Work on the Island for spouses/significant other?

[radboy710]

Can spouses or significant others find jobs on the island?

Does anyone have experience with this?
Do any of the spouses work in ST. Marten?

any info would be appreciated?
R.

[camkiss]

Here's the deal:
JObs on Saba have to be offered to locals first (makes sense). If a local does not want the job, sometimes, a student's spouse can have it. My wife was lucky enough to teach at the elementary school while we were there. I have not met anyone who whose wife/spouse worked in St Maarten. Be patient, and you should be able to find work there.
Mike

[spch]

What type of salary does a teacher make on the island. I just need a typical range to see if it is even worth a spouse traveling or if a job in teh States would be best option. Just researching all my options right now. Thanks!

[MarlaS]

I taught at the high school for the 2004-05 school year while my husband was at SUSOM. If I remember correctly I made about US$25K (in guilders, of course). That's pretty good money for island folk. It was about a third of the teaching salary I left behind in the U.S.

To apply for the job I started contacting the school the spring before, and needed to present my teaching license from the US, transcripts, letters of rec, etc. I also came to the island for an interview ahead of time.

When I left, there was talk in the schools of no longer hiring spouses since we can't commit to two years, and they wanted less turnover in the faculty. I don't know if this is still true or not.

what was great about the job (other than the money) was it got me out of the house, and it let me get to know lots of locals and get a feel for the culture of the island.

I guess for me, the decision to teach on Saba wasn't entirely an economic one. I didn't want to be separated from my husband for so long, and felt being together would benefit the marriage more than the extra money I could bring in in the states.

Please PM me if you want more information on working at the school (although my information is clearly a bit dated)