I suppose peoples' perceptions ARE their reality. I have worked in schools when I have been really quite contented, and been gobsmacked to see virulent reviews which seem to make no reference to reality (as I see it) whatsoever.

Let me give you an example. In many countries, particularly in the Middle East, the school takes your passport away to put in various stamps/visas/permits etc. Also, the sponsored person (usually the husband in a teaching couple) needs an exit permit to leave the country. In my personal experience, this system has been fine. We have never had a problem, the HR department have always been very efficient. (Despite this positive experience, I do find it increasingly irritating.) But some people absolutely cannot tolerate this. If they arrived without having done their research, they will complain long and hard, and often on ISR as though they were living in a high security prison!

There are many examples of things like this: A run in with a colleague, a bad experience at a local hospital, the first experience of third world bureaucracy, the necessity to work in step with colleagues instead of doing your own thing, common assessments, a less rigid approach to discipline. All of these things can be total deal breakers for different individuals.

However, poor reviews that consistently refer to the following would, in my opinion, be worth paying attention to;
a. Written, signed contracts which are then broken.
b. A lack of a school handbook with at least SOME written systems.
c. Non-renewal/firing without a proper process of observation, training and
support to enable improvement.
d. Persistent interference by the school board in the implementation (rather than the setting) of school policy.
d. Reviewers who begin by saying that they have had a credible career in several international schools.

When you read reviews, put them into context. I worked in a school in a country where there was a political coup. There was considerable civil disruption and even some violence. The school dealt with it very well. But you must appreciate that a rapidly falling school roll (as the companies and diplomatic institutions bail out their people) will have a knock-on effect, if not immediately (as fees will have been paid) but potentially the following year if the students stay away.

In a way, pulling together as a community and adopting a "Keep Calm and Carry On" attitude gives you a tremendous feeling of achievement and group spirit. Either that or you are freaking out and writing bad reviews!

Another context you should try to be aware of is if the school is a start up. Schools try to find their own unique character, and it takes a HUGE amount of effort and paperwork to get everything up to speed. I always laugh when I read reviews of start ups where the admin recruit previous colleagues and get accused of favoring their mates. Well, if I was throwing my heart and soul into making a school great, then the first thing I'd do is try to hire people I know would do a great job! And then the moaners who are out of their comfort zone put pen to paper.......................

Anyway, sorry, bit of a rant there.

In a nutshell, consider context, consider human nature, and look carefully at the things being moaned about. If you are considering a job in a particular school ask to be put in touch with someone working in a similar job to you, or at least in the same section of the school. You should get a positive response. If this is not met with a positive response, well, you will have to draw your own conclusions...

Good luck!
Cheery XXX

Cancelled the day after job offer on Nov 15th. :D

Schrole has been developed by an ex-international school admin/agency recruiter. The idea is that it is a better, more streamlined, interactive and up-datable system than the rather staid existing Search and ISS instruments. I gather it is being taken up by a fairly large number of impressive IS's, including BKK and others.
I think once your info is in, it stays in. You do not pay to keep it there, and can update as necessary.
I am guessing that the benefit to schools is that they pay for the software as an end user rather than pay the agencies on a teacher by teacher basis, so that aspect of recruiting costs is a predictable outlay year on year.
I was a fairly early user and had some lively conversations with the developer, who is very open to input.
Lets face it, ISS's portal looks like it was designed by Jason King in 1971 and Search's recent update involved a substantial delay whilst some schools updated their info: To my mind it was a bit of an expensive swizz to have NOTHING for some schools, not even the previous year's information available for a substantial chunk of the recruiting season.
Anyway, I think it's an intriguing development.

