Last year I signed a contract with a school.
Then I went to visit the school prior to starting my job THIS year. During my visit I was asked if I'd be interested in substituting for the last 2 monrths and I jumped at the chance. Everything was going well (loved my students) until I was told 3 days prior to end of that school year that I was being terminated. It made no sense as the reasons were ridiculous (turned out they were applying the same rules as if I was on a non-substitute contract in terms of sick days and there was alot of miscommunication in terms of how the Director had perceived certain situations she had "heard" about instead of coming to see me directly to discuss what actually occured). Looking back I can see the mistakes I made : 1) There was never a written contract in terms of what was expected of me as a substitute 2) The school is not an accredited school- it was started by a former Peace Corps volunteer (you will never find it listed on Search, ISS, or TIE as far as I know) and they had me working on a tourist visa while I was substituting, 3) I should have just gone back home after my visit and THEN had the school buy my plane ticket and fly me back THIS year to start my offical contract (and process my work visa). By doing this, I feel that the school would not have treated me so poorly as they would have now made an investment in me.
In any case, I am writing in this forum because it has been quite a bummer to have signed a contract last year only to find oneself jobless this year. I never imagined that a Director could offer me a position only to take it away from me before I even began the job ! In fact, this is the first time this has ever happened to me.
Since then,I have been looking for positions again this year on TIE but the chances of my finding an overseas teaching position look pretty bad now that I have a blank space on my resume (thus I have not registered with Search or ISS).
In the past I have been able to get a teaching position as late as May/June on TIE but this year I feel like the overseas teaching market is flooded.
Any thoughts about what happened to me ? Was it fair or unfair ?
Will there still be last minute openings as late as May/June this year ?
(P.S.) In the past I have always worked for the most part for accredited overseas schools that are well-established.
Getting depressed about job search/Any advice ?
Reply
Im sorry, be sure to write a review of the school (Walter will probably be on soon to say it was your fault and a school would "never" do something like this to a teacher, so it has to be some horrible thing you did).
Your not really giving a lot of information to determine if it was "fair" or not. You were basically a non contracted local hire, which means much like the USA you were an at-will employee. The school could have gotten rid of you for no reason or any reason at all. having ahd the school pay your travel expenses would have been no guarantee of any protections, they could have easily dumped you regardless of what the "investment" in you was.
I see three likely things that happened:
1) The school didnt "need" you anymore. Enrollment dropped, budget came up short, a change in staffing, or some other organizational event happened. Being there put admin in a position to construct a "your not a good fit" rational for firing you. If you had NEVER even arrived, the school would not be in a position to make it an issue of "you" and not them, but since you were there they can say whatever they want about you.
2) You pissed off the wrong person. You dont see what the "events" that brought you to the attention of admin, but educators (admins and teachers, like most adults never really grow up, its basically just like high school) and someone with the admins ear, or access to ownership just didnt like you.
3) This is going to hurt, and again not a lot of information, but you screwed up. No contract, lack of staff manual, no guidance or directive, doesnt matter Admins are always right and can do no wrong (just ask them). You may have had strong cause for mitigation of whatever the issue was, but at the end of the day you made a mistake and no one owes you the opportunity correct or rehabilitate the error. At the end of the short term, the issues regardless of how minor were just a sufficient negative then starting with a teacher with a clean slate.
Your "hole" in your resume doesnt have to be a hole, and id leave the school off of your resume. You can easily cover up a year with an extended vacation sitting on a beach somewhere drinking daiquiris, going back to school, taking care of a family member, etc.. to cover it up. I would contact whatever agency you use and get back out there. Moppinga round for a year isnt going to fix anything or make anything better. Whats going to fix this is getting a position with another/new school as soon as possible and burying this experience behind a strong reference. "Waiting" is just going to make the hole bigger.
