My husband and I are seeking advise regarding our interest in IT from August, 2014. Whilst we have read the forum extensively, we would like peoples general feedback.
Our details:
Myself
- Female
- 29 years old
- 5th year teacher
- Senior Secondary Environmental and Marine Science Teacher
- Middle Years Mathematics and Science Teacher
- No IB experience
- Bachelor in Science (Environmental Science)
- Post Graduate Diploma of Education
- Masters of Education (School Guidance and Counseling)
- Have received district awards for my teaching excellence
- Well travelled, basic Thai language skills
My husband
- Male
- 32 years old
- 1.5 years teaching experience (will have 2 years by Dec, 2013)
- Elementary School/Special Needs/Learning Support teacher
- Bachelor of Education
- Masters of Education (School Guidance and Counseling)
- Has lived overseas
- Well travelled, basic thai language skills
As a couple
- No dependants
- Keen to work in Vietnam, Thailand, Caribbean, Japan
- We cannot attend any upcoming job fairs as they clash with holidays we’ve already booked and paid for to Vietnam and Europe.
- We have registered with SA
- We are happy to start out at a 2nd tier school and would aim for employment at somewhere like International School Bangkok in a few years time (after IB experience).
- We need somewhere with reasonable income to support our home loan here in Australia whilst being able to sustain our travel and living expenses.
- We are happy for employment as either counselors or teachers.
- We intend to begin applying for August, 2014 jobs when they become listed in October/November 2013
Our questions…
Are we very employable?
Are we likely to get a 1st or 2nd tier school on our first attempt?
Could any experienced teachers/teaching couples give us recommendations on a good first school and/or location?
Are there any specific schools or cities we should be targeting?
:D :D :D
Teaching couple - first time advise
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Yantantether
- Posts: 168
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:41 am
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arcinspire
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 12:37 am
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BookshelfAmy
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:21 pm
No advice (or advise), but how about some encouragement? My husband and I have similar qualifications to you -- yours might be better, in fact. We didn't attend a fair and got hired at a good school (not an "elite" school, but a tier one, I think) in a competitive region. It seems that if you present yourselves accurately and appealingly, it's just a matter of finding schools that need what you're offering. I think you guys will be great.
One question: are you willing to consider other locations? I understand having a dream location (and I'm not saying to give up on that, because i I ended up pretty darn close to mine :) BUT it does increase your odds of finding the right fit if you apply more broadly.
Good luck!
One question: are you willing to consider other locations? I understand having a dream location (and I'm not saying to give up on that, because i I ended up pretty darn close to mine :) BUT it does increase your odds of finding the right fit if you apply more broadly.
Good luck!
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eion_padraig
- Posts: 408
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm
@arcinspire
I see both you and your husband have school counseling degrees. Have either of you worked as school counselors or is your experience limited to teaching?
School counselors are in demand. Experienced ones often get hired in advance of the fairs once they have networks in international schools. My friends who attended fairs had multiple offers before leaving the fairs.
It can be hard to find two counseling positions at the same school, though I know one couple who moving to their second international placement in Asia and they both work as school counselors at different levels.
I think if one of you is looking to work as a counselor and the other as a teacher, you will have some traction in the regions you mention as highly desirable. However, if you are just targeting those countries, you may miss out. You'll probably need to decide which position you are your husband are targeting or put together different resumes/cover letters to target available positions.
I think if you broadened your search to other countries in Asia, you would definitely have options even if you don't attend hiring fairs. People I know in the Caribbean don't make big salaries, so you might find it tough to make an income that can cover your home loan and have extra for a lot of travel.
Do you have friends or former colleagues working at international schools? Use those social networks if you have them; it can make a big difference. Without social networks, the hiring fairs are a lot more important initially. Still, I think as counselors you can find jobs without fairs, but I think places will prefer people they've met or people who current employees have recommended. You might have to wait later in the hiring season before offers materialize.
Places like IS Bangkok really have their pick of people. You may find it takes more than a few years before you're competitive for being hired by a place like ISB. Granted timing, luck, and networking have something to do with being hired by that caliber of school even when you're a good teacher/counselor.
Good luck.
I see both you and your husband have school counseling degrees. Have either of you worked as school counselors or is your experience limited to teaching?
School counselors are in demand. Experienced ones often get hired in advance of the fairs once they have networks in international schools. My friends who attended fairs had multiple offers before leaving the fairs.
It can be hard to find two counseling positions at the same school, though I know one couple who moving to their second international placement in Asia and they both work as school counselors at different levels.
I think if one of you is looking to work as a counselor and the other as a teacher, you will have some traction in the regions you mention as highly desirable. However, if you are just targeting those countries, you may miss out. You'll probably need to decide which position you are your husband are targeting or put together different resumes/cover letters to target available positions.
I think if you broadened your search to other countries in Asia, you would definitely have options even if you don't attend hiring fairs. People I know in the Caribbean don't make big salaries, so you might find it tough to make an income that can cover your home loan and have extra for a lot of travel.
Do you have friends or former colleagues working at international schools? Use those social networks if you have them; it can make a big difference. Without social networks, the hiring fairs are a lot more important initially. Still, I think as counselors you can find jobs without fairs, but I think places will prefer people they've met or people who current employees have recommended. You might have to wait later in the hiring season before offers materialize.
