What is your favorite travel memory?
My favorite travel memory is a trip I went on with a group of close friends to Malaysia. Aside from eating great food and exploring a fascinating culture, we made lots of friends with the locals and ended up making a music video with them!
Although they spoke very little English, and we spoke only a few words of the local language, we managed to gather a whole crowd on the beach who wanted to dance with us. We had no idea that we would end up teaching two dozen of our new friends the dance moves we had made up just to be silly!
At the end of the day, I find that all my best travel memories involve stepping out of my comfort zone and really connecting to people.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
Most students have great stories to share. Among my favorites are those who move abroad thinking they’ll just spend a year teaching, but then they fall in love…either with teaching, with the culture, with a person, or with all of the above, and they end up staying in the country because they love their lives there so much!
When students thank me for helping them find their passion, I feel like we’ve done our job.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
I love this company because of the fabulous teamwork and leadership! OTM is an innovative company and the team is incredibly dedicated to connecting teachers to placements that suit them best.
We are all passionate about adventure, and want nothing more than to connect potential teachers to their next great adventure in teaching and the cultural exchange that goes with it.
We are currently looking for applicants to teach in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Russia, and are constantly expanding to add more countries to that list!
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
The biggest factor is running a successful company is passion! Everyone at OTM not only loves working here but also believes in what we do.
We strongly believe in creating the opportunity for people to connect personally with other cultures…be that our teachers or the students they teach! None of us would be here if our lives hadn’t been touched in a profound way by that connection, so we also place a lot of emphasis on finding a position that really fits the personality and goals of the applicant.
