Master List of Schools w/ Top Savings Potential

There is more than just salary to consider when you’re looking for an International School with excellent savings potential. Airfare to home, the local exchange rate and income tax, among other factors, can make or break any Contract offer.

Beware of dazzling big numbers only to later discover your salary pans out to be worth less than a smaller salary in a less expensive place to live. All that glitters at recruiting time may not be gold.

In an effort to help colleagues around the globe identify schools with strong saving potential (in relation to all other factors), we invite you to participate in constructing a Master List of Schools w/ Top Savings Potential.

Your entry should include school name, country, city and, based on your experience, what you estimate to be the yearly savings potential. Sharing a bit about the cost of living and other pertinent factors will be helpful. Feel free to ask for savings potential information on a specific school.

For example: XYZ International School, Warsaw, Poland. I estimate my yearly savings to be about $10,000 US. The cost of renting an apartment in Warsaw can be high but everything else is about half the price of living in the United States.

Your participation is appreciated – Please Scroll to begin

Top Tips for Recruiting Fair Newbies 2020

…If you’re standing at the precipice of your first ever International Teacher Recruiting Fair, get set for an emotional roller coaster like none other! One minute you’re flying high: Wow…that interview went super great! The next minute you’re in the depths of despair: Why hasn’t my top pick called me back for a second interview? Then, out of nowhere, an opportunity you hadn’t even considered presents itself. Should you go for it? Or maybe hang back and hope to hear from one of your A-list schools? Hesitate, and you may find yourself out in the cold. Jump too soon and you put yourself out of the running for a school you really want.

Navigating an International Teacher Recruiting Fair requires planning, planning and more planning, plus the flexibility to abandon that plan if need be. Written by a long time ISR Forum member and avid contributor, the following words of wisdom for newbies and seasoned Fair goers alike are a must-read before the “ride” begins:

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From the ISR Open Forum
Re: First job Fair coming up. Top 5 tips please!
by Thames Pirate » Sun Dec 29, 2019 12:24 pm
Posts: 1080 Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 8:06 am

    Do your homework beforehand. Take the time to really research your top choice schools, including your pie-in-the-sky schools as well as more realistic options. Research the mission statements, browse their websites, look at whom they sent to the Fair, etc. A well-organised cheat sheet is worth its weight in gold. Knowing what positions are open from both the online database and from the candidate lounge (remember, sometimes things are posted in the lounge and not online, or are still online but not in the lounge because the spots are filled) will help you make your plan.

Have your prep work done and have a plan. Have your resumes, ichiro, whatever, ready and printed before you go. Have your clothes ironed and your initial plan for sign ups made (Which schools are you hitting up and in what order? What do you want to say to recruiters?). Decide which presentations you are interested in seeing. I colour-code with a highlighter so that I can easily check when and where to go, when to try to avoid scheduling interviews, and where I should go if I have the time. You won’t have time to find a print shop. Have a spare set of clothes ready for if/when you spill coffee during breakfast.

Get your rest, especially if you are jet lagged and/or an introvert. You are “on” the WHOLE time, and that is exhausting. The emotional roller coaster is exhausting as well. Rest when you can, either between events if you are at the Fair hotel, or at night. If you want down time, do it away from the Fair. But be aware that you might still meet someone from the Fair at the local eatery. Your room is your only real sanctuary. Use it.

Be flexible. Your plan will be shot to hell in no time. That’s okay. Things change fast for recruiters as well as candidates, and everyone is tired, sometimes cranky, and doing the best they can for their schools and their situations. Don’t be discouraged when you don’t get hired right away but others do. Be willing to take interviews even if you hadn’t considered the position or know little about the school. Change the order in which you sign up based on the length of line.

Network like crazy. Like I said, you are “on” all the time. That means watch what you drink at the social so you can be working the crowd. Talk to other candidates to see what you can learn about potential destinations or their thought processes or what went well in interviews. Maybe they will tell you where their interview went off the rails so when you talk to that recruiter later you can avoid that pitfall. Or maybe you can just encourage one another. Talk to recruiters, even of schools you are not necessarily interested in. You might learn more about the process, find an interesting job that you hadn’t considered, or make a connection for the future, when that person is at a different school where you might want to be. A conversation in an elevator led to a job for us once. Or a teacher to whom you gave a kind word of hope moves into leadership and offers you a job. You just never know.

