The International Schools Review Forum

Hi everyone!
My husband and I are applying to a school that does not attend hiring fairs and so initially everything is done through email.
Should we include a small picture of our family on the cover letter? I have read conflicting advice about this online.
The school is predominantly British - we are American but have experience teaching in the U.K. for 4 years.
Walter- is a picture a no no?
Thank you!!!!!

A head shot of the candidate on the CV is standard in the int'l teaching field. Not sure about a family picture on the cover letter. Should be interesting to here some opinions.

I agree.
A head shot of the applicant on the CV.
No family photo in the cover letter. I could see how one could be included in a more expansive application, like a video about the applicant/couple, but not in a straightforward CV and cover letter.

Thanks Sid and wrldtravlr123.
I didn't realize it was commonplace for head shots to be on CVs. We are submitting resumes rather than CVs...I wonder if that is a mistake. The school is IB and IGCSE, but the staff is U.K., US, Canadian, Aussie etc. Would a resume offend if a CV is requested? We submitted resumes to the school we were hired at in the U.K. in years past and I didn't think too much about it. Thoughts?
Thanks again for your feedback.

While they're technically different, I usually use the terms CV and resume interchangeably. I didn't mean to imply you should use a CV specifically.

When an IS requests a CV they really mean a resume. A resume is tailored to a specific field, and current snapshot of your CV, its a piece of your CV. ISs dont want your CV.

The standard practice is to include a photo in your application packet, but not on the resume. When those resumes get printed they are done on econo-mode and the photo ends up being a blob. The photo can also effect the size limits of attachments in email. Head shots are not common on IE resumes.
A family photo outside of a possible part of a portfolio isnt appropriate.

PsyGuy wrote:
> When an IS requests a CV they really mean a resume. A resume is tailored to
> a specific field, and current snapshot of your CV, its a piece of your CV.
> ISs dont want your CV.
>
> The standard practice is to include a photo in your application packet, but
> not on the resume. When those resumes get printed they are done on
> econo-mode and the photo ends up being a blob. The photo can also effect
> the size limits of attachments in email. Head shots are not common on IE
> resumes.
> A family photo outside of a possible part of a portfolio isnt appropriate.
=====================
Now you're just being silly and/or disagreeing to disagree. You really need a 12-step program for your addiction to being the resident contrarian.

VA75 wrote:
> Thanks Sid and wrldtravlr123.
> I didn't realize it was commonplace for head shots to be on CVs. We are
> submitting resumes rather than CVs...I wonder if that is a mistake. The
> school is IB and IGCSE, but the staff is U.K., US, Canadian, Aussie etc.
> Would a resume offend if a CV is requested? We submitted resumes to the
> school we were hired at in the U.K. in years past and I didn't think too
> much about it. Thoughts?
> Thanks again for your feedback.
========================
They are generally interchangeable with most int'l schools although some UK based admin types might really prefer the format of a CV (less bullet points about job duties for each position, etc). You would generally include information on an int'l resume/CV that you wouldn't on a US resume like citizenship, DoB, dependents, marital status. Some people do not include all of this and prefer to put some of it in a cover letter.

I'm sure someone will come along to disagree based on his one year of being a jr. admin and illegally recruiting at a job fair, so take on all opinions and make you own best assumptions on how you want to proceed.

@WT123

I am not being contrarian at all. The preference is to include the self photo as a separate file in the application packet and not on the resume its self for the reasons stated above.

@VA75

Some leadership may truly prefer an actual CV, if they wanted one after you submitted your resume they would likely specify wanting a CV. A CV has everything from that first job you had as an adult to include everything. The vast majority of ISs are using CV and resume interchangeably for a resume, they arent interested in that babysitting job you had in your formative years. Though a CV is likely to have more bullet points detailing all accomplishments, whereas a resume is going to highlight in general one bullet point for each year of experience in a particular job, with three being average.
Personal demographics are generally included in the cover letter/intro email, you could but them in the resume if you had the space and in formatted well.

@VA75 Recruiters expect that you will attach a photo to your resume. It doesn't have to be passport in style, but err on the side of formality - rather than a selfie taken just as you emerge from the pub. Every year, as I look at documents, there is always one candidate whose photo makes me wonder "What was (s)he thinking?"

@Dave "When an IS requests a CV they really mean a resume. A resume is tailored to a specific field, and current snapshot of your CV, its a piece of your CV. ISs dont want your CV. The standard practice is to include a photo in your application packet, but not on the resume."
I don't know any school heads who (can) distinguish between a resume and a cv. Brits usually use the term cv; North Americans usually use resume. There is no such thing as "standard practice" when it comes to where you place your photo. You have never been a recruiter; please stop pontificating.

Thanks everyone for your help!
Should I: superimpose my picture into the resume (at the top? at the end?), attach a separate file of the pic, or does either work? Thanks for the feedback on CV vs. Resume. I "thought" the term was interchangeable, but you know what they say about assumptions.....
Happy weekend!

Walter wrote:
> @VA75 Recruiters expect that you will attach a photo to your resume. It
> doesn't have to be passport in style, but err on the side of formality -
> rather than a selfie taken just as you emerge from the pub.

I just spit out my beverage! Hilarious, Walter!

My CV has the relevant personal info (including nationality and family status) at the top on the left with a photo on the right. It's just a passport style photo (though taken at home and smiling rather than the grim biometric style). The other information on the CV is listed below.

Our CVs do not include job duties or fluff like objectives or descriptions (that whole active verb fun). It is much more objective, listing where we worked and when, courses taught, and education, skills, and awards. It's pretty dry, but it is concise and allows the reader to scan and get a good idea of what we have done without spending a lot of time reading tedious paragraphs about collaboration and lesson development. The whole thing fits on one page. This has been tremendously effective for us.

The most common is picture in the top right corner, but it's not a hard and fast rule.
Definitely a photo of you looking professional. Like others, I've seen really questionable pictures. A woman in a bikini tops the list. I suppose that's one method for job-searching, but it didn't work on me.

I agree that most schools prefer a photo and many specifically ask for one. I, personally, believe that a photo of the whole family is a nice touch.