Job 1-Feb/March? Can't remember...so long ago. (fair)
Job 2-Feb (fair)
Job 3-Jan (fair)
Job 4-Dec-Skype/direct contact w/ school
Job 5-Nov-Skype/direct contact w/ school
When did you get hired?
Response
The rule is there is a school job for anyone if your willing to do anything and go anywhere. Jobs are disappearing, its how this system works each fair or week that goes by sees positions filled which means they arent available to you. Yes recruiting happens all year long but with the conclusion of BOS thats the end of peak recruiting season.
Re: When did you get hired?
Here is my advice from my very limited experience. If you are new to the international scene, I can't underscore the importance of going to a fair enough. We made a last-minute decision to begin applying to schools at the start of January; I received no response/interest. We went to the UNI Fair, and meeting people in person is a much more effective way to show who you are--we had far more success and walked away with jobs.
Also, while I think it's important to be very professional, I think it's also important to show your personality. Administrators are looking for people that genuinely like kids and people they want to have as part of their community. Our followup emails and parts of the interview where we spoke more about ourselves as people and our interests seemed to have far more impact than what our resumes showed. Be yourself, and they'll connect with you more.
Also, while I think it's important to be very professional, I think it's also important to show your personality. Administrators are looking for people that genuinely like kids and people they want to have as part of their community. Our followup emails and parts of the interview where we spoke more about ourselves as people and our interests seemed to have far more impact than what our resumes showed. Be yourself, and they'll connect with you more.
Re: When did you get hired?
PsyGuy, I'm sure you've probably said it a million times, but do you mind me asking what you teach?
Re: When did you get hired?
Hey Bananas, I've lived & taught in the ME since 2011. Got hired in August of that year. I know of colleagues who were hired in the middle of 2014 who are STILL waiting to come over. It seems kinda crazy but seems common in some parts of the world. Good luck!
Re: When did you get hired?
I still haven't gotten much more than a few "we'll get back to you"s but I'm going to go to the April fair in London so maybe I'll get a late job. I have a weird skill set so I'm hoping that just means it will take a bit longer before I find the perfect match :)
Re: When did you get hired?
Just got accepted my first international school position a little less than two weeks ago (so late-January).
I never went to a fair and didn't register with Search or ISS. I targeted schools in Europe and Japan, had four interviews and ended up at a great school, with a great salary in a great country in Western Europe.
My job search consisted of two elements: TIE Online and Google. In the end, I believe that contacting the school directly and interviewing (via Skype) with the school-based staff that I'll be working with gave me a distinct advantage over people at fairs who were interviewing only with the director. Let's face it, the director has the final word, but the principal and leadership team of the school are the ones that really matter as they are who you'll be working alongside on a day-to-day basis. In the end I got the job (obviously) and the people who interviewed at the fairs were sent "we regret to inform you" emails....
I plan on having a long career as an international educator but I have a hard time imagining I will ever go to a job fair.
That said, I teach in a specific field and don't have as much competition as a regular classroom teacher.
I never went to a fair and didn't register with Search or ISS. I targeted schools in Europe and Japan, had four interviews and ended up at a great school, with a great salary in a great country in Western Europe.
My job search consisted of two elements: TIE Online and Google. In the end, I believe that contacting the school directly and interviewing (via Skype) with the school-based staff that I'll be working with gave me a distinct advantage over people at fairs who were interviewing only with the director. Let's face it, the director has the final word, but the principal and leadership team of the school are the ones that really matter as they are who you'll be working alongside on a day-to-day basis. In the end I got the job (obviously) and the people who interviewed at the fairs were sent "we regret to inform you" emails....
I plan on having a long career as an international educator but I have a hard time imagining I will ever go to a job fair.
That said, I teach in a specific field and don't have as much competition as a regular classroom teacher.
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wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
Re: When did you get hired?
I'm glad it worked out for you.
Psst. Maybe try not to sound quite so smug about it as this is a sensitive time for those that have not found positions yet. You never know, you may find yourself on that side of things some day. I'm glad we had this talk.
By the way, many/most schools do send principals, vp's etc to the job fairs, so it's not just the director sitting in the hotel room all by him/herself making decisions in a vacuum.
I'm also lucky to be in a great gig and don't anticipate needing to ever attend a job fair again, but you never know.
Psst. Maybe try not to sound quite so smug about it as this is a sensitive time for those that have not found positions yet. You never know, you may find yourself on that side of things some day. I'm glad we had this talk.
By the way, many/most schools do send principals, vp's etc to the job fairs, so it's not just the director sitting in the hotel room all by him/herself making decisions in a vacuum.
I'm also lucky to be in a great gig and don't anticipate needing to ever attend a job fair again, but you never know.
Re: When did you get hired?
wrldtrvlr123 wrote:>
> Psst. Maybe try not to sound quite so smug about it as this is a sensitive
> time for those that have not found positions yet. You never know, you may
> find yourself on that side of things some day. I'm glad we had this talk.
Yea, I got my first job at my first choice school just by sending a quick email without much thought. It was a "right place at the right time" sort of thing, and I am definitely not having that this time around! If only it were always that easy....
> Psst. Maybe try not to sound quite so smug about it as this is a sensitive
> time for those that have not found positions yet. You never know, you may
> find yourself on that side of things some day. I'm glad we had this talk.
Yea, I got my first job at my first choice school just by sending a quick email without much thought. It was a "right place at the right time" sort of thing, and I am definitely not having that this time around! If only it were always that easy....
Re: When did you get hired?
@wrldtrvlr, "I'm glad we had this talk." Really? No need for the condescension...