Places like IS Bangkok really have their pick of people. You may find it takes more than a few years before you're competitive for being hired by a place like ISB. Granted timing, luck, and networking have something to do with being hired by that caliber of school even when you're a good teacher/counselor.
Good luck.
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arcinspire
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 12:37 am
Thanks for the information.
With regards to location, we are flexible. Those are the places we have looked at so far. We have family who spend a lot of time in Vietnam, hence the interest in the South East Asia area.
With regard to counseling, I graduate in December with 200 hours practical experience. I am also looking at a 6 month contract for early next year before we go overseas. My husband won't finish his Master's until early next year, so won't be able to add experience before we move. Counseling wasn't a priority for us but if something comes up we would be happy to look into it.
Thanks again for the info.
With regards to location, we are flexible. Those are the places we have looked at so far. We have family who spend a lot of time in Vietnam, hence the interest in the South East Asia area.
With regard to counseling, I graduate in December with 200 hours practical experience. I am also looking at a 6 month contract for early next year before we go overseas. My husband won't finish his Master's until early next year, so won't be able to add experience before we move. Counseling wasn't a priority for us but if something comes up we would be happy to look into it.
Thanks again for the info.
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eion_padraig
- Posts: 408
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm
It's too bad you'll be missing the hiring fairs. I think you both would benefit by attending one in terms of having more and probably better options.
I still think you're competitive as a couple, but I think you become a lot more desirable if one of you targets counseling positions. The timing of when you finish your degrees may be an issue as some schools may want you to have your degree and license/credential in hand before they hire you. I don't know. The last two years there have still been school counseling positions being listed on TIEonline and Search Associates late in the hiring season (March, April, May), but the majority are at less desirable schools though there were some at solid schools as well.
To get back to your original questions.
As far as I see it, you're definitely employable.
I think you'd be very likely to get offered positions at a tier 2 school if you were going to a hiring fair, and you might be offered a place at a tier 1 school. You could be hired at tier 3 schools no problem even without going to hiring fairs. The trick will be getting to a tier 2 school, which I think is possible. Remember this tier thing is awfully subjective anyway and there are things that you have no control over that influence offers you get. Sometimes it's about timing and luck. I also think that being proactive can create 'luck'.
I'd recommend you pay the $29 to sign up with TIEonline for the year as well in addition to SA.
Recommendations are difficult because so much of it has to do with personal preference. Spending a little time on the boards will give you a sense of how different people feel about the same cities/countries.
Having said that, China has a lot of growth in international schools, and a lot of new IB schools. I personally would focus on foreign run schools in China and avoid any of the Chinese private schools with international curriculum or public Chinese high schools with international programs. I think of these places as tier 3 schools. Granted, there are also crappy places run by foreigners too. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Suzhou are the cities I would focus on in China given their size, number of international schools, and quality of life for foreigners.
Besides Vietnam and Thailand, I would also target the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, and Indonesia. I know people working at good schools in all these countries where they make good money.
There is good money in the Middle East as well. I, personally, would be very cautious of which schools I would be willing to work at within the region. I wouldn't work at any of the schools run by and for wealthy Middle Eastern nationals. I'd look at where the embassy/consulate send their employees' children.
Good luck.
I still think you're competitive as a couple, but I think you become a lot more desirable if one of you targets counseling positions. The timing of when you finish your degrees may be an issue as some schools may want you to have your degree and license/credential in hand before they hire you. I don't know. The last two years there have still been school counseling positions being listed on TIEonline and Search Associates late in the hiring season (March, April, May), but the majority are at less desirable schools though there were some at solid schools as well.
To get back to your original questions.
As far as I see it, you're definitely employable.
I think you'd be very likely to get offered positions at a tier 2 school if you were going to a hiring fair, and you might be offered a place at a tier 1 school. You could be hired at tier 3 schools no problem even without going to hiring fairs. The trick will be getting to a tier 2 school, which I think is possible. Remember this tier thing is awfully subjective anyway and there are things that you have no control over that influence offers you get. Sometimes it's about timing and luck. I also think that being proactive can create 'luck'.
I'd recommend you pay the $29 to sign up with TIEonline for the year as well in addition to SA.
Recommendations are difficult because so much of it has to do with personal preference. Spending a little time on the boards will give you a sense of how different people feel about the same cities/countries.
Having said that, China has a lot of growth in international schools, and a lot of new IB schools. I personally would focus on foreign run schools in China and avoid any of the Chinese private schools with international curriculum or public Chinese high schools with international programs. I think of these places as tier 3 schools. Granted, there are also crappy places run by foreigners too. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Suzhou are the cities I would focus on in China given their size, number of international schools, and quality of life for foreigners.
Besides Vietnam and Thailand, I would also target the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, and Indonesia. I know people working at good schools in all these countries where they make good money.
There is good money in the Middle East as well. I, personally, would be very cautious of which schools I would be willing to work at within the region. I wouldn't work at any of the schools run by and for wealthy Middle Eastern nationals. I'd look at where the embassy/consulate send their employees' children.
Good luck.
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arcinspire
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 12:37 am