need to start your actually moving process.

Declutter, throw away, donate, sell, and pack up all your items. Typically, you are only allotted two pieces of luggage within a certain weight limit (depends on the country you are moving to) as well as a carry on and a personal item. Your life will be stuffed into four pieces of luggage. You can always purchase extra baggage if necessary. Start months in advance of your expected departure date to take your time. Ensure you are packing appropriately for the weather and the culture specific to the country. Do your research! Ironically, when packing your items, depending on where you will move to, you may need to buy items to bring with you. Here’s a brief list of some examples below:

• Hair care products

• Feminine hygiene products

• Larger shoe sizes (men and women size 10 and up)

• A paid off phone, this phone should be “unlocked”

• Electronics

• Speciality creams, medications, or ointments

• Speciality herbs, seasonings, and other dry goods

I started my packing process about three months before leaving.

Bonus Gems:

• Stay in contact with your school. Inform the school rep. that is helping you of any hiccups or confusion you need to clarify.

• Look up what a VPN is and determine if you need it for your country.

• As stated above have your phone “unlocked.”

• Inform your financial institutions of your upcoming absence.

• Loans - it’s up to you how to deal with this. You can still pay your loans using an app of your choice or bank to bank transfers.

• Look up the proper plug adapters you need and purchase them.

• You can get a sim card at the airport upon your arrival

After reading this guide, I hope your curiosity of living abroad has increased! There are billions of people living on earth scattered across different time zones and terrains. Where we are born and raised is comfortable but I encourage you to use that curiosity of yours towards the possibility of you living somewhere else. Perhaps a neighboring state or maybe thousands of miles away from home. The choice is yours. Use this guide as a resource for you when that curiosity manifests into action.

Mide - Miss InterEducation

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