Visit schools in person, dress well and know the operation, that is have some idea of what they operate, who they train, why you would fit in there and any extra skills you could offer. Talk to some instructors and ask to see the CFI if they are available to hand in your resume and get to know who you are working for. Be prepared that the CFI might throw some questions at you just having a chat to see what you know, so be ready as if every chat might be an interview. If the instructors are obnoxious and hard to talk to, do you really want to work with them, and you will have to watch you back that they poach your students for work.
There is no need to offer work for free or similar, if they need instructors they will hire you if you fit the bill. If they don't need a pilot, you won't get much work anyway and will just waste your time sitting around for free.'
WRT to who schools train I mean locals primarily or overseas contract. If you have some experience with the foreign students they are training it can help, but speaking that language is normally not a bonus as they want them immersed in English in most cases so as to operate in an English speaking environment. So speaking Mandarin is not necessarily an advantage if applying to a school that trains Chinese cadets, but having previous experience with Chinese culture and students might be a bonus.
It won't take long to get enough experience to then go wherever you really want, once you get past the need for direct supervision most schools will want you as there is a big shortage.
Lastly, teaching is a social activity, you have to engage with, and have a rapport with the student. If you are anti social and don';t like interacting with people, instructing is never going to be your thing no matter how good at aviating you are. So if you can't approach schools and CFIs etc to get to know them, you probably will struggle with the daily interactions with students. IMO Instructing takes a good mix of skill and personality, you don't have to be the best pilot, but you need to be good, but more importantly you have to be knowledgeable, patient, understanding, relaxed and very good at communication.
Last edited by 43Inches; 25th Mar 2023 at 07:44.