SA Toronto of San Fran?

kcjm · Post by **kcjm** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 11:05 am

I'm a high school counselor (with dependents)...my associate told me I wouldn't be competitive enough for Cambridge (due to my dependents) and suggested Toronto. San Fran is an option too, but she said it's late in the recruiting season...

Any tips/suggestions? Do I even have a prayer?! ;)

Teachermama · Post by **Teachermama** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 11:48 am

Have you tried the UNI fair? It may be what we end up doing. We also have three kids and we spoke to a UNI rep and she said that it would be harder but not impossible to find a school. There is a lot of overlap in the schools list between their fair and Cambridge...

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 3:22 am

KCJM - how many years experience? Spouse a teacher, or are you a single parent? Dependents implies more than one.

As pointed out amply by PsyGuy and others, being a single teacher with multiple dependents puts you at a disadvantage unless you are truly stellar. The three big fairs are BKK (in early January), London (in later January) and Boston/Cambridge (in early February). ISS and Search piggy back off of each other; for instance, ISS Bangkok ends one one day and two days later, SA Bangkok starts (or maybe even the next day!). Those fairs are for candidates who are deemed competitive. Last year, I went to BKK with a trailing spouse, but no children, and had a couple of job offers. If I had also had a child (or two!) I might not have received those offers.

If you had to choose between Toronto or San Fran, I would skip the Search fairs, meaning you should get a fair attendance still for next year or the year after that) and as Teachermama suggests, go to UNI in Cedar Rapids Iowa in February. It has a lot of schools which attend and the jobs go fast and furious, from what I understand.

Good luck with your choice!

mysharona · Post by **mysharona** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 3:34 am

Our situation is different but we had 3 dependents and got jobs at UNI on two different occasions. I can't recommend the fair enough.

kcjm · Post by **kcjm** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 9:27 am

Thanks for replying. Yes, I've got a trailing spouse, and 2 young children (1 would be preschool age next year), and 6 years experience as a high school counselor. I knew I wouldn't be competitive due to my dependents, but I don't feel like I'm getting good advice from my associate. I'll check into the UNI fair. Wish I had known about this before joining and paying Search. Oh well. :)

mysharona- Good do know it's possible to get a job with 3 dependents. Not sure what your line of work is...but I'm still going to give it a shot.

Thanks again for the tips. This forum is so helpful.

grdwdgrrrl · Post by **grdwdgrrrl** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:38 pm

We also got a job with a trailer and 3 primary aged children. We have to pay 5% tuition for the kids, which is ok. My husband is a Maths teacher, so a high needs area. However there are other schools like this one that look for couples and families. It can be pretty lonely on this island.
We were in Shanghai before, which was great and I miss it every day, but for the kids, this is much better. We lived in a high rise, downtown, which was an hour from the school. Now, we are in a neighbourhood where the kids can ride their bikes to the park. The air is clean. We're 10 min walk from the school. Sorry, I digressed.
Anyhow, there are places for you out there, just not a lot. We did get a lot of interviews at schools that weren't into schooling 3 kids. Those places are all about the money though. Search carefully.

jbiersteker · Post by **jbiersteker** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 5:17 am

We went to Toronto and thought that we were pretty competitive, but alas came out with nothing. The fair in Toronto is pretty small and we felt that having kids was a bit of a disadvantage (at Boston as well), but we love them regardless and are now enjoying our time in Seoul with them. I got this job through a SKYPE interview.

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:33 pm

kcjm, if you parse mysharona and teachermama's posts carefully, you will see they refer to "we" having three dependents.

If you are a single teacher with three dependents, including your spouse, you might get a job. I can almost 100% guarantee you though that unless you are in an absolutely high needs category (IB Bio and Chem combo, or IB Math and Physics combo would be the four that come to mind) any school that recruits you is not going to be anywhere close to what you would want/need.

Not saying miracles don't happen, but I am trying to be realistic. Most teachers who do well at UNI are teaching couples, and it sounds like that's what mysharona and teachermama are. Having three kids as a teaching couple is not a deal breaker - I have friends on the circuit who match those exact specs. But a single teacher with three dependents, including spouse - not as likely.

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:34 pm

Best advice - get yur spouse certified stat!