The ISS, CIS and Search Associates recruiting fairs are over for the season, but some candidates are still without teaching positions for the upcoming 2010/11 school year. Is it still possible to land a teaching job this late in the year? We think so! International Schools Review invites you to share ideas and tactics on how to succeed at the recruiting game this late in the season.
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ISR Discussion Boards 
When you speak of a “top tier” school, how exactly would you know which schools would be classified as that? Every time I see an advertisement for a school which seems promising, I go to this site to check it out only to find the school has terrible reviews. This seems to be the rule rather than the exception. I would like to suggest a category solely from teachers who are in schools that they love.
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It is DEFINITELY not too late. I found that the peak times for hiring are January – February and ironically, June – August! This is due to the following reasons :
– Cold feet of teachers who signed onto schools all the way from January
– Some teachers found better offers as time went on through TIE, research etc
– Personal emergencies that could not be avoided ( I got my amazing post right on July and this is due to the previous teacher leaving for an emergency after working there for 5 years )
– Enrollment has increased
– Old teachers decide to not return after summer vacations ( ” runners ” )
In the last few weeks, starting from last week of June, I had received 5 offers from top tier schools to the point that it was quite difficult to decide. The ” desperation ” mode that schools go through work in our favour. Also, some schools who don’t advertise at all ( the really good ones bc there is a low turn over ) sometimes advertise suddenly during the summer bc of sudden leaves.
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I have been coming to India for 12 years, more often as a consultant; however, I have served as principal of a school in Nashik and currently in Tardeo. There are few positions in American based schools as they tend to hire people from India since they are comfortable with the salaries.
An important area to consider is that most “international” schools in India are in name only. The management in many of them mirco-manages the schools and foreigners may be hired in administrative positions to give an international look to the school. Unless the schools are boarding schools, some in India do not offer housing, will offer in sub areas. Currently, I had to find my own before I arrived: Perhaps because I was known and someone thought I could manage that. I did, but without support living alone is difficult.
I have found the curriculum varied from IB to IGCSE. If the school is an accredited CIE school from Cambridge, it may have more credibility albeit, not more international students.
I hope this helps all the young people looking for overseas work, and a knowledge of the world around us. The benefits of travel are great and I wish I had done this a long time ago. I am 68 years old and a retired university professor who still wants to facilitate learning and learn more various cultures.
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I last posted in this thraad just over three months ago. The school in Slovakia where I had been dead certain I was destined to stay for several more years decided to break their contraact with me. That is not the ideal time of year to find out that you must find new employment for the coming year, but as I said then, I expected things to work out … and they have! š I got offered my current job in August.
I’m now teaching English as a second language in Russia! Although I work for an agency, most of my classes are at a really nice school in a suburb north of Moscow, so I’m working in a setting that suits me very well! I’m being paid better and feel a greater sense of belonging here. Perhaps part of that is my already knowing some Russian before coming here.
I know that not all situations like this have a happy resolution, and I’m thankful to God for the way mine turned out. My best wishes to all of my professional colleagues who continue to search for work in the world’s most noble and honourable profession!
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JUST STAY AWAY FROM KUWAIT. INVESTIGATE THE SCHOOL BEFORE SIGNING A CONTRACT. YOU WILL FIND THAT A LOT OF SCHOOLS IN KUWAIT WILL HAVE POSITIONS AVAILABLE OVER THE SUMMER BECAUSE NEWLY ASSIGNED TEACHERS FINALLY DECIDED TO INVESTIGATE THE SCHOOLS AND BACKED OUT.
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I agree that overseas school sometimes are in need for last minute recruiting,for varied reasons. Our school in Haiti, at the moment is looking for teachers in the areas of math and science at the high school level. So if you are intersted visit our website http://www.unionschoolhaiti.net. and contact us @www.mjbapger@hot mail.com
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No, it’s never too late! I’ve been teaching overseas for the last 20 years and while most of my positions were obtained at either SEARCH or ISS job conferences, several of my jobs came up in the summer. Two of those were word of mouth from friends who knew of late openings, but another was from TIEonline. This is a great site that is being updated almost daily and the jobs are still rolling in!! Good luck last minute job hunters – hang in there!!
