going into a school v email

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bish180b
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 5:54 pm

going into a school v email

Post by bish180b »

Is there any advantage of going into a school and handing over your resume on hard copy face to face as opposed to emailing it ??
curiousme
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2014 6:43 pm

Re: going into a school v email

Post by curiousme »

Most schools will insist on digital copies, if not applications via a recruitment system. However, there is no harm in s emailing to ask if you can visit the school as a prospective employee before you make a final decision on sending in your CV. (At least it's not hurt my job prospects in the past, and I was told after recruitment it was a plus point.)
JeremyIrons
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:30 am

Re: going into a school v email

Post by JeremyIrons »

It all completely depends on the type of principle / headteacher there. Some old-fashioned types may like it but it's more likely that it will just be filed by the receptionist in the same box as the other emailed ones (The head may not even know that hand-delivered it.) Plus, in some schools coming in unannounced and wanting to hand a CV in may actually inconvenience someone. You're unlikely to be let past the main gate (if there is one) and so may have to be buzzed through after the receptionist has been called etc etc. I wouldn't bother.
Mr DepTrai

Re: going into a school v email

Post by Mr DepTrai »

It can be a disadvantage as many principals are tied up all day long and unable to see you on a whim, and HR's can usually be real buttholes. (from my experience)
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Re: going into a school v email

Post by shadowjack »

Some schools will take that opportunity to hire you - and you will find out too late that because you came to them, you are a local hire.
buffalofan
Posts: 350
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:08 pm

Re: going into a school v email

Post by buffalofan »

I've heard of people FedEx-ing their hard copy resumes to schools they are interested in to get noticed. This avoids the local hire conundrum of taking it in to the school yourself.

Of course if you are FedEx-ing to multiple schools it starts to get very expensive.
TeacherInThailand
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 2:19 am

Re: going into a school v email

Post by TeacherInThailand »

At the vast majority of schools, if you take a hard copy of your CV in personally you are only going to see a secretary/receptionist who will take it and forward it on to the head of school/HR person.

The same principle is true with Fed-Ex'ing in a resume package... the FED-Ex envelope will normally only be seen by the secretary.

In almost every case it is a waste of time, energy and money.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

Their are a few Advantages to a walk-in application:
First, you get to prep your application packet with the paper, color, etc that you want in the way you want it presented.
Second, you may be very, very lucky and be invited for an interview or meeting on the spot.
Three, if you do get to meet the principal/HOS but not interview you may have the opportunity to establish some face time. Even a few minutes can make a lasting impression.
Fourth, personal investment in the application process shows passion/enthusiasm/eagerness/commitment/etc. None of those are going to hurt you.

There are also some Disadvantages with a walk-in application:
1) You may be considered a local hire with a local package, but that would be the same whether you applied in person or digitally. Your location not the form of submission determines if your local or OSH. The exception to any such policy is at a recruiting fair or event.
2) You will very likely not get to see the principal or HOS.
3) Youre basically going to drop of an application packet to a secretary or receptionist, who may route it to HR. What happens with it beyond any of those points is questionable. It could easily find itself binned, lost, misplaced, unfilled or unscanned. Few ISs have the capacity to maintain hard copies of perspective applications, and without a digital copy, very difficult to include in the ISs recruitment database.
4) Some recruiters will be unimpressed with your inability to follow directions as posted in the advert/vacancy/ policies.
5) For safety and security reasons some ISs will not accept hand delivered or walk-in applications.

The only significant advantage is if you can time the walk-in with an opportunity to meet with a recruiter/admin/management.
If your going to make a walk-in application, research when the admin you hope to meet is likely to be available. Shortly after students are released/dismissed on a Tuesday or Thursday is a good starting point.
Call ahead if possible, you dont want the ISs security stopping you from even entering the building.
Plan for adequate time, in case you do get some meeting time.
Dress as you would for an interview, you want to make a good impression even if its only to a secretary/receptionist.
Put some additional time into your application materials, if all your going to do is hand off some A4 copy paper B&W prints you may as well submit a digital application.
Research the IS its mission, vision, values, etc. Nothing says unprepared more than ignorance.
Be very, very, very, likable. Use liberal amounts or courtesy and flattery. Everyone in IE has a healthy ego, and for many admins and leadership nothing says good employee better than a sycophant.