That said, I suppose that did come across as smug and that wasn't my intention. I am grateful for having secured a job. Nothing was easy about it though. For the better part of a year I pored through a very large folder of bookmarks on a nearly daily basis, wrote dozens of cover letters, and had some heartbreaks when after great interviews the jobs were offered to others. That doesn't even take into account the past two years spent trying to crack into the DOD system.
If a person is disheartened by hearing of another's success, that's unfortunate. Perhaps they need to reassess their strategies. I know I did. I think it's foolish to attribute success to luck. Sometimes the timing is right and sometimes it isn't but the world is what you make of it, not the other way around.
@Bananas, I hope the London fair in April works out for you. In spite of my personal views on fairs (under-informed as they may be), they hold them every year for a reason and obviously tons of people end up with great jobs.
That said, I suppose that did come across as smug and that wasn't my intention. I am grateful for having secured a job. Nothing was easy about it though. For the better part of a year I pored through a very large folder of bookmarks on a nearly daily basis, wrote dozens of cover letters, and had some heartbreaks when after great interviews the jobs were offered to others. That doesn't even take into account the past two years spent trying to crack into the DOD system.
If a person is disheartened by hearing of another's success, that's unfortunate. Perhaps they need to reassess their strategies. I know I did. I think it's foolish to attribute success to luck. Sometimes the timing is right and sometimes it isn't but the world is what you make of it, not the other way around.
@Bananas, I hope the London fair in April works out for you. In spite of my personal views on fairs (under-informed as they may be), they hold them every year for a reason and obviously tons of people end up with great jobs.
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lookingforlefty
- Posts: 35
- Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:15 pm
Re: When did you get hired?
People talk about fairs falling out of fashion. I get that they're impractical, but I don't know why they would go away. They are a great time for heads to network and get their egos stroked on a free trip. Besides, they aren't necessarily looking for the most qualified teachers, just for the ones who look good, go along and get along. That's harder to gauge over Skype than at a fair. This is especially true for non-specialist positions.
I would think the utility of fairs is greatest to those who cannot easily demonstrate objective value on paper.
I would think the utility of fairs is greatest to those who cannot easily demonstrate objective value on paper.
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wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
Re: When did you get hired?
Kilg0re wrote:
> @wrldtrvlr, "I'm glad we had this talk." Really? No need for
> the condescension...
>
> That said, I suppose that did come across as smug and that wasn't my
> intention. I am grateful for having secured a job. Nothing was easy about
> it though. For the better part of a year I pored through a very large
> folder of bookmarks on a nearly daily basis, wrote dozens of cover letters,
> and had some heartbreaks when after great interviews the jobs were offered
> to others. That doesn't even take into account the past two years spent
> trying to crack into the DOD system.
>
> If a person is disheartened by hearing of another's success, that's
> unfortunate. Perhaps they need to reassess their strategies. I know I
> did. I think it's foolish to attribute success to luck. Sometimes the
> timing is right and sometimes it isn't but the world is what you make of
> it, not the other way around.
>
> @Bananas, I hope the London fair in April works out for you. In spite of
> my personal views on fairs (under-informed as they may be), they hold them
> every year for a reason and obviously tons of people end up with great
> jobs.
----------------
It was supposed to be humorous and not condescending. But I can see you disregarded the advice about coming off as smug. In any case, congrats on the job and best of luck to you.
> @wrldtrvlr, "I'm glad we had this talk." Really? No need for
> the condescension...
>
> That said, I suppose that did come across as smug and that wasn't my
> intention. I am grateful for having secured a job. Nothing was easy about
> it though. For the better part of a year I pored through a very large
> folder of bookmarks on a nearly daily basis, wrote dozens of cover letters,
> and had some heartbreaks when after great interviews the jobs were offered
> to others. That doesn't even take into account the past two years spent
> trying to crack into the DOD system.
>
> If a person is disheartened by hearing of another's success, that's
> unfortunate. Perhaps they need to reassess their strategies. I know I
> did. I think it's foolish to attribute success to luck. Sometimes the
> timing is right and sometimes it isn't but the world is what you make of
> it, not the other way around.
>
> @Bananas, I hope the London fair in April works out for you. In spite of
> my personal views on fairs (under-informed as they may be), they hold them
> every year for a reason and obviously tons of people end up with great
> jobs.
----------------
It was supposed to be humorous and not condescending. But I can see you disregarded the advice about coming off as smug. In any case, congrats on the job and best of luck to you.
Discussion
As Ive written before, fairs could vanish anytime the heads and recruiters wanted them too, they exist for the sole convenience of the schools. We arent the clients at the fairs, were the commodity, and its no different than a dog show or being the prize cow/bull at the state fair. Blue ribbons aside, were just trying to dazzle the buyers to pick us. The forum has thrown around the idea of a game show or reality talent show before (I voted for Survivor), but its no different than a casting couch audition, with less couch. Im waiting for someone to post a fair diary where the admin asked them to stand up and turn around in a circle and smile.
Ive met admins who came to the fair for the shopping trip, one female head/owner started the interview showing the applicant the items and clothes she bought, then offered the applicant the position. She just hired the first 6 or 7 people she interviewed then went to lunch.
Fit is the most difficult of the handful of factors for a school assess, its not a bout teacher quality, they already know you can teach, or you wouldnt be there. Its about finding good employees, people who will do what their told and who will do it without making a mess, and that means ITs who can do the bubble head and are followers.
Ive met admins who came to the fair for the shopping trip, one female head/owner started the interview showing the applicant the items and clothes she bought, then offered the applicant the position. She just hired the first 6 or 7 people she interviewed then went to lunch.
Fit is the most difficult of the handful of factors for a school assess, its not a bout teacher quality, they already know you can teach, or you wouldnt be there. Its about finding good employees, people who will do what their told and who will do it without making a mess, and that means ITs who can do the bubble head and are followers.