Dream Jobs in UEFA - Where to Start Looking

[Football means soccer (in this article)!]

Today football is the number one sport in the world. Not only it is played professionally around the world, but also millions of people go to football events or championships to support their favorite football teams. At the same time billions more people in the world follow this sport on television, starting from regular watching of local matches and ending with following of such mass football events as continental championships (e.g. Champions League, Euro Cup, or Copa Santander Libertadores) or the FIFA World Cup. Many people also love to play this fantastic sport at an amateur level, which is true according to the FIFA conducted survey in year 2001 which showed that over 240 million from more than 200 countries regularly play football!

Such a fantastic sport as football is not only offering mass entertainment or physical development for its fans, but also a variety of fantastic "dream jobs" and placements which are available for anyone who loves football and is qualified in their profession. It is not a secret that Union of European Football Associations, or simply UEFA, is one of the most respected and well-known football organizations in the world. It is a large organization which administers and controls all of the European football and therefore demands specialists of different kinds to carry out these complex duties. On a constant basis this sport organization is searching for new recruits in order to be more innovative, creative, and professional. Union of European Football Associations is a multicultural (mainly European) environment which currently has 250 employees of 25 different nationalities, and always seeks to sustain this environment in combination with the individual work methods of its employees', in order to reach outstanding results. The organization claims that their goal in recruiting new employees is the following:

"UEFA is committed to providing its staff with an environment in which they can flourish. We look for people with energy and commitment and give them the tools they need to fulfill ambitious goals, whilst striving to attain the highest standards of professional excellence and integrity."

The Union of European Football Associations itself is looking for employees who have language skills, professional expertise in specific areas, are flexible, and who are open for self-development. They also believe that their potential employees should be committed and ready to serve football with high standards of professionalism according to the following competencies: team spirit and cooperation with colleagues, client-orientation, expertise at work, and leadership qualities.

Such a superb method of treating its employees and respecting their talents or ideas makes this organization a real "dream organization" where authentic football fans and simply professionals in areas of their expertise can find desired "dream jobs". For example, now the Union of European Football Associations is offering a vacancy for a "Professional Football Specialist" position (link for the vacancy below), which might be a great opportunity for anyone wanting to get a job in sports marketing related to football. This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to deal with: professional football stakeholder group/family (e.g. clubs, leagues, or players), improving public relations, organizing events, marketing projects relevant to professional football in Europe, and marketing research.

But marketing is not the only professional field where this modern organization offers exciting jobs: it also offers jobs in media, administration departments, logistics departments, or assistance jobs of different kinds. All of these can be real "dream jobs" for true football lovers and professionals that are willing to work at such a "dream organization" as the UEFA.

UEFA "dream job": http://jobs.uefa.com/main/careerportal/job_profile.cfm?szOrderID=334

Timur Bagautdinov - Junior Sport Manager in Nichols College ([http://sportsjobblog.com/])

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Teaching Overseas - Are You The Right Person For The Job

It might be tempting to skip over this article, sure you are indeed the right person for the job, however, there is key information included in this article which will help determine your employability, your motivation for beginning this quest and your preferences for what kind of position you'd like.

Single or married with dependents?

Teaching couples are the most sought after commodity in international schools because they are the most cost efficient to hire. They are hired together and require only one living allowance.

Singles would come next, and are especially attractive if they are willing to share housing. Also, some schools will only hire single people. Towards the beginning of the new academic year, when schools are becoming desperate to fill their remaining vacancies, single teachers become even more attractive because they are usually very mobile, in that they have no dependents to make arrangements for.

Couples with children would head up the bottom of the list. One or two children are not an unattractive prospect for most schools, but you might find that you will not get extra benefits for having more than two children. Some people I have worked with that have three children have reported that they have had to pay tuition fees for their third child.

Teaching couples

Teaching couples and teachers with dependent spouses and/ or children should apply early on in the process when there is more flexibility. If you are intending to find positions as a teaching couple, you are not likely to be very successful to attend job fairs towards the end of the season.

It is often the case that one member of a teaching couple will find the perfect job, whilst the other member may have to make do with an acceptable or part time post.

Single teachers

Single teachers are able to find positions through to the beginning of the new academic year because they can fill school's unfilled or unexpected vacancies easily.

