Teaching Agencies: Making a Choice
It’s not easy for a teacher to get established in a new city or a new country. And many teachers arriving in a new place will be surprised at how foreign a new teaching establishment may seem to them. A lack of local experience or detailed knowledge of the local system will not serve them well in seeking a permanent position.
The solution for many teachers will be to seek agency work. It seems like a simple idea, find an agency, sign up, and sit back and wait for the assignments to come in. Unfortunately, life is rarely that simple.
Not all teaching agencies are created equal, so it’s important to shop around. There’s a whole range of agencies out there, from old, established companies with a good track record and books that may be hard to get onto, to new and possibly fly-by-night operations that may be willing to sign up all comers, but not so willing to service them well.
There’s one thing that works in your favour if you’re new to the agency game. With the proliferation of agencies, the game has become highly competitive, so remember that it really pays to shop around. And it’s also worth remembering that, if you’re new to a country or a city, some unscrupulous agencies are going to rely on your lack of familiarity with the local system to take advantage of you.
If possible, you should get in contact with teachers in your new area. Ask them about the local education system, and especially ask them if they have any experience of agency teaching. They may give you valuable information and, particularly, they are likely to know which agencies have a bad reputation. They’re less likely to know which ones are reputable because it’s human nature for bad news to travel more rapidly.
In this way you should be able to narrow the field down to a manageable number of options. Now it’s time to work your way through your short list of agencies, asking them if they will take you on.
This is the time to be particularly careful. Ask the agencies what benefits they provide. Many teaching agencies try to stand out from the competition by offering professional development courses, support groups or discount insurance schemes. These extras may not be worth much in themselves, but a decent package of them can soon add up to real value.
Most of all, trust your instincts when you face to face with the agency people. If an agency answers all your questions frankly and provides plenty of information, that’s a good start. If they remember you when you call back the next day, that’s even better. You’ll soon develop a feel for whether you’re going to be comfortable working with a particular agency or not.