Top 5 Reasons You Need A Recruiter

If you’ve found yourself clicking desperately on this article, then you are in need of the advice I’m here to lend. I was once in your shoes, friend. I know how scary the process of applying and grueling paperwork can be, but there’s no need to do it alone. Below you’ll find the top 5 reasons you should enlist the free help of a recruiter to make that big jump abroad a little easier. 

1. Deadlines

Had I not had my lovely, patient recruiter to hold be me by my hand and gently remind me of the dates and deadlines that were highlighted in red on my Google calendar, I would have missed them altogether. You might not believe me that I did indeed have these dates on my calendar, but trust me they were written down multiple times. Between your current job, sobbing family and friends who will want to spend everyday with you because you’re leaving, and the daydreaming of your future adventures, I guarantee that certain dates and deadlines will sneak up on you. That’s when it’s great to have a recruiter on your side to offer gentle reminders and confirmation emails.

 2. Information Overload

The amount of information that is needed to apply for EPIK is enough to make your head spin. Once you actually find all the information, you’ll realize just how much is actually needed for the application. All the information that is dumped on you during the initial process is enough to fry a computer. I don’t know how any normal human could possibly find and then take on all the information alone. Recruiters are great because they give you everything you need to know in nice little bite sized chunks. They’ll give you the information you need to know as deadlines approach. No information overload, no head frying.

3. Organization

It happens to the best of us. One day you’ve got a manila folder filled with your important documents, the next day you have no idea where it disappeared to. It’s not your fault that silly folder grew legs and walked away. No need to worry. Your recruiter will not only remind you to keep two separate copies of everything, but they will also ask that you scan every single document to them. In case that silly folder doesn’t return, your sweet recruiter will be there to pick up the frazzled mess that you’ll be when you melt down. I speak from experience. My recruiter had to send me three separate “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out” emails. Not once was there ever an ounce of judgement sprinkled in either of those emails.

4. Paperwork

If you haven’t started pulling together the pounds of paperwork that is required to apply to teach English with EPIK, I’m giggling at the possible naivety you might be experiencing. “It can’t possibly be that much paperwork,” I said to myself as I began researching teaching abroad jobs one year ago. I’m even laughing at my former silly naive self as I type this. There are so many documents that will need to be signed by officials, mailed off for apostilles, and stamped by the higher ups in your country. At one point I was receiving documents that I had completely forgotten I had mailed off months before. If my recruiter hadn’t given me a neat and crisp checklist, I would most certainly have gotten my paperwork confused.

5. Airport Greetings and Check Ins

The last reason on the list is probably the most important. It is in my eyes at least. Your recruiter will genuinely care about how you’re doing abroad. From the moment you land in your chosen foreign country, a representative from your recruiting company will meet you at the airport for the EPIK Orientation to make sure you made your flight and see you off on the correct bus. It really does help to calm the nerves when you know that you’re not completely on your own the second you land in a foreign country.

Throughout your time abroad, you’ll get emails from your recruiter with encouraging messages and tips to help you keep your sanity during that 3 month homesick mark. An email may not sound like much to you now, but it will mean so much when you’re on your own abroad. When you start to feel like the world is so big and it’s swallowing you whole, that’s when an email from someone who helped you get where you are means everything.

(Check out Reach To Teach’s advice for dealing with homesickness abroad)

As a person who made the move abroad with the help of a free recruiter, I can tell you that it makes life much more simpler. It makes the journey that much smoother, and the adventure so much greater when all you have to worry about is in which country to teach. Take my advice, dear friend, and don’t be stubborn. Get in touch with a recruiter today, and get started on the road to adventure.