Age (at both ends of the scale)

Age might be an issue in some countries because of visa requirements, but usually more mature people are attractive to international schools because they are believed to be stable.

On the other hand, many schools operate a salary scale that makes less experienced (which frequently means younger) teacher financially attractive to schools.

If you are used to being on the top of the pay scale, you might want to ask if the salary step you start on is capped. I have heard that some schools require all new teachers to the school to start on the same salary step, regardless of years of experience.

Qualifications and experience

Some sources of information on teaching in international schools state that you have to have a degree in education, a license to teach and two years experience. This is not true at all. You will need some kind of qualification OR experience, but there are opportunities for almost everyone.

If you don't have two years experience, then you will need to pay close attention to the sections on finding a job through job advertisements. You will probably not be invited to attend a job fair, as two years experience is one of their selection criteria for candidates. This doesn't mean you are an unattractive candidate for schools, just that you aren't necessarily going to get a job through a job fair.

If you have a Bachelors' degree and a TEFL qualification you will be able to teach in an ESL position in most schools. The nature of your Bachelors' degree is usually inconsequential; many countries expect this basic level of education to qualify for a working visa. My first teaching job was in a private language school in Taiwan when the only qualifications I had were a Bachelors' degree in business and a TEFL certificate that the ink was still wet on.

If you have no teaching qualification at all, and no experience in teaching children, you will need to look at the section titled 'What employment opportunities are there for my non-teaching partner?', look into getting a TEFL certificate or one of the many non-government organisations that sponsor or offer internships in teaching in different countries.

If you do not qualify for your dream job now, do not give up in defeat. There are many opportunities to increase your qualifications both by going back to university full- or part-time, or distance learning online. Use this book to help you discover what qualifications you need to get your dream job, and go get them.

Your situation does not need to stay stagnant, there are always options to try. If you absolutely must get overseas now, then you should seriously consider TEFL as you can get a qualification to teach TEFL in 2-4 weeks full time study. Again, with TEFL qualifications there are distance and part-time options available.

Easy-going, flexible and adaptable people

Recruiters are looking for people who will cope well with the move, living in a new culture and fit in seamlessly to existing staffing situations.

Here are a few personal qualities that recruiters are looking for in candidates:

* Good sense of humour

* Easy-going

* Flexible

* Adaptable

* A good team player

* Positive outlook

* Can do anything attitude

* An optimist

Recruiters are only going to employ people who they judge to be able to thrive in challenging environments and in the midst of culture shock. It's fine to suffer from culture shock, but you must be able to function in your job whilst going through the shock of moving countries.

There is a reason that recruiters are looking for these qualities in applicants. They are needed! It's tough enough learning your way around a new city in your own home country, now imagine going through that learning process in a different country where you don't speak the language and can't read any of the signs.

If this sounds awful to you, rather than an exciting opportunity, then you probably aren't the right person for a position at an international school. There are lots of opportunities for you to work in a country more in line with what you're used to. I started out moving from the NZ education system to living in the UK and working in the UK education system. Check out the resources and links I've put on my website about finding a position in NZ or Australia.

This is a better option to maybe work your way up to working in a really foreign environment. Don't try and be what you aren't when applying for positions with international schools.

Your children's education

If you have children you will need to consider how they will adapt to the new situation.

If they are going into Year 11 (Grade 10), it is not advisable for them to enter either the IB MYP or the IGCSE system because both of these programs finish a program at the end of this year. The IGCSE exam is the culmination of two years work, and the IB MYP will only offer certificates to students who have completed two years in the program and studied all 8 subject areas.

Students are able to sit IGCSE exams without being in school for the full two years, but they will need to complete extra study in order to make up for missing the first year of the course.

Students who do not complete two years in the MYP program will receive a Record of Achievement for their final year.

For your older children, the last two years of high school in a British curriculum school or an IB Diploma school also comprise of a two year course. You will need to investigate the possibilities for your particular circumstances once you have identified schools you would like to apply for. Remember that you can ask questions as a prospective parent before you even apply for a position.

Understanding your goals

It is important to understand what you are trying to achieve by making this change in your life. This will help you to focus your job search on securing the position that will enable you to meet your goals.

