Signed, Sealed and Legal? Recruiting Fairs, International Teaching Contracts and a Teaching Couple's Unbelievable Experience. This Could Be You!
	It was the night before the recruitment fair and all through the hotel, not a Candidate was stirring, not even …OK, how about
	• Twelve hundred dollars in airfare. • Eleven sleepless nights deciding. • Ten hours registering. • Nine portfolios printed. • Eight schools emailed. • Seven notes in mailboxes. • Six thanks, but no thanks. • Five perfect jobs! (But alas already filled) • Four interviews scheduled. • Three references contacted. • Two parties in agreement. • And a contract, signed, sealed and legal?

Most of us have been there. The ups and downs. The manic excitement of possible new adventures in places as yet unknown, followed by the crushing blow of insensitive brushoff lines like “I’m sorry but your pieces just don’t fit our puzzle,” or, “We are really looking for someone who speaks the host language fluently and is willing to accept a local salary with no benefits,” or, “You don’t have enough experience,” or, “You have too much experience,” or, “We need only males…or females…or couples…or singles…or couples with no children, etc…” After you’ve waited an hour in a long line of applicants hopeful to arrange for a mere interview, to be eyeballed up and down and have a cursory inspection, at best, of your credentials, is not only rude but unprofessional and unnecessary as well. In fact, the recruiting fairs, in our experience, have been the least professional hiring process in which we have ever participated.

We have been in the international school arena for over twenty years and have worked in four countries on as many continents. We have accepted positions through recruiting fairs as well as through other means. We have worked at a non-profit school in the Middle East, a college in Asia, a company-sponsored (international recruiting agency managed) third-world rural start-up school, and a large international school. We have survived an earthquake and an invasion, lost all our belongings during a country-wide occupation, been subject to anti-Americanism, lack of heath care, threat of malaria, risk of live munitions, inadequate school construction resulting in the collapse of a classroom ceiling, a tornado ripping the roof off our house and other challenges I prefer not to recall.

Based on our experiences, we offer the following recommendations to teaching candidates:

1) First and foremost, do not accept a verbal contract to teach without actually reviewing and retaining a written and signed version of everything being promised. In the best of all situations it would be ideal to have an attorney versed in international contracts review your contract. Who, though, can reasonably and logistically manage this, particularly under the time pressure so prevalent at the recruiting fairs? Our most recent, and unfortunate, experience followed our verbal acceptance of a position. When we received the written contracts by mail, however, we immediately noticed the school had not only changed the terms which we had discussed, but also clearly stated that we would be entering our new country of employment as tourists. Yes, we know, this is how many schools work, but who is the one breaking international law and taking the risk for lying at that country’s consulate to obtain a visitor’s visa? And who is risking incarceration or worse upon entry into that country under false pretenses?

We were held to that contract despite its illegalities and the terms that were different than what had been discussed and agreed upon. Later, when we opted not to sign our contracts, upon the advice of that country’s consulate as well as a representative of the U.S. embassy, the recruiting agency that hosted the recruiting fair blackballed us more quickly and effectively than one could imagine, pressuring another school not to hire us without so much as asking our side of the issue. The other school knew our situation and assured us that they still wanted us, that we were still the best candidates for the positions, and that their offers were legally binding. They were as effectively coerced by the hiring agency as we were blackballed. This particular school opted to break their country’s employment laws instead of going against this particular hiring agency’s policies .You'll want to be sure to get everything in writing and at the recruiting fair.

2) You may want to tape your negotiation discussions with your potential future employer. Even if everything is spelled out in writing and signed, you may do well to make a recording of your discussion for future reference. In another situation we had the unfortunate experience of having key components of a contractual agreement changed following our acceptance and signing of contracts. These changes included: change of position (the administrative position agreed upon suddenly became a teaching position simply because it became a better fit after the school attended the next recruiting fair and had new candidates to fit into the puzzle), inaccurate host country tax information (17% for the first year only was soon realized at 27% throughout the term of employment), details of medical coverage (after doing extensive homework to make sure that a prohibitively expensive drug that our son required would, in fact, be covered under the school’s medical plan, finding upon our arrival in country that there was a one-page rider added to the insurance booklet issued to new staff that denied coverage specifically to the category of drugs including our specific need).

On another occasion, the recruiting agency led us to believe that a new school they were managing in a rural area of a third world country was ready to open. What we found, however, was quite a different story. We lived in a construction site for a year and taught school with no materials whatsoever while waiting almost a month for the school's shipment to arrive. There was no infrastructure established to even acquire food. While the recruiting agency sponsoring the school (a major agency) did nothing to help us in any way, the company who had hired this agency to set up and run the school for children of their employees paid for the teachers' food shipments, R&R trips, trips for needed medical care and even coverage of certain medical costs. We were later told by an employee of the recruiting agency that we were frequently the coffee machine conversation as photos we sent were apparently frivolously shared with numerous employees. The point being that the hiring agencies, in our experience, have done nothing to help or support the teachers even in their own schools. Naturally they were effusively thankful that we had stuck it out, that we had endured what most would not have, but they so quickly forgot any professional respect they may have had for us and readily blackballed us when we refused to honor the altered contract I spoke of above.

3) You owe it to yourself to take advantage of web sites such as International Schools Review and others. These web sites will give you all sides and realities of a school you are considering. The people at International Schools Review state on their 'about us page', "We have all been lured-in by directors who were not exactly forthright in their description of their school and/or host country. Had we been privileged to the first-hand type of information found on ISR we would have successfully avoided these episodes in our lives".

You should also consider contacting current or recent employees of any school you are contemplating, and not just the names the school representative may provide you with. As a quality educator, you want to avoid the schools that seemingly tolerate inept, immoral, and unethical “leadership.” Yes, we have stories to tell in this area as well, but perhaps they are best left for another article.

4) The bottom line is Candidate Beware!! The hiring agencies, ever so helpful until they receive your money, provide you with no support following your registration. They do not represent you and do not look after your interests. Their loyalty, if there is any, lies with the schools that pay them more than you do and who are there year after year to pay them substantial hiring fees. You, the candidate, are on your own. The fact that a school is present at a hiring fair does not necessarily mean that it follows legal hiring practices or will treat you as a professional. While the candidates must prove their credentials in order to participate, the schools don’t have to jump through such hoops. The schools are the hiring agency’s bread and butter. The candidates are not. Hence, look out for your own interests. Be assertive with your questions; don’t let yourself feel pressured to accept a position you are not sure about, and contact teachers who have been at schools in which you are interested. We all need to think about how we can support each other in the international schools arena, especially as we have no teachers’ union, no legal representation and are essentially on our own upon arrival in a new country. Let’s work together to ensure that each of our experiences overseas is a professional and fulfilling one.

So, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good hire!

Comments or suggestions: Contact International Schools Review

---

Home / Site Map / Read School Reviews / Join ISR