Psyguy's info is woefully incorrect.

Caracas is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Last weekend the official homicide rate stood at 94 deaths. Over a thousand people are murdered every month. And, the violence is not restricted to only a few areas. For years it has been a case of anytime anyplace violent crime.

Shame...Venezuela is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

I would not go back any time soon due to very common and violent crime and a an increasingly unpleasant and unstable political situation.

Venezuela is stunning but travel within the country is dangerous. Travel around SA is expensive and incredibly inconvenient.

I would never take a family to Caracas.

Shame. Brilliant school and amazing country.

Munich International School
Frankfurt International School
ACS Schools outside of London
International School Brussels
Zurich International School
International School Geneva

Pay is not fantastic, but these schools all offer solid programs. I worked at one of these and was very impressed in general. I prefer full IB continuum schools, which a few mentioned above do quite well.

I would probably not go back as quality of life is currently much better in Asia.

Good luck.

You will pay anywhere between 19-33% in taxes, depending on the status of the school with the relevant ministries. It's all rather mysterious to be honest. This is not really an issue except when a school quotes your salary before tax when you sign on and then when you arrive the contract looks quite different. This happened to a close friend of mine and he was obviously upset. The better schools will quote their salary after tax. This has been my experience.

There are about 4-5 schools who pay quite well here, given the cost of living. You could save $25,000 without too much of a fuss. Couples, of course, could save much more.

We have been here for a few years and live a wonderful life and save an entire salary each year.

If you get offered a position in either Saigon or Hanoi at a decent school, please don't hesitate and accept.

Hello.

All in I have made considerably more than £35,000 while working at "tier 1" and "tier 2" schools. It is certainly possible to earn this much and in my experience compensation packages like the ones I have been on are quite common (look into SE Asia). Although countless schools will NOT be stellar institutions, many are pleasant enough places to spend a few years if not more. If you manage to land a gig at a "top tier" school anywhere in Asia, well then you would be set.

I will echo what several have said on the topic of quality of life/savings potential working at an international school: £35,000 in the UK is not very much at all. The cost of living in England borders on the ridiculous. If you made anywhere near that much in say, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. you would save loads and live an amazing life. Many schools would also offer your wife a position, say in the main office, the library, as a TA, admissions, etc. Even if your school didn't offer her a position, many of the larger cities offer a substantial amount of employment opportunities. Whether she would be working illegally due to her visa status is another issue. You would have to look into that.

My advice, leave the UK and come to SE Asia. Financially speaking, you will be far better off if you manage to land a gig at a decent school.

Bogota is expensive compared to similar cities in similar countries and also a very frustrating place to live. Transportation and safety are a very serious issue.

If you were genuinely set on a move to Bogota, I would select CNG over the Anglo or the English School. I make this suggestion not because of the pay or quality of schools (all three of these pay roughly the same amount when you factor in pension schemes, bonuses and travel and all schools in Bogota have poor discipline issues and average/below average students) but because of location.

The Anglo and the English school are located in pretty average neighbourhoods many, many blocks from the nicer and more interesting parts of the city. CNG is in Rosales, a very pleasant area with cafes, bars, restaurants, parks, shopping etc. within walking distance. Rosales is also much closer to la Macarena and la Candelaria, two fantastic neighbourhoods for general atmosphere, history and culture.

I recently lived in Bogota and have visited over a dozen times in the last 10 years.

@ Cee13

IMHO, why on earth would you want to live in anything below estrato 5 in Bogota? Cedritos is an absolute dump.

Completely agree with tangchao.

Went as a single to Search fair with 8 years of IB experience at tops schools and got 11 interviews and 10 job offers.

Went as a teacher with a dependent a few years later and got 2 interviews and no job offers.

Several of my colleagues have experienced this as well.

Congrats. ECA is an excellent school. You will enjoy your time working there.

Cheers.

Absolutely top tier school in every way. It was a genuine pleasure to work there. Venezuela is a spectacular country.

However, I would not live in Caracas again until the situation improves. My wife and I left due to several very serious security issues. We have two children now and wouldn't even consider it.

Good luck.

Try the LAHC (Latin American Heads Conference) for more "British" style schools. They post openings on their website and are the UK school equivalent to AASSA.

Good luck.

Munich International School is definitely tier 1. Their facilities, budget, DP scores, sports, arts, experiential ed, 1:1 and internship programmes are all pretty remarkable. They also host and organize fantastic guest speakers/student workshops on a regular basis. In the last five years Jurgen Klinsmann, Daniel Pink, David Sedaris, Jane Goodall, The Beijing Opera, Chris Bangle and John Pilger have all been on campus.

I worked there for 4 years. Left several years ago.

Top tier in every way. However, Venezuela will not be a stable country for some years to come. I would not recommend moving there with a family.

Good luck.

The positive experiences posted on here are far from the norm. If you were to look into the practicalities of a fair versus other routes then it would be hard to argue in favour of continuing with them.

I know that this is a matter of opinion and that the ´to each his/her own´mantra applies; however, I still don´t see logic in the whole process. I also feel that even after reading what some of you have written about your long interviews and not being able to gauge personalities on Skype, etc., fairs are rather silly and more often than not quite sad.

A twenty minute face to face interview sitting on some head of school's bed is pathetic. Speak to your friends who work in other fields. They will agree with me when I say that the fair experience is preposterous.

Lengthy Skype interviews with a head of school followed by in depth conversations with heads of sections and heads of department make quite a bit more sense to me. This is not the norm at a job fair. My Skype interviews over the last two recruitment seasons lasted well over an hour (the most recent one was two and a half hours long); these extended sessions allow recruiters to ask me any and everything they feel they need to ask in order to ensure they are hiring the right person. It also enables me to properly discuss matters with prospective schools without silly schedules to deal with. I am making a life changing decision, why would I do this after a couple of short interviews amid the incredibly hectic and altogether crazy environment of a fair?

I do not see the logic of flying thousands of miles to speak briefly with schools. With so many genuinely amazing options available online (Skype conversations, MA degrees, MOOCS, IB Workshops, Online Panel Discussions, etc.), the concept of meeting with schools face to face is really irrelevant. You will not actually be in Sri Lanka or Munich or Bangladesh or Rio. A brief conversation with someone at a hotel in Bangkok or London or Boston doesn't make for a more meaningful exchange.

I have been working internationally for quite a while. I have been to several fairs and have landed great jobs. I have also been hired by great schools outside of fairs and the Search database, too. So, no axe to grind - just using reason to try to stop an unreasonable process.

As soon as we all say no to the fairs and refuse to work with agencies such as Search Associates, then the recruitment process will become a more level playing field.

Although I am very happy that some of you have been offered jobs at this most recent fair, I can't help but feel that what you have gone through is genuinely pathetic.

Please stop to think about the alternatives. Please do not attend another fair.

Good luck in your new postings.