I think there must be many variations of what people feel "counts" as an international school are in Shanghai. If you are looking at the big players (Dulwich, SAS, BISS, Concordia) etc, they pay quite well. You can look on their websites for ideas of salary. If you have you MA + 6, I'd say that you're looking at $55,000 USD/year, minimum, plus all your benefits. That's about 29,000 RMB a month.

Someone said they live on 1300 RMB, but that is only $200 USD. Psy Guy mentioned living on 2,000 RMB per month. That is what we budget for our utilities. (We've never gone over this, BUT Shanghai just changed how they calculate electricity usage this summer and since then everyone's bills are at least 1/3-1/2 again higher than they've ever been in the past)

For 2-3 people in a family, I'd say to estimate spending 12,000-15,000 RMB a month for eating out/ordering 1-2 times a week, taking taxis, and buying beers and Western food on occasion when the Doritos cravings hit.

Last job fair I went to (UNI), when we finally made it to the front of the lines of two schools we were quite interested in, the schools told us that they were waiting for the candidates they had pre-selected to come sign up for interview times. Since didn't have a yellow slip, they politely let us know that they weren't interested (even though they had our positions open). After that, we immediately looked at our yellow slips and signed up for interviews with those schools ASAP.

Is it still this way at UNI? Is it different at other job fairs?

Ha! It's almost too horrible to be true. :lol:

I think I'd at least send an e-mail saying, "While we were hoping to make a lasting impression during our interview this morning, this wasn't exactly what we had in mind. Our sincere apologies! If you feel that our resumes are more impressive than John's underwear, please do drop us a line."

Last school: 2 months paid, but only after working there for 3 years. Otherwise no paid leave. Can arrange with the school for up to 6 months of unpaid leave. 100% covered medically by insurance.

Current school: 10 weeks paid, INCLUSIVE of holiday breaks, so if you want leave, don't have that baby in the summer! Can arrange with the school for up to 6 months of leave. Insurance covers $10,000, but only at certain hospitals (best ones in the city are only covered at 80%, so expect a high bill, cause no hospital is only $10,000 for delivery, let alone the good hospitals!...ugh).

I've lived in Indonesia and never had a problem, but there was a gal at my school who got booty-grabbed as she was out running one morning. Granted, she was probably wearing tight shorts and a sports bra...So use your common sense--this is a Muslim country and modesty is a good thing to have. Bikinis and halter tops won't go over well.

That said, I was in Jakarta last spring by myself and didn't worry once. I have a cross-body purse, basic knowledge of the language, and a watchful eye. Indonesia is a lovely country and single women should be just fine!

Jakarta has tons of malls and that seems to be one of the favorite past times. Spas are also popular, as are clubs (like country club, not dance club). :D

I'm in agreement that you need experience before a reputable international school will hire you. When I decided that this was going to be my career, it took 4 years to get overseas. I don't see many shortcuts to this, unless you're content being an ESL teacher.

Step 1: Get a Master's in Education/Teaching. Some of these are one year intensive programs. Some require a BA in education first. Different states have different programs. Try the West Coast for 1-year programs. These will include certification. I don't believe you can get certification without having a degree, unless it's Troops to Teachers or something like that (emergency certification situation).

Step 2: Get experience. Work at least 2 years in a public school in the States.

Step 3: Recruit!

I totally agree with PsyGuy's last post. There's no shortcut to having experience, and you'll certainly need the degree and certification.

The other thing that I find is that a lot of the schools say, "35% American," "15% Canadian," but the students really aren't culturally American. By that, I mean that their ABC or CBC, or ABK, or whatever other acronym you have out there. A lot of kids have been living outside of the States/Canada their entire lives. So you go to these schools thinking you have a great diversity of students and in actuality you don't.

It's not really a "problem," but something to be aware of. I'm in total agreement with teacherguy--look at the school board information as well as if they're connected to any embassies, consulates, or NGO organizations. At an interview, ask if students' parents come from government connections or businesses/management.

Salary at Surabaya International School for someone with 15 years of experience would be about $40-45K a year.

Be advised that there is a 90% staff turnover at the end of 2012-2013.
Lovely, lovely local staff, great students, great location. Poorly managed money by the school (business manager is not known to be the best with numbers, or the most honest).

Teachers in the elementary were still using chalkboards and shared 2 computer projectors between 14 classrooms. Elementary principal overhired in the ES and teachers ended up having only 9-11 kids in their classrooms. The school then had to let teachers go. After that happened, 13 other teachers handed in their resignations. Now, 1.5 years later, the rest of the overseas staff is on it's way out the door. Last I heard, only 2-3 were staying past 2013.

If you're interested in Concordia, why not take a look at their website and their application? In the application it asks how you would model your faith in the classroom.

I do know that homeroom teachers have devotions with their students each morning, and that there are Bible classes taught. The school is a Lutheran School and their teachers are Christians. Teachers don't have to hand in a report of where they went to church on Sunday, but they are asked to model Christ to their students, pray with them, and support the mission of the school which is first of all, "To reflect Christ today, tomorrow, and forever." (Under their core values on their website.)

There are a lot of great schools in Shanghai--this is just one of them, so if it's not the right fit for you, no worries! That said, their teachers are top-notch and their head of school has a great reputation.