"the difference between October notice and January notice is academic"

Really? (and this is a genuine question.) Is it only the star candidates who line up jobs (via direct applications and Skype) before January? My school is increasingly hiring early and by Skype, even for lower-demand positions. What about the Bangkok fairs (aren't they in December)?

I've not been out on the search yet, but to my school just changed our renewal date from mid-January up to 1 Dec, and I think it has the potential to make the process a lot worse for teachers. No chance to fly for an interview if your Winter break comes out earlier or later than your target school, etc. Less time to network and apply directly for Skype interviews.

To me the bump-up seems a pretty bad trend for teachers, and October 31 seems extreme and unfortunate.

Assuming you have teacher certification in Canada, you wouldn't need to do that whole program (which unless I misunderstand it would be a big overlap with what you already have done)..

IB schools will want you to have (1) your existing teaching certification [check!] and (2) Experience [check!]. Yes, it may help if you've already done one of those (typically 3-4 day in-person or month-long online) IB trainings in the area you want to teach. You may well want to enroll in one of those yourself in the year prior to entering the job market, since it would show you're earnest and perhaps relieve them of sending you in your first year. This is not at all a requirement to be hired by an IB school or to teach there, though as mentioned above, IB schools do need to take training seriously and they would expect to send you to one of the training seminars about once every other year, in my experience.

I think there could be jobs open to you even now, but they would be at less desirable schools in less desirable locations. However, if you could find a tolerable one of those, it could be a good launching pad for getting certified.. Your PhD and Uni teaching experience is great, but if you really want to make a career change you need two things: school level Teaching experience (preferably in IB, AP, or the English system), and a teaching qualification from a country with known educational standards (most English speakers would go for a UK/US/Commonwealth based program). Your best 2-5 year plan would be to get both of those. Then all doors are (in principle) open to you, and your PhD and industry experience will be a great addition to your teaching CV. Until then you don't have a teaching CV.

Since you're employed, I would start a teaching qualification programme which can be done partly online, in holidays, or evenings. You want a 'real' PGCE or US/commonwealth equivalent, and any all-online option with no student teaching would not get you that. But there are a number of flexible programs which don't take full-time in-residence study and where you still do a real full-time student teaching (internship) assignment. So I'd recommend you start such a programme in your spare time for a year, and then on the basis of that in-progress programme and your other education and experience, fish for a teaching job at the best school you can find (i.e. a second or third tier school in the middle East, or Asia). While you're there you would finish your teaching qualification, do your internship at the school where you're employed, and get experience. If it works out, In 2-3 years you'd in a good place for an upward bid with much more choice.

There are at least three potential difficulties with this plan: (1) A teaching certificate is still required for 90+% of the jobs out there. (2) some government policies don't allow visa for teachers without a certificate. No matter how willing the school would be, they can't hire you. (3) You don't want a horrible situation, even for two years. But if you can get into a school and you have an in-hand a plan to get your certification, this could work.

I'm spending the summer in Bangkok doing a US-based certification program with TCNJ (Google it or see ref's on this forum). There are lots of people here who are in a similar situation, aiming for the status of fully-qualified (and also competent!) teachers. But they've mostly already gotten themselves into teaching in various capacities somewhere in Asia, The TCNJ program is good, takes two 4-week summer terms and some online courses, and will lead to a New Jersey state teaching license, which fits the bill generally for international schools. But you have to arrange your own teaching internship at a school, and the course as a whole is not cheap. Some of us are either hired (provisionally or part-time) at a decent school or have regular jobs at a third-tier school. Others will be asking a local school if they can volunteer for a 10-12 week internship.

Do save some money now, though. You will increase your options both for your training program and for teaching positions those first two years if finances are not too tight.

The good thing about your situation is that if you find nothing at all your first year looking, you'd still presumably be employed at your present job, so you could try to get further on your qualification and go for 'round two' of the job search without quitting. The job-hunting season starts in about October for the following Aug/Sept. But in your case you'd just keep hunting year around (since you might score a late hire).

I'd be interested in others' perspectives on your prospects for getting hired now at a second- or third-tier international school without certification. I'm thinking of countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc. (Indonesia and Thailand are out without a teaching certificate). There are 'international' schools serving mostly local populations in such places which might bite onto your lure. My experience is that I know people who have those kind of jobs (I am one, hired as a part-time teacher in the wake of my certified spouse), but I don't know enough to know how lucky we are. In some situations, spouses of teachers sometimes have a 'in' to part-time teaching, that would be harder for others to land.) But an in-progress teaching cert program could show you're committed. Combine that with a school in need and it could be your 'in'. Once your foot is in the proverbial door, it's up to you to wedge it all the way open.

Others?