joe30 wrote:
> You certainly can't save money at ASL. They even tell you this themselves
> on their Search profile!
>
> The idea one can save in London on $28,000 (after tax, utilities, and rent
> are paid) is pure rubbish. Council tax will be about $1800, your Oyster
> card for the London underground will be another $2500. You've not even
> bought any food, clothes, or had any entertainment yet. Food is fairly
> cheap in the UK, but entertainment in London is through the roof in terms
> of prices.
>
> The only way you'll be saving on that salary in London is if you're living
> in a houseshare like a college kid and never going out.

You're probably right if you're a person with only a BA and 4 years of experience. I'd imagine that your typical ASL teacher is closer to MA +15, and 12 years of experience. I wonder what the salary would be then? Also curious what Search says about the retirement that they offer. Top tier schools tend to have something solid in place. When considering those two factors, it has the potential to change the scenario your describing.

Thames Pirate wrote:
> Yes, London is expensive. Those of us interested in living there have done
> the research on your numbers, too.
>
> OP, you can save money on one salary in WE and still travel, go out to eat,
> etc. Perhaps not as much saving and not as much big travel (then again,
> you are living in and near travel destinations), but it's not hard to save,
> even in WE.

Have to agree with Thames Pirate. If you're able to get in with a top tier WE school, I think it's a bit of a myth that you'll be living on peanuts and struggling to get by. Our experience has been that we're still able to save a decent amount, just not what we saved previously in Asia.

I've been an ISS person for over a decade. I was happy with their fairs that I attended, but I also went in with reasonable expectations. I picked them as a bit of a coin flip between them and Search, as I really couldn't discern a meaningful difference between the two. This has changed over the last couple of years, IMO. This year was the second consecutive year that Search BKK had a far better list of top tier schools attending than ISS BKK. These are the only schools I'm interested in teaching at, so at the end of the day my choice will solely be determined on who has the most schools I would want to interview with. If this trend continues, I'll be making a switch to Search the next time I head out for a new post.

The shift to schools using Skype and Schrole has been well documented on this board. As far as I can tell, the only school in Asia that has gone 100% committed to that route (although without Schrole, just through their own website) is SAS. Maybe they'll attend the east coast fairs- I haven't followed those as closely. It'll be very interesting to see if other top schools follow this action going forward.

In my limited experience, I've seen a mix on school applications. Similar to Sid's mentioning of finding teachers who reference their GPA as a negative thing from an admin's perspective, I find schools that require GPA as a red flag. I want to be at an institution that recognizes good teachers are not made by knowledge of content. Certainly it plays a role, but I find some schools mistake rigor for elitism and "preparation".

shadowjack wrote:
> There is a boarding school in Austria - remote, in a village. Not sure of
> the name.

Scratch that, Leysin is Switzerland. Not sure of the one in Austria.

I think the school SJ is thinking of is Leysin.

I also second the nomination of Woodstock in India. Always been on my radar with an absolutely stunning setting.

In my experience, it doesn't work like that for schools that have integrity. I've been fortunate enough to work for a couple of them internationally, and the teacher salary and benefits are set according to a payscale, very similar to public schools in the states. For admin it seems that there is more of a negotiation process, but that's not based on direct experience.

Walter's earlier post pretty much sums up my thoughts on this topic.

The ISS vs Search question has always intrigued me, and up until when I last went to my last fair a few years ago, it seemed like there really wasn't any significance between the two.

This year however, I took a look at the school attending ISS Bangkok vs. ISS Search. There was no comparison in which fair I'd want to go to as Search had by far the superior offering of schools. And now ISS doesn't even have a Boston fair. I'm curious about what took place that finally led to Search winning out in this age old competition.

For my previous three fairs I've gone through ISS, and I was always happy with the service they provided. Given this recent shift however, I don't see how I wouldn't switch to Search the next time we're ready to make move to another posting.

I've only worked at one of those schools, and here's gist I got of it (bear in mind, that aside from the one school I had first hand experience with, everything else is word of mouth):
-TAS's package is ridiculous and tops of the schools. Word has it that admin has taken the direction of the school towards trying to be an elite east coast U.S. private school type of place. That's a deal breaker for me(and proabably me for them!), maybe not for others.
-SAS has an excellent package that from what I understand is on par with ISB
-ISKL - a sneaky choice among these major school. Package on paper maybe doesn't look as great as SAS or ISB, but the savings is supposed to be right on par with those two.
-ISM and JIS - Can't really speak on either of these two as I just don't know.

It's an IASAS school. Unless you've been around the international circuit and have built up connections and an insane resume that gives you the luxury of being extremely picky, it's a no brainer to jump at the opportunity to teach there.

I have a good number of friends who teach/have taught there. All have great things to say. Sounds like the school when through a swoon around the years of the Asian financial crisis. In recent years they've turned things around and by all accounts, it's a great place to be. I've heard positive things about the saving potential. Having visited K.L., it seems like it would be an awesome place to live as well. Not to mention the insane travel opportunities with Air Asia using it as a hub.

Shadylane, just curious when this job fair was? I have heard that at ASL with 10 years experience and a masters, you're making in the ballpark of 60,000 pounds. In my experience, I have yet to hear of a British school (public, private, international, or local) that comes close to that. That's just my experience though, so who knows.

Yeah, London is expensive, but on that salary you could be afforded a very nice lifestyle with travel, and you would still be able to put aside some money (not as much as a top tier in Asia or ME, but still...) Not to mention whatever retirement contributions the school makes.

No worries! I know ACS Cobham has a boarding for some of its students, but I'm not sure on the other two campuses.

In the city of London there is Southbank. Don't really know much about it.

There's also ACS (Hillingdon, Cobham, Forget the third campus) and TASIS. Honestly, they're not really in London as all four are significantly outside of the city (think 45 minute drive). From what I've heard, they all pay significantly less than ASL, and I believe that all of them are for-profit (not positive on that though). Some people I know who have worked at Cobham liked it and had for the most part good things to say about it. The Cobham campus is gorgeous, with great facilities as well.

I worked for Dr. Mutsch at a school he was at previously. I can vouch that he's a world class individual and professional. I would jump at the chance to get to work underneath him again. I've also heard great things about the leadership team that he has brought in with him to ASD.

I was impressed with Shekou when I interview with them a while back. I remember the package being solid ($50,000, tax free, all utilities and housing covered), and the director Bob Dunseth(sp?) seemed like a genuinely good guy. It's easy striking distance to get to HK anytime you want, too. Shenzhen is not going to do a whole lot for the pollution problem though.
Don't know if they fit in that tier 1 category, but definitely a strong option in China.