Your not really giving a lot of information to determine if it was "fair" or not. You were basically a non contracted local hire, which means much like the USA you were an at-will employee. The school could have gotten rid of you for no reason or any reason at all. having ahd the school pay your travel expenses would have been no guarantee of any protections, they could have easily dumped you regardless of what the "investment" in you was.
I see three likely things that happened:
1) The school didnt "need" you anymore. Enrollment dropped, budget came up short, a change in staffing, or some other organizational event happened. Being there put admin in a position to construct a "your not a good fit" rational for firing you. If you had NEVER even arrived, the school would not be in a position to make it an issue of "you" and not them, but since you were there they can say whatever they want about you.
2) You pissed off the wrong person. You dont see what the "events" that brought you to the attention of admin, but educators (admins and teachers, like most adults never really grow up, its basically just like high school) and someone with the admins ear, or access to ownership just didnt like you.
3) This is going to hurt, and again not a lot of information, but you screwed up. No contract, lack of staff manual, no guidance or directive, doesnt matter Admins are always right and can do no wrong (just ask them). You may have had strong cause for mitigation of whatever the issue was, but at the end of the day you made a mistake and no one owes you the opportunity correct or rehabilitate the error. At the end of the short term, the issues regardless of how minor were just a sufficient negative then starting with a teacher with a clean slate.
Your "hole" in your resume doesnt have to be a hole, and id leave the school off of your resume. You can easily cover up a year with an extended vacation sitting on a beach somewhere drinking daiquiris, going back to school, taking care of a family member, etc.. to cover it up. I would contact whatever agency you use and get back out there. Moppinga round for a year isnt going to fix anything or make anything better. Whats going to fix this is getting a position with another/new school as soon as possible and burying this experience behind a strong reference. "Waiting" is just going to make the hole bigger.
Dave, are you taking my name in vain?
Hi Missy,
It's not like me to be brutal. Unlike Dave Jaw, I care about the people as well as the data. However, you will know in pretty short order whether the revocation of your contract was due to downsizing. You will know because you will hear if they are replacing you with someone else. If they are replacing you, then that tells you something you may not wish to hear.
What isn't clear is this part of your post: "turned out they were applying the same rules as if I was on a non-substitute contract in terms of sick days and there was alot of miscommunication in terms of how the Director had perceived certain situations she had "heard" about instead of coming to see me directly to discuss what actually occured"...
That sounds to me as though there were issues about the number of absences you took and, as well, "certain situations" that took place. I can't answer whether those "issues" and "situations" were enough to frighten off the school. It may be that when you talk these through with friends and colleagues you will be able to arrive at an objective assessment of the perception you created.
In the meantime, you may want to think about this:
a) There are really bad schools out there, and their owners/heads sem to have zero conscience about the way they treat people. If you have been treated badly or unfairly, then I can only hope that you have better luck next time.
b) On the other hand, experienced as I am at hiring teachers, from time to time I mess up and hire someone who is totally the wrong person. If that happens, I will do whatever it takes to rectify the situation - which usually means paying off the teacher for some or all of the contract. What I will not do is have the wrong/inappropriate/incompetent teacher working with our studnets for a moment longer than I have to.
It's not like me to be brutal. Unlike Dave Jaw, I care about the people as well as the data. However, you will know in pretty short order whether the revocation of your contract was due to downsizing. You will know because you will hear if they are replacing you with someone else. If they are replacing you, then that tells you something you may not wish to hear.
What isn't clear is this part of your post: "turned out they were applying the same rules as if I was on a non-substitute contract in terms of sick days and there was alot of miscommunication in terms of how the Director had perceived certain situations she had "heard" about instead of coming to see me directly to discuss what actually occured"...
That sounds to me as though there were issues about the number of absences you took and, as well, "certain situations" that took place. I can't answer whether those "issues" and "situations" were enough to frighten off the school. It may be that when you talk these through with friends and colleagues you will be able to arrive at an objective assessment of the perception you created.
