I spent five years in Thailand working as a recruiter of English Teachers for a Thai school and from this I have some important advice for job hunters.

Where to find a job?

Recruitment in Thailand has changed a lot in the past decade such that online job sites are being used more and more by schools for advertising jobs. This is even more so if the school is looking for foreign teachers. Google is a useful tool in finding Thai teaching sites but one online site of note is AjarnJobspace.com which displays Thai teaching jobs in a map interface. This is particularly useful for Thai newcomers who may not be familiar with where jobs may be located.

If you can’t find anything suitable online, then more traditional methods can be used such as the use of international English papers such as the Bangkok Post, or the Nation. Both of these carry a number of teacher job vacancies daily.

Failing that, or if you are looking for work somewhere in the ‘sticks,’ then a more personal strategy may be the way to go. This would involve ‘suiting up’ and hitting the main schools in the area dropping off your resume as you go. Certainly this is a ‘low percentage play’ but the experience can teach you a lot about what to expect teaching in Thailand.

How should you apply?

Once you find a job the next step is in contacting the employer and getting your resume to them. Most jobs are listed with a phone number which can be used to find out more information about the job before you apply. However, bear in mind the variety of English language use in Thailand and the fact that it can be quite difficult to understand all the different accents you can come across here. Have you ever tried to talk to a Scotsman? Never-mind those Thai administrators whose English is limited at best. Thus, email is often the favoured approach.
What’s important in your initial application email?

So, you’ve found a job and you’re about to send that first email. What’s important? The first email is critical as this will either get you onto the recruiter’s shortlist or into their trash. Recruitment in Thailand is a tough game and you’re either in or out. So, bear the following points in mind:

Be concise
Don’t waffle, state your qualifications and experience as succinctly as possible within the first few sentences of the email. Your objective here is to capture the attention of the recruiter and get them to check out your whole email.

State relevant prior experience and qualifications
When applying for teaching positions you must detail how your past experience and qualifications have prepared you for such this job. I don’ t know how many emails I received from prospective teachers who would meticulously detail prior experiences which had NO relevance to the job they were applying for. The reality is that most teaching jobs in Thailand will go to those who are not specifically trained in Education, but it’s up to you to demonstrate how your past experience will help you in a teaching job.

Relate everything to teaching
This follows on from the last point, but it really can’t be stressed enough. You have to tailor everything in your resume to show that you are, or will be, a good teacher. If you have a computer engineering background then think about how this can be related to teaching. Maybe you were good at explaining concepts to colleagues, or a good team player, or organiser. Whatever it is, try to turn your past background into a positive on your resume.

Target your application
If you really want to make an impact on a school then target your application to them. This involves mentioning the school’s name or something about them in your introductory email. As a recruiter I received many, many applications which looked as if they had been ‘mass mailed’ to every school that had advertised for teachers. Some of the best teachers I hired were those who were interested in working for us and showed that right from their first email.

Avoid large email attachments
It sounds simple but try and include your resume within the body of your application email. Recruiters do not like opening up large email attachments and the virus risk this involves. I remember one applicant sent me a resume which was 5 megabytes in size! If you have to use attachments then keep them as small as possible. Large files are a pain for recruiters and a lot of Thai schools have extremely slow internet connections which may prevent them from even opening them.

Final Words

So, the purpose of this article was to provide some advice to job hunters looking for teaching jobs in Thailand. If you follow the advice listed then you should increase your chances of getting the teaching positions you like. Good luck!