I must have filled in that bloody application at least 3 times. And once you submit it, you can't go back and change it years later if you decide to re-apply. Salaries and packages have gone down in recent years but it still has a good reputation. They were not at the Search job fairs this year for some reason. A friend of mine interviewed with them a few years back and took a tour of the school. They offered her a job but she turned them down, citing "they're too British" as an excuse (She was from Scotland, btw).

There are other threads about this school - do a search.

I saw more laptops than iPads at BKK. I have a 17" Macbook Pro and yes, I carried it with me. It was a pain sometimes but I'm glad I had it with me. I did leave it in my backpack in the candidate lounge during signup, though.

Haha -- you actually googled Ichiro?

An ichiro (named after an infamous poster on here who first reported using this strategy) is basically a professionally done marketing item that you give to recruiters in addition to your resume. It can be a brochure, a flyer, a magazine, a DVD - anything that you have "made" to highlight your skills. I saw a few at BKK. I was interviewing with one school and the recruiter had loads of CVs on the bed. One of them was a professionally done brochure with pictures of the teacher in the classroom, quotes from letters of recommendation, and a summary of skills. It was printed in professional glossy paper and looked really good. Some recruiters see it as a gimmick but others may put you on the top of the pile.

Personally I didn't make one and I still walked away with a great job. Plus I live in rural China and didn't really have the time or resources to do it. But there are some on here who swear by this strategy.

^I'll second that. I live in China and it's unbelievable how much the great firewall blocks. Facebook, google, any type of blog, youtube...even gmail has been blocked for the past few weeks. I use Astrill VPN to get around the firewall.

I forgot about that line - it was ridiculous. There must have been 20 people waiting to talk to them.

You could probably work at any university around the world. Japan and Hong Kong have some really nice ones. But if you're tenured then why would you want to leave your current post?

Strange that you have no interviews. No IB is your red flag. Schools would have to train both of you. It can (and usually does) take a few months to get used to all the IB language and assessment criteria. Schools are looking for IB experienced teachers, and will probably wait until after Cambridge and UNI to look at candidates who have no IB. I would just keep applying and sending letters out. Don't just limit your search to SEARCH - go to the ibo website - it lists all the IB schools. Just go to each website to see who is hiring. Not all IB schools advertise on SEARCH.

3 years of IB and no kids will make you marketable in Bangkok, but not every school will talk to you. Some schools there will tell you "we're only hiring couples" which is very annoying, and more than a few schools will wait a few weeks after BKK until making a decision. It also depends on the year and how many positions are available in your subject for that year. I have 2 years of IB and a non-teaching spouse and was hired by a very good school in SEA in an awesome location. And this was after people on here told me that I wasn't marketable.

I interviewed with them a few years ago. There are two campuses, and I was interviewed by an Indian guy (principal) who is very nice. They offered me a job but I turned them down. They are not IB, and the salary was a bit too low. The housing allowance is also a joke. The school is located in northern Jakarta, far away from the center. I checked with a few current teachers and they seemed happy there, but it wasn't for me.

Changchun American definitely hires newbies, even with no experience. If you teach DP you'll be fine - the program runs very smoothly. But currently there is no MYP coordinator and PYP is full of non-credentialed teachers. The school prefers experienced teachers, of course, but the problem is that it's located in Changchun, which is a horrible city with freezing temperatures 6 months of the year. Check other threads about this.

Like inman said, there are plenty of schools in mainland China who will hire teachers without IB xp. They are usually smaller, younger schools that are very Chinese run and for-profit. Not everyone at these schools will be certified but you will get your IB experience. Just go to the IBO website and go down the list of schools in China - go to their websites and check for vacancies.

Top school, although you will have to deal with the cold and the pollution that comes with Beijing. I went to an IB workshop last year and spoke to a few teachers who worked there. The only complaints they had were that they had to teach MYP along with DP (most prefer DP) and the cold winters and pollution. But the package is very good and they all seemed to be very happy there.

Pippa do you have IB experience? If you don't then I'd say you've fared very well so far.

I also live in China and for some reason the wire transfer fees are twice as much here as anywhere else I've been. Here's what I do. My non-teaching spouse opens an account at the same bank as I have an account. I send her card to my parents in the US and I just deposit whatever amount I want into her account. My parents then withdraw money using her card and deposit it into my US bank account. There is a transaction fee but it's not much, especially compared to wire transfer fees. I suppose it doesn't have to be the same Chinese bank, but it makes it a bit easier. I did the same exact thing when I was working in Thailand.

Agree - thanks for the informative post. Those questions seem standard, although the one about demanding parents gave me a red flag. If I was asked that I would turn it back on them and ask, "Is this a problem at your school?"