Deciding to Change Jobs

[Teach1010]

When you make the decision not to renew a contract with your current IS, how often do you already have a job lined up at another school? From what I can tell, most schools expect you to re-sign (or not) at the beginning of December, right before fair season. Is there any way to (respectably) search for another IT job without having to give up your current contract? As a teacher in the States, I couldn't fathom quitting the job I have now without having already been offered another. I guess maybe it's just another difference/risk one must accept in order to take this career path.

[shadowjack]

LOL Teach1010. I don't know if "most' schools give you to the middle of December these days. My experiences - first starting out years ago. Mid december. 10 years ago - mid November. Now - early October to mid-November is par for the course.

Other's experiences?

[Teach1010]

Regardless... point being there's really no way to have a new job lined up before you officially resign from your old one? Has anyone found a way to get around that? Has anyone left a job and decided to take a year off from IT (maybe return to the U.S. for year) due to not being able to find a job they were happy with?

[reisgio]

The veteran teachers and admins usually don't jump ship until they have the next job. They are allowed special dispensation or they get recruited up to a one and a half years before their next contract begins. But, for the vast majority of international teachers, you have to give your notice before you have a new contract signed. Give notice October - January, new job is secured January - April, report to new job July - August. Thus, only the strong survive.

[marieh]

We have to let our school know in mid October and unless you're a brilliant IT, you're probably not going to get hired that early by a different school. So, pretty much everyone who leaves has to come to terms with the fact that there is a possibility (albeit slight) that they will end up jobless or fighting over crap schools come May.

[Chadekni]

Basically, you need to fully commit to leaving or staying when new contract time comes around, or ideally even before. For most of us there is little chance of having something lined up before leaving. There was only one time I had a head who let me extend the timeline for my contract decision until I had a new position confirmed. He really only allowed that because I was sealing the deal with my next school by late January - he wouldn't have waited much longer than that.

Once you have committed to leaving you just need to apply for new positions like there is no tomorrow and have a plan A, B and C. Plan C probably being to return home (or somewhere else you are confident of finding work) in case you really cant find anything at all.

Yes, it is different to how we would do it in our home countries. Back home I also wouldn't leave a job till I had a new one in the bag. This is the reality of international education though. I like to think that if you are good enough and not narrowing your search too much, that there is something out there for everyone.

[wrldtrvlr123]

We've ended up with one job ending and no job lined up twice, both times due to small int'l schools closing.

The first time we sent our belongings back to the states, went on vacation (also back to the states) and eventually had to face the fact that we were no longer on vacation, we were unemployed. We were visiting relatives at the time and just for laughs I looked to see if they were looking for teachers in my field in the area. Cut to the chase, I got a job, we bought a house and killed a couple of years there (while I worked on my long delayed Masters degree).

The second time my school was closing which would have left me without a job. So, my wife was faced with either committing or giving up her job before we went to a January job fair. We got interviews with some great schools but walked away with no jobs. We were faced with trying to decide where to go at the end of the school year and were in the process of making arrangements to have our shipment of goods sent back to the states when we got the call from DoDDS (just in time to change the destination to Germany).

In our case, the first disappointment led to me finally getting my Masters which led me to getting qualified for DoDDS, which resulted in us landing our dream gig.

So, it is always a risk to leap before you know where you will land, but it generally works out (although not exactly how you think it might, sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better).

[booboo14]

No job here. Just the realization I would rather move on and at some point you have to take the leap of faith. Its seems the only way to "escape".

[rake]

The best date option I have ever had as far as deciding to renew a contract was early January, which gave teachers the option to try their luck at a Bangkok fair before committing to staying or leaving. I have also worked at a school that tended to be more flexible with teachers who had worked there longer (6+ years), giving them a bit more time to recruit or decide whether or not to renew. I also recognize that these are the exceptions though, and that most schools generally will ask for teachers to make a renewal decision by early December at the latest.

[mamava]

I do wish schools would be more flexible...they are all in the same boat, as we are. Giving notice in early December and starting the hiring process is fine, but it would be great not to have to beg for an extension for the next couple weeks when every other school is starting to post and the schools have until January to get ready for fairs. If it's a hot position and they need to move fast, they can work that out with teachers.

It's very stressful when you have kids and restrict your job searches to places that are good for them, when if you were childless you might take on some other regions/jobs. And, at a certain age, going home is not realistic...if we had to go home at our age, it would be hard for us to get jobs as we'd be overpriced, so a non IT post would be a big blow for us with kids in college and a tough job market!

[PsyGuy]

I generally concur with prior contributors. The system is designed by ISs to promote longevity. They would prefer you stay as long as possible. However they also need to know what they they need to recruit for, and to begin screening candidates and building an applicant pool before the peak of fair season begins.

Most ITs that arent superstars and arent moving to elite tier ISs give notice in October/November and then have to find a new appointment, or their vacancy is likely to be filled. The exception to this is in the WE where labor laws or unions regulations allow an IT to either withdraw their intent or not require notice until some designated period before the end of the contract which is usually in Spring.

Many ITs either return to the HOR or shift into EE until they find something locally or wait until next recruiting season.

Upper tier ISs will usually provide you with a few days of recruitment leave to attend a fair.