I realize that I didn’t post last week. Oops! I have been focusing on getting set up to recruit for a new job for next year. In case you didn’t know, many people recommend that you are all set up and ready to activate your recruiting profile(s) by November 1^st. I haven’t really had to recruit since 2012 so I have a ton of updating to do.

While I have been getting my ducks in a row I have just been amazed at how quickly costs are adding up! My current school gives me days off for recruitment if I want to go to a job fair, but wow, I’m not sure I want to spend so much money when I am still trying to pay off my student loans. It made me really reflect on how much I have invested in my career already.  I think I need to decide by the end of November if I am going to be going to a fair or not which means I really have to get busy now!

In case you are reading this and you are just getting started, I thought I would share the costs that I’ve incurred in my path to becoming an international school teacher. Of course, you might go to a more afforable graduate school (I love my grad school to pieces, but it was certainly not cheap by any means!), but I don’t think my costs were that abnormal for a teacher in the US.

Initial Costs

4-year bachelor degree in the US= $64,000 (thanks to my scholarships I only had $16000 in student loans after four years)

16-month Master of Arts degree + TESOL certificate= $58,000USD

Praxis Tests $270

Oregon Teaching License: $140

Gold Seal Copy of Teaching License: $50

Fingerprint/Background Clearance Fee: $57

Getting copies of transcripts from all schools attended: $40

Getting everything apostilled: $10 p/document (easily $60)

Initial total= $122,617

Recruiting Costs

TIE Online $39 for an online subscription + $29 for instant job notification

SEARCH Associates membership = $225

Flight to a job fair from CCS (I searched for Boston as that is my ideal fair)= $662

Four nights at job fair hotel= $1196

Suit to wear at job fair= $200ish

Food for job fair= $250

Misc= $100

Total= $2701

I’m sure there are other costs involved, this is just a very broad outline of the costs you will have to cover if you want to be an international school teacher.  Also, I should mention that some people get hired without a master’s degree so you could save money that way, but a master’s is becoming more and more necessary every year.

Of course, now that I’ve been overseas for 7 years I have already paid the initial costs, but the recruiting costs are not cheap either!  It is my hope that I can skip the actual job fair and save myself about $2400 by interviewing over Skype.

Wish me luck!

Please comment: Am I forgetting a cost in my calculations that really should be included? Do you have more tips for cutting costs?