Yup, good luck! XX

Dexts
Usually, the school you are applying to delineates the size of your cover letter. Some give words, some say one side of A4, some do not specify.
My advice for a cover letter would be to spend serious time researching the school via their website and any contacts you may have.
You should promote yourself as a good candidate for that particular, specific school (if indeed you believe you are! If you think you are not during the course of your research, well...) You should balance promoting your personal strengths and passions with suggesting what you can do for the school. It's not so much "what I am" as "what I can do for you" or maybe a bit of both
;-)
Include a short introduction to your circumstances (single, married, family) and background, then talk about recent, valid experience.
Address it to the correct person.
When we were recruiting, it would take us a couple of hours of research and at least an hour to craft the cover letter. The cover letter for the 7 schools we applied to was very different for each school.
Good luck!

International school of Stavanger. Beautiful school, staff, students, country. The pay is not bad either! I suspect, though, that you may need to be recruited direct from the USA. (And ok I do know that technically that's not Europe ;-)
I have friends who are also very happy in Bucharest, and other friends who worked in AIS Warsaw, IS Belgrade, Zurich International and Stockholm recently (within the last 4 years) who were very happy too.
As with everywhere, you need to dig for information closer to the time and consider your fit within each institution.
Happy researching!

Briz is right tho'!
You lot are almost (!) always very sweet about this stuff, but Briz is right. Even when I knew we had great interviews coming up, a couple at our school landed their dream job a few days before us. I like them both very much indeed....but for one fleeting moment....I hated them! It's human nature.
We told our friends when we got our jobs, and loads of people congratulated us, but I don't talk about it with our mates who are recruiting out of deference to their feelings (unless they raise it!)
It's ok - hate me!
But your jobs will happen............ride that surge in Dec/Jan! :wink:

Hi All
I think the situation is simply very variable. We are both in the sciences, with IB/AP/MYP/IGCSE/A level experience, admin experience, and a track record in good IS's so we are very fortunate.
We applied to a total of 7 schools, from a shortlist of about 12. We only applied to the schools on our list that had vacancies, so again, fortunate. We learnt early on that one of our top faves would be unlikely to have vacancies in our area so we were initially disappointed by that.
Many schools are "opportunistic" recruiters who will keep their radar up for new staff more or less year round, others prefer the hurly burly of the fairs.
The key thing is that many vacancies are not even determined yet, so don't get miserable......the onslaught really begins after 1st December, then another rush after about Dec 17th when schools finish for Christmas, any then yet another surge for the later ones where staff don't have to declare til January.
At each and any moment, your personal purview could change radically over the period of mere hours - misery to elation!
Jobs tend to be like buses - none for ages, then three come along at once! We had nothing, then within the space of a few days, two HUGE skype interview requests came in from key schools, and the day after we accepted our positions, we had a direct and unsolicited contact from another great school whose jobs we hadn't even known about!
Chins up! Good luck!

Hi All
We interviewed with Jakarta International and IS Bangkok during the last week. This morning we accepted jobs with JIS. We are thrilled.
Good luck to everyone recruiting.
Cheery XXXX

Well I have a cheery little bottom, does that help?

Bloody hell! You lot got out of bed on the wrong side today!
(Ducks and runs for cover....)

Posted but changed my mind..........

Hi Chemteacher
I suppose I am talking out of my bottom here, because I don't have any specific information about those schools, but I would not take a job at any school outside the well-known few: ISG, Aramco and a couple of others.
What I DO know is that most schools that have gulf arab owners, or admin, or managers CAN be very difficult to work in.
It's difficult to overstate the differences between the outlook and culture of the average western teacher and many GA's. This may or may not impinge upon your working life, depending on the nature of the school.
Yes, this sounds racist, yes it is a generalisation. Yes, I speak from personal experience. I also personally know some awesome Saudi's who are smart, funny and totally understand how a good school should function. But I would not accept a job in any ME school if it was owned, run, or governed (in the main) by locals.
Things RARELY go wrong in a big way. Research helps.

No flames please. Just trying to be helpful.

If you do a little grubbing around, you'll find that most schools in the mE take your passport for various periods of time, and some countries require an exit visa before you leave. In good schools, this is not a problem. It's just SOP. You do hear the odd horror story, but many result from incompetence rather than malice.
The malicious stories, of course, make headlines!

Interview shortly. Will let you know!