Mike grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and moved to China after seeking a change of scenery in his life. After working as a teacher for some time, Mike moved into teacher recruitment in order to help provide prospective teachers with the same awesome experience that he had.
What is your favorite travel memory?
My favorite travel memory would probably be when I took an ATV tour of the countryside surrounding Phonm Penh, Cambodia. It was my birthday, and it was hands down one of the coolest things I've ever done.
The people living in the countryside live to completely different standards than what most Americans might be used to, and they don't exactly have a lot of material possessions. However, I learned that happiness does not always come from what sort of iPhone you have, or how much money is in your bank account, but really it's about the experiences and people you surround yourself. I got some time to interact with the countryside people, and they all seemed so polite, friendly, fun-loving, and were happy with simple things.
Not to mention, on the way back, it started storming and I ended up traversing through mud and flowing water all with lightning in the background. I came back to my hotel caked with mud really feeling like I just took part in a Die Hard movie or something. One for the memories for sure.
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Since working for Teaching Nomad, I have definitely become more outgoing, since I speak to so many different people on a daily basis. As a former introvert, I'm very happy with how much I have grown. Since I speak with so many different people, I have also grown to appreciate all the different sorts of people that exist in the world, and really no two people are truly the same. Everyone has their own goals, dreams, backgrounds, and all of that combined makes them into the unique person that you see before you.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
One of the teachers that I had placed moved her entire family to Shanghai to take her teaching career overseas. I still keep in regular touch with the family, and they are very grateful for the job and the opportunity that I helped them get. She told me that after living back home for such a long time, they now are in love with the lifestyle, friends and experiences they've come to know in China.
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
Well, we do have some jobs in Saudi Arabia that pay almost $60K USD per year, so that would be awesome. As a teacher, I'm not qualified for that, so I think being able to experience the culture pretty much anywhere in the Middle East would be something interesting for me, as I haven't really traveled out that way yet. It's much different from Asia, and I think it would certainly be another eye-opening experience.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
There's lots of recruitment companies out there, but part of what makes Teaching Nomad unique is the fact each member of our staff has significant experience either living or working abroad, and we all love to travel. We love to go above and beyond to share our own experiences in hopes that our teachers can have similar experiences and enjoy it just as much as we do.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
I think the biggest factor that makes any company successful is customer service. Anyone can sell a product, but it takes something special to provide on-going support, help with problem solving and overall customer satisfaction. At Teaching Nomad, our database continues to grow, but quite a few of our teachers come back year after year for a new job simply because we keep in touch with them, help them through issues, and even get to know them outside of the normal client to customer interaction.