In the meantime, you may want to think about this:
a) There are really bad schools out there, and their owners/heads sem to have zero conscience about the way they treat people. If you have been treated badly or unfairly, then I can only hope that you have better luck next time.
b) On the other hand, experienced as I am at hiring teachers, from time to time I mess up and hire someone who is totally the wrong person. If that happens, I will do whatever it takes to rectify the situation - which usually means paying off the teacher for some or all of the contract. What I will not do is have the wrong/inappropriate/incompetent teacher working with our studnets for a moment longer than I have to.
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higgsboson
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:13 am
Well I hate to say I told you so Missy, but I told you so! You've been clearly screwed over by a school and what do these stalwarts of ISR - Walter and Psyguy - have to say: "Tough Luck." Its nice when admin proves my point - Do the school before the school does you!
Your mistake was showing up early. It sounds like you made this mistake out of the best intensions but the long and short of it is, you gave the school both the opportunity to evaluate you AND enough time to find a replacement. I guarantee you, had you only shown up when you were expected to show up, you would have a job for next year.
It's worth repeating: Do them before they do you, because given half a chance and a fraction of a reason, an international school will do you in an instant.
For example, I have signed my usual 3 contract for next year. I'll wait until June to decide which job to show up for and I'll string along the other two schools for as long as possible. This is like insurance. If I don't like the school I decided on, I still have two other schools to fall back on.
Does it sound rough? Unethical? Well I bet Missy wishes that she was in a position of strength right now, instead of having to stress about a job this late in the hiring season and all because some international school screwed her over.
And what comfort can she expect on ISR: Tough luck Miss Missy, tough luck.
Your mistake was showing up early. It sounds like you made this mistake out of the best intensions but the long and short of it is, you gave the school both the opportunity to evaluate you AND enough time to find a replacement. I guarantee you, had you only shown up when you were expected to show up, you would have a job for next year.
It's worth repeating: Do them before they do you, because given half a chance and a fraction of a reason, an international school will do you in an instant.
For example, I have signed my usual 3 contract for next year. I'll wait until June to decide which job to show up for and I'll string along the other two schools for as long as possible. This is like insurance. If I don't like the school I decided on, I still have two other schools to fall back on.
Does it sound rough? Unethical? Well I bet Missy wishes that she was in a position of strength right now, instead of having to stress about a job this late in the hiring season and all because some international school screwed her over.
And what comfort can she expect on ISR: Tough luck Miss Missy, tough luck.
Thanks for the replies.
Walter: Yes, I have made sure to write a review regarding this school.
Psyguy and Walter: As I said before, when I visited the school last year and then was asked if I would ike to substitute the last 2 months, I should have said no.
Walter: I only had 2 sick days and you are right: there are some really bad schools/owners/directors out there. I did talk to to a few people when I came home regarding the "certain situations" that the director listed as her decision to terminate me- and they all said that it was ridiculous.
To both of you- I was not supposed to even be officially working at this school until THIS year.
higgsbosn: You make the most sense to me. I think that when I agreed to volunteer as a substitute last year (prior to starting my official contract this year) the school used me in several ways. I have a feeling that they did take the opportunity to evaluate me and perhaps find a replacement. But I'll never know. (By the way, when I visited the school last year, it was to check out the facilities and the accomadation as this was the first time I was looking at a school that was not even on ISS, Search Associate's or TIE's radar). All I can say is that I was REALLY stunned when they did what they did.
Also you are right: an international school will do you in an instant given half the chance. (The reviews on this website prooves it.)
Finally, I should have just showed up THIS year and totally declined last year's offer to sub.
Oh well.....very depressing.
Walter: Yes, I have made sure to write a review regarding this school.
Psyguy and Walter: As I said before, when I visited the school last year and then was asked if I would ike to substitute the last 2 months, I should have said no.
Walter: I only had 2 sick days and you are right: there are some really bad schools/owners/directors out there. I did talk to to a few people when I came home regarding the "certain situations" that the director listed as her decision to terminate me- and they all said that it was ridiculous.