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Also see
Getting the Most From Recruiting Season!

What Directors Look for in International Teaching Candidates.

International Educators Going It Alone Overseasj

…Pulling up stakes and moving halfway around the world for an International Teaching position is a bold move. If, however, you’re part of a teaching team you’ll have your partner to rely on when the going gets tough. But what about educators who go it alone? What’s it like to move overseas when you have only yourself to depend upon?

For starters, going it alone will certainly put you out of your usual comfort zone, motivating you to experience new things, meet new people and take chances you might have never before considered. When you’re on your own, striking up a conversation in a coffee shop and making a new friend is more likely. Getting out to community events, plays, movies, parties and the likes can be more enticing when the alternative is staying home, alone.

Asked if they would have moved overseas alone if they knew back then what they know now, most educators answered with a resounding, YES! Educators who have gone it alone say they developed a new confidence in themselves and an entirely new side to their personality that would never have emerged had they stayed home or relocated with a partner.

Of course, not everything is perfectly rosy when you fly solo, and there are downsides to consider. The possibility of meeting that special someone may suffer overseas, and you’re bound to face some lonely stretches. You may even feel so intimidated by the overseas experience that you’ll have to fight the urge to head back home. Life can be frustrating when you don’t speak the local language or understand how things get done. Culture shock and the feeling of alienation are very real, the effects of which are intensified if you’re on your own.

Fortunately, there are varying degrees of how on your own you’ll be if you decide to go it alone. Better International Schools strive to minimize the stress on incoming foreign hires by providing solid support. Such schools handle utility bills, maintain teachers’ apartments, secure Visas, organize weekly shopping trips, and even supply transport to and from school. Additionally, they sponsor social events, making it easy for incoming teachers to become part of the established school community. In this scenario, teachers going it alone can immerse into the surrounding community at their own place while enjoying a more familiar and secure school-provided base from which to venture out.

ISR recommends you decide the depth of experience you’re ready for. Get all the information you need at your interview to help make an informed decision. Read Reviews and research, research, research! The majority of educators who have gone it alone say it was the best thing they could have done for themselves.

ISR Asks: Are you currently on your own overseas? What’s your take on the experience? Would you recommend it to others?

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Is Ageism Keeping You from Getting Hired?

ISR guest writer, Sidney Rose, shares his thoughts on ageism in International Education.

Ageism is everywhere, yet it is the most socially “normalized” of any prejudice.  Many of us would like to believe prejudice is a problem of the past, but this is clearly not the case. Incidents of prejudice and discrimination occur every day, including ageism, as practiced by International Schools and recruitment agencies.

I have been involved in international education for more than 30 years. I rose through the ranks: from teacher to Head of Department, then Deputy Head, and finally School Principal. I have been the Founding Principal of international schools in Sweden, Qatar, India (twice), China and most recently, Vietnam. I am an “expert” at obtaining Cambridge and IB accreditation and all things related to setting up a new school, to include acting as consultant to a few start-ups.

Finding a new assignment used to be relatively easy. I was in demand and commanded a good salary. Now that I am over 65, I can’t find a job. Suddenly no-one wants me! Recruitment agencies won’t even let me sign on with them. This, despite my credentials, experience and expertise.

I’m lively, energetic and enthusiastic about international education and in better shape than many younger men. I still have much to give, but my date of birth is a problem. If I remove my DOB from my resume, I get great responses from schools and recruiters… but when my age is finally revealed, everything suddenly goes quiet. You would think they would at least want to meet me and access my overall fitness to serve.

ISR covered this topic several years ago and perhaps it needs revisiting. Recruitment agencies are becoming ever more difficult.  Ageism is rife and stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people based on age is ever more widespread in international education.

I would like to reopen a discussion on this topic. To participate please scroll down and share your thoughts.

Thanks,

Sidney Rose

See the ISR Visa/Age Chart

School Not as Described

Educators who rely solely on the word of an interviewer may soon find they committed to two years in a city hard-pressed to offer enough points of interest to even fill an afternoon stopover.

