I have many years teaching experience, have worked internationally and have a non-teaching spouse and a child. After spending two hard hiring seasons in the game and attending a few of the smaller fairs, I did get some bites but never had a firm offer. I wondered if it were my references or how recruiters perceive me from my profile, so I wrote my SA recruiter and got this response:

"The downsides are you’re a teacher with a non-teaching spouse, and dependent child. For your wife, as a family nurse practitioner, perhaps some schools will look at her in that capacity for potential employment. Generally a school looking at your profile will quickly see that in order to pick you up as a staff member for their school they must also be prepared to cover two additional air fares for your dependents, provide health insurance coverage for them, waive tuition for the child, and find larger accommodations that are large enough for a family of your size. Many schools will simply give you a pass on the paper screening of candidates, to avoid the additional expense in hiring.

I don’t mean to sound so discouraging, but I’m just being honest here. The world of international teaching is highly competitive these days. Because of the world economy as it is, many quality staff have been put out of work on the domestic fronts, and a good many of those people have flooded toward international schools as an option. The result is a saturated field of quality candidates for schools to select from. It’s a recruiter’s market, and they can afford to be picky, and have proven that they will be. In the past three years, about 40% of the schools we work with have passed on candidates with a non-teaching spouse alone. When dependent children are added in to the mix, that percentage will be increased dramatically.

Please understand that this is in no way an indictment of your teaching or the quality of you as a person, but simply the state of play in international recruiting for today’s world. You may well be able to beat the odds, with your Science teaching background, and Peace Corp experience. Plus, a larger school looking to also fill a nurse positions might consider you more seriously, because they know they could pick up a school nurse at the same time. Let nothing deter you from your goals, and give it your best shot. Be flexible in where you’ll consider, and keep trying. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking. I’ll stand ready to support your search, and help in whatever ways I can."

I had pretty much come to this same conclusion on my own. I hope it is helpful to those in the same boat.