Another risky option is to make an appointment to tour the school as a potential parent. Bring up during the course of the visit (they will probably ask you what you do) that you are a current teacher at another school, but you are very interested in growing professionally and looking for an optimal environment for doing so. You can than potentially leverage the tour into an impromptu job interview.
alwaysadjusting
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:54 pm

Re: going into a school v email

Post by alwaysadjusting »

FWIW, I visited two schools in Asia. I had hoped to visit more, but at least I got to see some of the locales which given some of the reviews on ISR, were a shock to some who didn't research the location of the schools.

Notably, all schools I visited required permission to visit - at the security gate of school 1, there was a guard tower with automated car plate recognition. Of course my taxi wasn't recognized so I had to talk to the guard and explain my appointment with HR Director. Read more below...

School 1: I had already an application in their system - a fairly detailed HR system that apparently is also used by schools in North America and elsewhere. Over the following year or so, I'd receive the odd email from HR saying 'please update your file, we have vacancies arising.' I duly complied. In 2015, I received an email stating that I was a promising candidate. Long story short, I was visiting that country and asked HR director if it would be possible to visit the school. I did, and he answered some questions, told me a bit about the school, discussed the job fair / 'meat market' process. Interestingly, he said he had been slowly getting admin to see that rather than just turn up at a fair, they should really get to know candidates beforehand and if possible, hire early. Given he's been in HR at this school for a longer than the average stay, looks like this is a trend most top tier schools have been doing for a while.

Thing is, no suitable vacancies have arisen, but I got to visit the campus, and have a guided tour with the HR director. Wonderful opportunity to ask questions and get a feel of the place. If you ever get a chance to do this, do it!!!

School 2: Hadn't really considered this school, though researched online and generally liked what I saw. Emailed a week prior to being in the area (different city from school 1) and said I was an IT, could I visit? Secretary to HOS emailed back asking for a resume. So I actually filled in their application form - just a form, not a whole process through third . HR software - and send that in. Received a reply almost straight away saying the HOS would like me to visit. I guess most would say this school is Tier 2 as it's largely host nation students, but definitely at the higher end of schools with that demographic in that country.

Ended up spending time with HOS, I am still in touch with School 2 HOS and may have an opportunity, depending on their openings, in the next month or so - they haven't advertised any openings yet.

School 3, 4, 5 - these schools are clumped together geographically in a relatively isolated part of the country, when compared to School 1 and 2. Driving past, on a cold wet rainy day, we noted that security at each school only allowed: 1. visitors with prior appointment 2. no parents, unless picking up kids / prior appointment. Honestly, I had hoped to walk in and visit (this was before appointments with School 1 and 2, so I was rather naive!) but realised this was not going to happen. Even if I had tried the 'prospective parent' trick, that wouldn't work at these particular schools - you would need an appointment for that too. On that note, I had actually emailed School 3 as a 'prospective parent' (I do have a one year old !) just to see what they would send out - ended up with a rather glossy PR piece in the mail.

So, can you just walk in to a school and hand in your resume? I guess from my experience, if I had tried that, I wouldn't have ended up visiting two schools, and spending very valuable F2F time with a HR director (School 1) and HOS (School 2) leading to strong interest from HOS. As PsyGuy has noted elsewhere, interest means nothing until you have an offer. Point taken! But hey, I feel much better prepared in understanding this country, these schools, and how they may compare to schools I didn't get to visit.

Moral of the story: do your research, be nice to the secretary / HR people, be bold but polite, and just maybe, you may be blessed (I don't believe in luck).

Oh, and it may help to already have an application in their system. I did. In other words, the visit is more about getting to F2F time - not dropping off resumes. That's what email, SA/ISS/TIE etc, and HR systems are for.
Last edited by alwaysadjusting on Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

Many recruiters members of senior leadership either come from business/management backgrounds and have no understanding of education, in which to them hiring an IT is like hiring a line employee, and the two arent congruent. The leadership that comes from education has very little experience with HR practices in hiring and recruiting. Its not really very feasible to "get to know" a candidate within the context of the recruiting and interviewing process, you can only observe at worst what they show you and at best that their are incongruities with their interview. What we are seeing in IE is more ISs adding probationary periods to their contracts or extending the existing probationary periods.

I do appreciate and value your narrative, it is an excellent example of the emphasis of building a professional network. That HOS at IS 2 may not have a vacancy for you, but they may know someone at some point who does.
alwaysadjusting
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:54 pm

Re: going into a school v email

Post by alwaysadjusting »

For what it's worth, school 2 - HOS mentioned above is not coming to the fair now - and jobs which match my profile don't exist at the school anyway.
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