Hi
My husband and I are looking to move overseas in the next year.i am a school teacher, secondary science, and my husband works in insurance. From research malaysia has appealed to us and I have applied to some jobs in the KL area.we are recently married and wish to live and experience something new but also save money at the same time.
Could anyone recommend any advice for making such a move?
We also have a dog we wish to bring with us so any suggestions of areas that are dog friendly would be appreciated. One school I have applied to is in the selangor area.
Do you have any recommendations on what amount of salary I should be looking for for when renting within the selangor area?
Sorry for all the questions but after research we now feel we need first hand experience in our answers!!
Thank you for any help that can be given! 
Interested in moving to malaysia
Hi nwalker,
Welcome to Expat.com
First of all, i would advise you to have a look at other topics on the forum, you might find some very useful information.
You can also read the New Malaysia expat guide for more information.
Thanks,
Priscilla 
Hi getting a job as a secondary science teacher is easy - although better paying jobs more likely if Chem/Phys than Bio - but still it is a matter of how much. For no responsibility <12k is bad. 12-15k ok. 15-18k good. 18-20k higher end school and 30k is the premier league (just one school pays that).
Rent depends - Selangor can mean anything like saying "SE England" but 3k is typical these days for something decent enough for an expat. That is for a condo. With a dog go for a house. Much better value for money and better for the dog! Most condos ban dogs and cats.
Insurance though is a whole different ball game. It depends somewhat on exactly what you mean by insurance but the insurance industry in Malaysia is not a typical expat employer. It can be very hard on trailing spouses with the "wrong" skill set for Malaysia. Many areas are good, transportation & distribution, ITC even HR these days is picking up. But insurance...... errr never met one expat in insurance. Not one. Ever. I met 1,000s. Not even senior ones. So a change of career maybe necessary. Maybe there are a few and I know one in banking compliance but he was headhunted to Malaysia. You would need to network carefully and expect it to take a while to secure something.
Thank you so much priscilla...some forums are very useful!!
Nemodot... your post is extremely useful (thank you) and I have a few more questions if that is OK....
1. I am a chemistry teacher and also specialise in this at A level. One school application I saw was offering 8-10k a month.is this a lot lower than usual?are you a teacher yourself so aware of the different salaries schools offer? If so I am very interested in the Sri kdu international school...do you know anything about this school?
2.selangor is an area close to some schools I have been looking at. Do you know of any other areas that are dog friendly around there or even in selangor area?
3. With regards to my husbands career we have found ourselves that insurance might not be the best choice to continue over in malaysia.he is a relationship manager with years of experience in technical and underwriting.he is however completing a TEFL course. Do you know if there is good potential for schools requiring Teachers for teaching English as a foreign language?
Thank you so much for your help so far.sorry for bombarding with questions but it is good to speak to someone first hand over there on things we are struggling to find answers for. ☺
Hi sounds like HELP. 8-10k for an experienced chemistry teacher is a pathetic salary. Really hard to get chem teachers so don't under sell yourself. I will.pm you later with a list of schools but best you join search associates (free in UK) as well as look on TES .
A celta can be useful to get something although not so easy..but better and getting work is possible ina range of areas if flexible and willing to take time. It can be stressful on a couple but as long as you know this and with one person earning enough financially possible. That is the big difference to someone coming on their own with such skill set for other readers. In that case i would say no way stay away. But with no time pressure it is possible.
Schools sometimes take trailing partners as an incentive.
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