Alarm bells should clang if an interviewer makes statements such as:  “It’s the best kept secret.” Or, “It was once the Paris of the East.”

Sadly, there ARE school Directors who will say just about anything to lure unsuspecting educators to their poorly located schools, knowing full well that once they’re there it’s not so easy to leave.

What’s your options when you arrive at a new school, only to find things are 180 degrees out from how they were described? In other words, What do you do when you’ve fallen prey to a con man?

Possible solutions:

A) If you’re financially solvent and can afford to walk out, consider taking the next flight home. The financial consequences of such actions are something not many of us are able to absorb, so this option may be off the table.

B) Hang in there and collect a few paychecks. Then, jump ship at the first long vacation. This way, you’ll have a few bucks under your belt and no one will wonder why you’re headed to the airport with a couple of big suitcases in hand.

C) Do as many (most?) of us would do:  Suck it up and make the best of it. Walking out on a Contract could do irreparable damage to your career. But then again, it IS your life we’re talking about.

It’s your career. It’s your future. There should be consequences for Directors who deceive educators into accepting positions that are far different than represented. As it stands, deceiving people out of their money can be a punishable offense, yet there are no consequences for deceiving educators into spending years of their life in some hellhole of a location.

With the school year getting underway, we’re seeing some recent ISR School Reviews exposing Directors who purposely misled educators into a lousy location. If you find yourself in such a situation, ISR encourages you to submit a School Review to warn your colleagues.  International Educators Keeping Each Other Informed is What ISR is All About!   Send a School Review

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Back-Stabbing Director As My Confidential Reference

After what seemed like an endless chain of rejections it finally struck me that one of my confidential references had been stabbing me in the back. Problem is, what can I do about it, if anything?

My resume reflects a heavy math/science background, so I’m used to a good bit of positive interest in my candidacy at recruiting fairs. But this year, unlike in years past, that enthusiasm had screeched to a halt. I was dumbfounded.

At first I thought the wane in interest was due to younger, better qualified candidates who were possibly better “fits.” But through a series of events, I came to realize my most recent confidential reference was spitefully destroying my overseas teaching career. 

All fingers pointed to the director of my latest school! Some years ago I read an ISR article in which a school director confessed he had purposely written poor confidential references for outstanding teachers, and even played down their talents over the phone to inquiring schools. Why? Because he wanted to keep certain key staff from leaving his school. Ouch!

In accord with the ISR article, my recent director had offered me a handsome resigning bonus if I would commit to a 4th year. I had, however, been planning to move on for some time and when I announced my intentions I sensed an immediate change in attitude on his part. I can’t exactly explain it, but suddenly I felt I was on the outside looking in. For the remainder of the school year I got the cold shoulder instead of the usual “bro” treatment. 

My question is this: Can I do anything about this situation? Am I doomed to the wrath of a school director taking out his frustrations on me, and certainly other departing teachers? My letters of reference, along with whatever my current director wrote about me, are all online with the big recruiters and I seriously doubt I can get them to remove the latest one. Any advice? Anyone?

Please keep my name confidential.

Best Regards to the staff at ISR,
G.

My Position Has Been Reposted

Two interviews, two days of anxiously waiting and, finally, it was decided. I was their “Gal.” We shook hands on it as the director welcomed me onboard — “You’ll be receiving your contract by DHL in the next few weeks.” Well…it’s been more than a few weeks since the recruiting fair and still nothing, nada, no contract!

I understand people are busy and things come up for a busy international school. But a couple days ago I was on the school’s website poking around and discovered “my” position had been reposted. At least I think it was a repost. I remember the position had been removed from the school’s website in the days after I was offered the job, but maybe in my excitement I overlooked it? Who knows?

In any case, I’m feeling totally insecure now about my future and obsessing on whether or not I still have this job. I’m just not sure what to do…Could a simple oversight be why the position is still on the school’s site? Maybe there are two slots for the same position? Worst case scenario, maybe (argh!), they’ve changed their mind about me and haven’t let me know?

Anyone else been in this situation or anything similar? I could sure use some advice and don’t want to do something stupid to jinx this job offer.

Sincerely,
Anxious