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Hi Lindsey,
I’ll turn 60 this month. Do you know of others my age who are still getting offers?
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The quest for employment as an overseas teacher is a competitive one. With most recrutiment fairs organized by only few agencies you are somewhat limited to their schedule. One effective way to reach more schools is to use the technology available to anyone by creating your personal webpage and simply sending the link in your intial inquiry. While many people have personal webpages, the idea of creating one soley for interested employers can be beneficial, especially late in the year. A few things to know. Most all applicants will be asked to supply a photo along with the resume, and for many, you will answer some of the typical supplemental questions that will work for any employer. Creating a website with short video content where you answer those questions indivdually maybe just thrre or four will allow the employer to see you in person as well as hear your verbal answer much the same way in an interview. Simple designs with all the aspects on your resume by section links can work quite well. Some things to include: Video-resume, answer to supplemental questions, interests/hobbies, achievements/awards, your work experience, and here you can highlight one thing from that previous position that stood out, your education. Videos should be short and to the point, be careful not to have too many ‘uhh, and uhh’ moments. Written materials can include your professional file in one comprehensive PDF file that can be downloaded by the employer. Professional files should include enough material so the prospective employer could make an offer or follow up for interview. You may also want a link to your ‘educational philosophy, or philosophy of discipline, your thouguhts on your teaching style, a discussion on classroom management, your letter of interest stating why you are pursuing teaching overseas and any experience you may have with overseas travel and cultures. In the end of the day, if an empoyer can see who you are and hear what your experience and philosphies are, they may not even need to attend a recruitment fair. Links to your ‘skype’ number or other video chat will be good. Lastly, your site needs to stay current so be careful what dates you put on documents, you can right click on the document properties to type in identifying informatino that is shown when it is moused over, and specific video content that reflects the time of year you are actively pursuing a position would be helpful. I’m sure I could think of more, but try to keep the site simple in desgin, not too much flash media, remember, not all administrators who review the site will be computer literate so when they need to click’ be sure to say ‘click here’…good luck.
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I was surprised three weeks ago (and I’m writing this on June 19th!) when the director of my current school informed me that they will not honor the remaining year of my contract. I have since been applying for a new position through various online services that I have employed over the years. Some of these services are free! While the peak of the “recruiting season” has passed, in reality, the recruiting season is all year round. There are new vacancies every day, but you need to invest considerable time searching for them as they’re not always announced. But vacancies are there nonetheless, and I expect that I will land a very good job for the coming school year very soon!
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What free services are you using???
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Dear Paul:
I’m always glad to help out a fellow teacher, although I apologize for neglecting to answer you in a timely way. Some agencies (like Search Associates or TIE Online) that charge reasonable fees for their services, but you can use online services such as Joyjobs.com, ETeach.com TeachAnywhere.com, TeachersOverseas.com and SeriousTeachers.com for free. One caveat: “Serious Teachers” is mostly for ESL or EFL jobs, although they do list some primary and secondary school jobs as well. Happy hunting and all the best in your search.
Ben
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I think it’s also important to remember that many first time teachers get cold feet and back out weeks – and sometimes days – just before their scheduled departures. I know of many people who have been hired just a short time prior to the beginning of the new school year. My advice would be to keep your ads current and available right up until the last minute – than then some!
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One of the best jobs I ever had overseas was in the middle of summer because I was still on file with SEARCH. It was a ‘one-year’ temporary replacement for a special needs teacher who needed to take a year off for medical reasons. As it happened that teacher decided not to return after a year and I received a longer contract. So let recruiters know you are up to a one-year contract and able to do that with no shipment allowance. It was the first time I ever took a job and arrived with two suitcases total. It turned out to be freedom from all the ‘stuff’
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