Before Arriving/First Six Weeks in Australia
Australia uses a lot of recruiters to fill the extra jobs. When it comes to teaching, it’s not any different. Private/public schools will look to recruiters to fill their teaching positions if a teacher is on leave for pregnancy, sick, or if a teacher quits.
The first thing you need to do if you want to teach in Australia is to gather all of your transcripts. Australia does not look at certification(tests), they actually look at the type of education classes you took. Depending on which area of Australia you move to, the state will have it’s own body of assessment and evaluating.
In regards to Sydney, I sent my transcripts to the NSW Institute. Within four to six weeks, I was updated in the state system as an approved teacher to teach in New South Wales. Private schools and public schools can look into the NSW Institute system and see what courses and grades levels that I am cleared to teach. I have a teacher preparation program that is worth 12 credits and I also have a Masters in Education. Depending on the course or grade, you may need more or less university courses. You can send your transcripts into the NSW institute before you depart for Australia. It is actually advised because it does take so long for them to evaluate your courses.
To start looking for jobs, I began applying to recruiting companies that placed teachers. There are companies for early childhood and primary/secondary grades. I did both because I’m certified to teacher Prek-3rd and ESOL K-12. I got A LOT of callbacks. You will not have a problem getting interviews or placement for causal(part-time work while your transcripts are being assessed). I had recruiters calling me and telling me to make sure I call them FIRST after I received my clearance. I have never had recruiters fight over me so it felt pretty good.
As a teacher, you are able to get sponsorship a lot easier than other fields of labor. Whether you decide to go private or public, that entity may want to offer you sponsorship employment sometime in the future. I am currently in the country on a work holiday visa. Which means I can’t work anywhere for more than six months at a time. BUT, if you use a recruiting agency, you can always stay with that agency and you’re placed with different schools. The same goes if you work in the public school system, change schools without much difficulty. It is not uncommon to get offered sponsorship within your first six months, it really depends on the school. One of the selling points with one of the recruiters I used was that they could get me sponsored. Sponsored is a supported visa and you can work at a job longer than six months. It has makes it easier to file for long term permanent residency, which I will do in the future.