The International Schools Review Forum

As a science teacher and a primary school teacher, we are thinking of applying to international schools next year and have a few main concerns/queries.

What is the best way to apply for international school jobs as a couple? Is it to go through the job fairs?

Also, we aren't married, will this hinder our chances of getting jobs as a couple i.e. together?

Thanks.

Your not a teaching couple. In many countries (mainly outside Western Europe) your relationship isnt recognized, and few recruiters admins would approach your application as anything other then individually.

A lot of people get hired through fairs, but a lot get hired outside of fairs. It depends what your resumes are like, and where you are in your careers.

Actually, I have worked at several schools now, all in Asia, and can think of a number of couples I've worked with who were not married and were hired as a couple. There probably are some schools/countries that would not be able to hire you unless you were married, and in some cases it could just be a school or director's preference that you were. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are hired as a couple and end up splitting up you'd really be on your own. The school would most likely not provide you each with your own housing, insurance etc if you were hired under a couple's contract, meaning you would need to pay for your own rent, etc. I think this is the reason most schools prefer that couples be married as they see it as a sign of greater stability (though of course we all know marriage is not a guarantee that you wouldn't split, anyway.)
Your bigger problem is that you're basically too late to make it to any fairs for this year, if you were looking to go overseas starting with '13-'14. You could probably complete your applications with ISS or Search anyway and get on a waiting list, but of course there's no guarantee that a spot would open up for you. I would register with TIE Online instead at this point and see if you can get hired that way without going to a fair at all. You could also try applying directly to schools that you are interested in. Keep an open mind and don't discount a school or location right away without giving it careful thought and research first. Two of my three overseas posts were jobs which my first reaction was to reject, but I'm glad that I ended up taking both of them.
Good luck!

Yeah I know a couple of people as well that we're hired as couples who weren't. That is not typical though,most recruiters would not consider you a couple. They may hire both of you, they are more likely not to. The middle east you couldnt be hired as a couple, as your unmarried and couldn't live together. It's just too much of a headache and complicated if you break up, etc. Would a school hire you seperatly, sure. Could you choose to live together on your housing allowances, sure. Does that make you a teaching couple no. The school would be paying insurance, etc as if you were separate employees. I would not present yourselves as a couple, the pressure on the recruiter/admin is that for one of you (science teacher) they would have to take the elementary school teacher too. That sets a bad precedent for schools that any 2 teachers can "get together" and push themselves as a package. Schools don't want to do that, there is no saving to them, and again bad precedent.

The fair isn't a deal breaker, personally you don't need to go to fairs at all to get offers and a position. It really depends on your résumé. Many teachers get jobs outside the fair. We'd really need to know more about you. Lastly, just because a fair is closed doesn't mean an invitation or opening can't be made for the right candidate(s).

"Your (sic) not a teaching couple. In many countries (mainly outside Western Europe) your relationship isnt (sic) recognized, and few recruiters (sic) admins would approach your application as anything other then (sic) individually. (sic)"

Dear Rehpsw:

Please ignore this nonsense. Most international schools outside the Middle East would have no problem if you are in a long-standing relationship. I hire unmarried teaching couples every year as do colleagues in other international schools. The CIS form even has a box for teaching couples to check. Sometimes teaching couples break up. Sometimes married couples break up. Schools deal with this stuff. What schools don't like is people who misrepresent themselves. Dave psyguy is a fervent advocate of lying to get a job. Perhaps that's why he only manages to stay in each post for a year.

My school hires unmarried couples. They actually make out better than married couples because they get two housing allowances. Most but not all have been hired at job fairs.

I don't think it's too late to go to a job fair. Probably too late for the first Bangkok or Cambridge but not the later fairs if you get things together quickly.

We have loads of couples at our school, some married, some not. Many non-married couples got hired as that, couples.

It seems fairly common here and I'm in North Africa.

Many schools will hire you as a couple. Hiring as a couple means you'd be hired on the same basis as a married couple: one housing allowance being the big sticking point there. Insurance and flight costs don't increase or decrease if you're married or not.
Some schools cannot hire you as a couple because you must be married to cohabit in their country.
A very small number of Heads will not hire you as a couple, even when the country allows it, because they have outdated views. These are less and less, so don't worry too much about it. Just make sure to present yourself as a committed and stable couple. If you seem flighty, it might raise red flags. (The same goes for married couples too. No one wants to hire an impending disaster.)
Some schools would consider hiring you as two singles, though you are a couple. This would result in two housing allowances or two apartments. In certain countries, this would be a way around the cohabitation problem, though you would face issues if found to be actually cohabiting anyway. I

If you seek to get hired as a couple, you present an advantage to the school in terms of financial savings and potential stability (couples being seen as less likely to move on quickly). This increases your overall chances of getting hired. However, you limit your ability to get hired in certain countries.

If you seek to get hired as singles, you must each be worth hiring on your own merits. That could be tougher for you. Sciences teachers can be quite sought after, particularly DP Chemistry. But Primary teachers flood the market. They are often hired as part of couples, to help the school get the Chemistry teacher spouses they are most in need of.

Please don't take this to mean that Primary teachers are actually worth less. Of course not. A good Primary teacher is worth their weight in gold. But a good Primary teacher can teach a whole range of grade levels, so it's easy to slot a new hire into the school's needs. Whereas when it's DP Chemistry time, only a DP Chemistry teacher will fit the bill. Schools have to focus on these harder positions first, and the easier ones second.

Both agencies have a way of indicating your a teaching couple. That doesnt mean you are one.

If they got two separate housing allowances then they were hired seperatly. Thats why they arent a teaching couple. Its no different then two teachers dating. That doesnt make you a teaching couple.

The saving to a school for an actual teaching couple are reduced housing and insurance costs. Without that there is no benefit to a school as hiring you as a couple or separately. Thats why schools prefer hiring teaching couples first.

I was hired by a school in Colombia as a part of a unmarried couple.

We didn't know until we got there that they have common law marriage. If you have lived together for 2 years or more, legally you are married. If the couple splits up, they each are entitled to half of the estate. As far as the school was concerned we were married.

I don't know if this is true in other Latin American countries.