Morale is not good at AISB. They are now only doing flights every two years and reducing the number of dependants that can attend the school. The board is not pro-teacher and further cuts are expected. They do have a new director coming in next year. Might be a change for the better but the board did hire him. There is no change to the tax policy at the school. It is still a tax free salary and will be for the time being.

If they are desperate and can't get it done on time they will fly you to the nearest country for a day or two and then have you get the visa done then fly you back.

If it is a top school (like SFS) they will have a connection to get it done for you a little more quickly if need be.

Congrats on the offer.

If you are new to overseas I say take as much as you can in your air shipment/baggage but if you are a lifer then buy and ship. I did the '3 bag move' a few times and got tired of that. Now I just take it all with me. When I've added up shipping allowances I have always come out on top.

I have sent my stuff around the world a couple of times and if you send in mid-June it is usually there for you by the end of August. A couple of weeks of discomfort but worth it to have my things and not have to make 20 trips to IKEA to get it all again.

Every top tier school I've worked at has paid for a ticket up front. Most for profits don't.

My advice would be... 'keep your options open.' Most international schools at the moment will only hire a teacher with three dependents for hard to fill positions. They will also do it late in the game (after April). It's not impossible but it won't be easy and you will not be a first choice.

Your foreign language might be the ticket.

What country? It really is different depending on the country. Many countries I have worked have let me in on a visit visa while they waited for the work visa. In other places it was done weeks before I arrived.

It happened to me in the Middle East and it was the school not the country that did it before I arrived.

I got my last job through Skype and they only interviewed me once. I had a friend interviewing at two of the big Asian school last week and he did 3 skype interviews at one school and 4 at another.

Since most schools limit the amount of years of experience you can have (usually between 5 and 10) as a new hire they don't tend to care if you have a masters degree or ten. Most like to advertise that their teachers have masters degrees so having it is a good thing.

In my experience, usually, only two degrees help you out.

To make a short answer long... no. I have never heard of that happening.

It all depends... you can find a lot of the postings on TIEonline. You can also find them on the individual school websites. Some schools only hire through agencies and some like to save some money and hire not using them.

In the end it all depends on your experience, certification and where you want to go.

If you are a highly experienced specialty teacher that a school is in desperate need of then you can write your own ticket. If you are a generalist with little experience you might want to use Search or ISS or the like or you may want to 'cut your teeth' on a 3rd or 2nd tier school.

Good luck

Radishflower... not to burn a bridge here but didn't you just basically say the same thing as Psyguy? His numbers are a bit off but as we all know salary is not important it is savings potential that really matter.

I've been overseas a long time and know many teachers who consider Lincoln to be the dream school. This being said the friends who have landed there have found the salary hard to save on.

Use google maps for the hotel. I prefer to stay at the actual hotel. It costs more but damn it is more convenient and easier for people to contact you and if you have an hour off I like to go to my room and get out of the rat race.

Stay for the entire thing. Seriously. You paid to be there. You never know what is going to happen. I have been offered jobs before fairs have begun and on the last day. You really never know. If you do intend to leave early be prepared to tell recruiters that. I would also come up with a better excuse then being economical.

To impress I would dress well. Be polite to everyone because you never know who will help you out in the end. The truth is for a counselor your options will be limited to a select number of schools needing to fill that position. You'll know that well in advance. If you are interested in them send your stuff early and express that interest. Have them contacting you. Be yourself... unless you're weird, odd or a douche... then be someone cool. Be Ferris Bueller.

@psyguy Some were and now are in the Middle school as well.

Not too many IB physics teachers that trail. Although I do agree that falling enrollment and a bad economy are the main reasons the school is struggling.

I do know a lot of people who work there and I haven't heard them complain about the workload. This being said when you are making that much money not many will listen.

Psyguy stole my question but he is correct in that it is integrated.

When I was interviewed there a few years back (read a long time ago) the first thing I was shown was a copy of the mission statement which had several points. I was only asked to speak to the one dealing with religion. Next I was told how it wasn't really that religious. It is.

PS - What has also happened is that a lot of teaching couples have gone to that school with one not working so that he or she could be with the kids. Financially a family of four can save substantially there on one salary. Many of those trailing spouses are waiting in the wings for jobs. Many positions there are hired through this group.

Every international school has a different policy for free tuition for dependents but many have a one teacher - one tuition policy. I don't think this will hold you back at all.