Consider whether

* you are looking for new challenges personally or professionally

* you are looking to make financial gains or take a pay cut in order to give something of yourself to developing communities

* you want to develop new relationships

* you are looking to fund your move to another country in order to adopt a child

* you want to fund personal or professional research

* you are curious as to what it would be like to live and work overseas

All of these goals are perfectly valid and you probably consider that more than one of them applies to you. Or your goals may not be on this list. Whatever your goals, you must be aware of them and keep them in the back of your mind throughout the process that follows.

You might have more self development goals in mind, and working in an international school is a fantastic boost to your self esteem. I know I am an attractive employment prospect, simply because of the many experiences I have had and my proven adaptability.

For more information on kick-starting your international teaching career visit TeachOverseas.info and sign up for Kelly’s free newsletter. This article is based on a chapter in Kelly Blackwell’s The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School.

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How To Stop Searching For A Job - Get Recruiters And Companies Directly Knocking On Your Door

Finding your dream job can be a difficult task indeed with so much competition for places, you need to stand out from the crowd and be different in your approach so as to secure the key position and company you desire. You should find the information in the next few paragraphs useful as it shows you how you can adopt the lazyman's approach, after all life is stressful enough without the burden of searching for your next job.

It always amazes me the amount of times that people send in their resumes or CV for a position advertised on the internet or in the newspapers that they are not quite qualified or experienced. The approach by these candidates is one of the scatter-gun method hoping that somehow it sticks and dreaming you get called up for an interview anyway. But how can this be? You will find if you adopt this style that you get less contact from professional recruiters who have little time to scan through all your details as they are constantly looking for relevance for their immediate vacancies. Time is important to all concerned and companies are unlikely to contact you if your CV is not relevant. You may however get a call in the end, but can your stomach wait or go 24 hours or more without any food or water? My guess is no, you want immediate results and contact from the employers asap, therefore, you must realise 1st impressions count. Your CV must stand out in terms of its design format, layout and most importantly its relevance to the job advertised.

Secondly, if you would like to have recruiters, headhunters and companies calling you directly then you must make yourself visible to the outside world. What i mean by this is that you need to be online, on the internet where professional recruiters seek for suitable candidates. The obvious medium online are jobboards which are increasing by the day, it seems almost each day there is a new website that is launched specific to a niche industry profession where prospective candidates can post their details. These are places where headhunters, recruiters and companies all look for candidates at some point, so it does you no harm, even if you are not looking at that time, after all the final say is yours whether you wish to move into a new job.

Another way of increasing your chances of being headhunted or contacted by a potential employer direct is making sure you are prominent in your field online as well as offline. You must have heard of this saying before that the best form of marketing is through 'word of mouth'. So if you have written articles make sure you have these published online, you can also join special interest groups or associations which are relevant to your field. For instance if you are an electrical engineer in the UK you want to make sure you are affiliated to the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), every profession has an association which has been setup for likeminded people to learn and discover new information about their field. This is all networking and today's world is about networking successfully.

This leads us into the next way of giving yourself visibility to employers and recruiters searching for candidates to fill their vacancies. Online networking or Social networking as it is commonly known today is catching on like wild fire, you only have to look at some of the biggest innovations or movements in the internet world over the last 2 to 10 years, the likes of Linkedin.com, Openbc.com, Facebook, Myspace are all fantastic ways of reaching people within and outside of your immediate environment, creating an amazing abundance of opportunity. Linkedin, a US networking site, with more than 7 million people's profile worldwide present on its database is perhaps one of the best, mainly dedicated to professional people, it forms an excellent forum for placing your details, finding work and having people contact you direct for work by some of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. I have heard of many stories where people got hired for great jobs through these networking sites, and in one particular case, the candidate was catapulted above those that had applied through the normal medium, i.e. responding to a job advert in the newspaper. The reason briefly was this candidate had a very good profile on the internet, one that came with written testimonies all visible online. So making yourself visible online is key to your success.

Online networking or Social networking is one of the biggest events to hit the online community in recent years and its impact is one which is likely to last for decades as it appears to be the future for doing business and communicating with people online. It is often said that 'success is not about what you know, but who you know', and online networking allows you to expand your 'who you know' part, creating a level playing field, as a result enabling you to leverage other people's network and thus securing you potentially a dream contact that leads to your dream job.

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