I'm a licensed school counselor with 6 years+ in the public high school setting. I have IB Level 2 training under my belt with 6 years of first hand experience. I've held a leadership role in all counseling department activities. Each year I have one-on-one college advisement meetings with each one of my seniors, arrange college fairs, coordinate admission representative to hold a college panel for parents, and experience being in charge of scholarships. And of course, crisis management, and real counseling stuff.
My husband is not a teacher. He would love to coach though. He has his MBA and a lot of tech experience. Perhaps he can contribute something to the school? We have 2 young children (3 and 6 months). The plan would be for him to stay home. So, I essentially have 3 dependents.
My dream would be a top tier school, preferably: 1)Bangkok 2)Singapore (really anywhere SE asia) 3) Turkey 4) Jordan 5) Netherlands...BUT, I can be flexible.
Tips? Apply to schools individually? Sign up for a job fair? Do I even have a shot with my dependents? What's the deal with job fairs, do you have to be invited? When do I start applying? Thanks in advance.
School Counselor with dependents. Tips please!
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vettievette
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:31 am
Hi I'm an int'l school counselor- welcome to the crazy, frantic, but rewarding world of finding work abroad! :) I'll be very frank and voice some thoughts you'd hear from everybody else - you and your dependents would be considered a very expensive hire, particularly since you don't have any experience overseas.
Your college counseling experience is highly valued, but this field is VERY competitive at int'l schools and recruiters may not give you a first glance at the "first tier" schools in SE Asia...those are hard enough to get into for singles/married teaching couples. Another thing to think about - what will your husband do with his MBA experience? Some schools may be hiring for counseling AND have a marketing position open - so that may be something you both should consider though that combination is rare.
If you really want to go overseas - keep your options open beyond SE Asia and Europe particularly with the amount of dependents you have in the recruiters' eyes. Sign up for a Search Fair - the Cambridge Fair is pretty good for first-timers and TIEOnline.
Your college counseling experience is highly valued, but this field is VERY competitive at int'l schools and recruiters may not give you a first glance at the "first tier" schools in SE Asia...those are hard enough to get into for singles/married teaching couples. Another thing to think about - what will your husband do with his MBA experience? Some schools may be hiring for counseling AND have a marketing position open - so that may be something you both should consider though that combination is rare.
If you really want to go overseas - keep your options open beyond SE Asia and Europe particularly with the amount of dependents you have in the recruiters' eyes. Sign up for a Search Fair - the Cambridge Fair is pretty good for first-timers and TIEOnline.
vettievette- Thank you for your reply, and your honesty. I figured we'd be an expensive hire, but it's worth a shot. While I don't have any experience school counseling internationally, I do have experience living abroad as I lived in several countries while in high school and in college. I'm hoping I can at least try to use that to my advantage? :) How would you suggest me mentioning my family, and my husband with his MBA? I'm thinking the only fairs I can swing this year would be San Fran or UNI. Any preference? Are there recruiters through TIEonline? Thanks again for your help.
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eion_padraig
- Posts: 408
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm
I know of one school counselor with two dependents who works at a what I'd consider a tier two school in Asia, and several other counselors with one dependent (either spouse or child). I agree with vettievette that three dependents would be a hard sell, but if your husband could work in a support role (tech, admission, alumni relations, development, etc) then the equation changes a great deal. Depending on the country, childcare can be very inexpensive and some places the 3 year old may be able to attend preschool. I tend to think 3 dependents would put you over the line even for a school counselor.
Are you going to the NACAC conference in Toronto? You could connect up with international school counselors, which could help your search. It's being put on by Overseas ACAC. The better conference to attend is OACAC during July to meet more folks working in the field.
The counseling jobs are often hired for even before the fairs start, but usually that happens with people already overseas who have networks. School counseling and increasing number of college counseling jobs will continue to pop up through May, but I'd argue the bulk of the jobs at desirable schools are posted from January to March. Occasionally, a good school will post a job late in the season though.
Get signed up for Search Associates by the end of October if you can. The SA job fairs let school counselors interview with recruiters one day before teachers do. TIEonline is also good to sign up for as vettievette said.
Applying to schools individually can't hurt. The worst thing that can happen is you don't hear back from them or they say no. You can find international schools through the IBO database. CIS used to have an open database, but it appears to be unavailable currently.
Good luck.
Are you going to the NACAC conference in Toronto? You could connect up with international school counselors, which could help your search. It's being put on by Overseas ACAC. The better conference to attend is OACAC during July to meet more folks working in the field.
The counseling jobs are often hired for even before the fairs start, but usually that happens with people already overseas who have networks. School counseling and increasing number of college counseling jobs will continue to pop up through May, but I'd argue the bulk of the jobs at desirable schools are posted from January to March. Occasionally, a good school will post a job late in the season though.
Get signed up for Search Associates by the end of October if you can. The SA job fairs let school counselors interview with recruiters one day before teachers do. TIEonline is also good to sign up for as vettievette said.
Applying to schools individually can't hurt. The worst thing that can happen is you don't hear back from them or they say no. You can find international schools through the IBO database. CIS used to have an open database, but it appears to be unavailable currently.
Good luck.
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vettievette
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:31 am
I personally have only gone through Search so I can't really comment on ISS, however, most of my counselor buddies and teacher friends have gone through Search and/or CIS. I've also registered with TIEOnline this year just to broaden my scope a bit.
When I applied in 2011, I went to the Cambridge fair and didn't land a gig (though the experience was INVALUABLE). I was fortunate enough to land a position that was posted after the fairs at a great school - but also had to be more openminded about my location.
CIS database is open and more listings should be posted in the coming weeks: http://www.cois.org/page.cfm?p=1238
When I applied in 2011, I went to the Cambridge fair and didn't land a gig (though the experience was INVALUABLE). I was fortunate enough to land a position that was posted after the fairs at a great school - but also had to be more openminded about my location.
CIS database is open and more listings should be posted in the coming weeks: http://www.cois.org/page.cfm?p=1238