Toronto Fair Report Day #2

[jbiersteker]

Whew, six iinterviews, a bunch of presentations and no nibbles yet. Here's what we saw:
1. Its hard hearing other people getting offers that you want, and them turning them down. It makes you wonder two things:
a. why did they get the job offer? Did you screw up the interview?
b. do you want the job if you are not their first choice
2. Toronto is a tough fair for our "family" situation:
a. There aren't a lot of secondary history positions.
b. There are not a lot of "international" school for those of us with children.
3. Its hard to find "fits". My wife can go anywhere as an elementary teacher, me with my qualifications, not so much.
4. Sunday looks like it could be the day for job offers, but with Iowa and Cambridge coming up, the directors are definitely in the drivers' seat.

Thanks!!

[pencil]

Thanks for reporting! 6 interviews is a lot! Hang in there. Everything is possible! :)

[wanderluzt]

Thank you for your interesting tidbits and to everyone else who is sharing the experience.

[shadowjack]

But don't look only at secondary history positions. Middle School humanities, high school Economics and Business and Marketing all fall within that History/Social Studies band.

Often, it isn't about just your certification, but about what else you bring to the table. I had three schools interested in me because I basically had taught everything except the kitchen sink - all successfully - and they knew that they could then hire for the other positions and slot me into what didn't get hired.

For me, it is still going to be IB training, which is what I wanted, and a practicum and opportunities for Mrs. S...

So don't be afraid in the interviews to highlight other areas of strength you have which they might not be aware of.

[shadowjack]

jbiersteker

The American School of Kuwait has elementary positions open

AND THEY JUST POSTED A MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES POSITION!

GO GO GO GO GO!

[PsyGuy]

Some people interview for the practice and really have high expectations, that a school realistically cant meet. I had one candidate at the Sydney fair last year who wanted us to make their car payment. Some people also want a backup plan or school. A low level school that they can pretty much walk into.
A lot of screwups during interviews arent actually problems with the candidate but not understanding the culture and environment.

You need to expand your Search, in IB social studies is called Humanities, but you should also look at other fields such as psychology, economics, business, political science and religious studies. You may also consider a middle school generalist position as well. Its not just history and in many ISs these positions are specific teaching subjects.

[jbiersteker]

Thank you everybody for the advice and trust me I've spent a lot of time selling myself as capable of MS Humanities, IB Economics, ES Phys-Ed, but at the end of the day, these are Tier One schools, they're going to other fairs (much bigger than Toronto), and they can afford to be patient because they know people will be tripping over themselves to come to them.

Thanks!!

[cdn]

I have two years of experience going into London, and they were in primarily English (8-10). Mrs. CDN and I just accepted positions at one of the IASAS schools, and my new posting isn't entirely related to the experience I have had already. They want to see the enthusiasm and interest you can bring to the school over other experience-related factors. That's alla in my relatively new set of rose-tinted glasses, though. Grain of salt.