To both of you- I was not supposed to even be officially working at this school until THIS year.
higgsbosn: You make the most sense to me. I think that when I agreed to volunteer as a substitute last year (prior to starting my official contract this year) the school used me in several ways. I have a feeling that they did take the opportunity to evaluate me and perhaps find a replacement. But I'll never know. (By the way, when I visited the school last year, it was to check out the facilities and the accomadation as this was the first time I was looking at a school that was not even on ISS, Search Associate's or TIE's radar). All I can say is that I was REALLY stunned when they did what they did.
Also you are right: an international school will do you in an instant given half the chance. (The reviews on this website prooves it.)
Finally, I should have just showed up THIS year and totally declined last year's offer to sub.
Oh well.....very depressing.
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liketotravel
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:58 pm
It's better this happened now rather then next year when your stuck with a totally lame school. You should move off the regret of taking the sub job and not waiting. You just speed up process of this school showing you that it's bad news. Shrug it off and move on.
I know it's tough, but if your dynamic enough you'll find something. I found my current job at a solid tier 2 school, one week into the school year on TIE. I returned to teaching after I took a year off for a failed business attempt. I waited till late July to look and I had two offers in early August. I even got promoted into my dream position the second year here.
Good luck!
I know it's tough, but if your dynamic enough you'll find something. I found my current job at a solid tier 2 school, one week into the school year on TIE. I returned to teaching after I took a year off for a failed business attempt. I waited till late July to look and I had two offers in early August. I even got promoted into my dream position the second year here.
Good luck!
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
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Vernacular
- Posts: 33
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wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
[quote="missy"]Thanks for the replies.
higgsbosn: You make the most sense to me. I think that when I agreed to volunteer as a substitute last year (prior to starting my official contract this year) the school used me in several ways. I have a feeling that they did take the opportunity to evaluate me and perhaps find a replacement. But I'll never know. (By the way, when I visited the school last year, it was to check out the facilities and the accomadation as this was the first time I was looking at a school that was not even on ISS, Search Associate's or TIE's radar). All I can say is that I was REALLY stunned when they did what they did.
Also you are right: an international school will do you in an instant given half the chance. (The reviews on this website prooves it.)
Finally, I should have just showed up THIS year and totally declined last year's offer to sub.
Oh well.....very depressing.[/quote]
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Sorry that you have had this bad experience but I hope it doesn't totally send you over to the dark side. Yes, there are disreputable schools and admins/owners and any employer (even a good one) can make decisions that seem arbitrary and subjective, but that none of these are good enough reasons to totally check your values at the door.
I too believe in insurance but higgs seems to have taken cya to a new and almost disturbing level (the usual 3 contracts :S). On the other hand, if you are getting away with it then I guess it's clear evidence that schools/recruiters need better coordination/communication. So, good luck with that. :D
higgsbosn: You make the most sense to me. I think that when I agreed to volunteer as a substitute last year (prior to starting my official contract this year) the school used me in several ways. I have a feeling that they did take the opportunity to evaluate me and perhaps find a replacement. But I'll never know. (By the way, when I visited the school last year, it was to check out the facilities and the accomadation as this was the first time I was looking at a school that was not even on ISS, Search Associate's or TIE's radar). All I can say is that I was REALLY stunned when they did what they did.
Also you are right: an international school will do you in an instant given half the chance. (The reviews on this website prooves it.)
Finally, I should have just showed up THIS year and totally declined last year's offer to sub.
Oh well.....very depressing.[/quote]
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Sorry that you have had this bad experience but I hope it doesn't totally send you over to the dark side. Yes, there are disreputable schools and admins/owners and any employer (even a good one) can make decisions that seem arbitrary and subjective, but that none of these are good enough reasons to totally check your values at the door.
I too believe in insurance but higgs seems to have taken cya to a new and almost disturbing level (the usual 3 contracts :S). On the other hand, if you are getting away with it then I guess it's clear evidence that schools/recruiters need better coordination/communication. So, good luck with that. :D