The International Schools Review Forum

If I plan on staying in the same city for my next teaching assignment is it really worth signing up for Search Associates again?

I already have references on Search and may use it in the future, but at least for the next two years I will try to get a job in the same city, even if that means taking a year teaching ESL. However, I don't want to lose the references at the school I'm at.

Do administrators mind if you contact them two years later and ask them for a Search reference even though I won't be fresh in their mind? I probably should just pay the few hundred bucks and get the references upon leaving and Search might give me more opportunities in my city, but was looking for any suggestions.

Thanks.

Search discourages candidates from signing up if their focus is very narrow. They might even turn you away. Happened to a friend this year.
Get all your letters as soon as. One never knows what might happen and whether someone will be willing or even bother to respond after a period.

In general the more focused and restricted your job search the less beneficial and valuable a premium agency such as SA is. Premium agencies provide increasing value the more broad the job search is. You dont have to tell SA what your job search focus is, you can say its broad and focus however narrowly you wish.

Get your written references and contact formation for your references (preferably a private external email address) now. When your ready to join SA again after your next contract the focus will be on the reference from that IS. You can then use that reference to refresh your referees mind later when doing a SA or other premium agency reference.
Its not worth joining again solely to record a reference that is highly likely to be available two years of more from now anyway, regardless its still going to be a two year old reference.
You are actually at an advantage having a recently submitted reference thats two years old but recent has more marketability than one thats just two years old and submitted two years previously.

sid wrote:
> Search discourages candidates from signing up if their focus is very
> narrow. They might even turn you away. Happened to a friend this year.

Yes, also happened to a colleague of mine.
Another one though also had a narrow focus but was accepted regardless. Might have helped that he was an experienced Computer Science and Math teacher, and his narrow focus was a city with lots of ISs.
But yes, why share your focus?
I wouldn't join Search if it's just to record a reference. As said, get a reference now, and send it back as a refresher when you need a Search reference in a few years time.
Then again, some schools in that same city might want to view your confidential references on Search, so joining might help you secure a job more easily, especially since your focus is so narrow and you can use all the help you can get, and record that reference as well. It's not that much money if it helps you get a good job.

I think you can add a reference without renewing. Anyone know for sure?

Pretty sure you can. IIRC my husband did.

I think its on a case by case basis. Ive heard ITs that could and ITs that couldnt.

I'd prefer to just have my requests added and not rejoin, but we will see...

I know that some schools back in the U.S. ask for hard copies of references, but it seems that most International schools just want contact information of previous employers for applications or use a system such as Search. Is it still worth it to ask for actual physical copies of recommendations? Do many International Schools still look at hard copies?

@wilcoman

Absolutly, First, in IE people move around a lot, including leadership, it might not be long before your reference at Acme AS moves on to IS Genovia, and without a hard copy reference you could be left with nothing but that reference. Second, you dont want your references burdened down with repetitive requests, you want to have something to send a recruiter and then when your further along in the recruitment process when they are actually ready to make an offer of appointment then have them contact your references. Third, you never know when your going to need a reference for something outside of employment, in which case a copy of a hard reference will likely suffice. Fourth and finally, not all ISs will actually contact a reference, a copy of a letter will be sufficient.

Yes, get a hard copy reference straight away, and scan the ones that aren't digital already, just in case it will get lost. Heard stories of people losing all of them, and then hunting down former employers many years after, who of course move around, and don't always write you that same glowing reference again.

@wilcoman

Then after youve scanned the reference letter, keep a copy on your hard disk, a copy on a flash drive, and upload a copy to cloud storage.

I have all my important documents in four places:
1-hard copy at home
2-hard copy at a family member back home (for some documents, copies need to be notarized, but not for references)
3-digital copy on my laptop
4-digital copy in the cloud

An official paper with raised logo of the school was what was needed as form of recommendation for a hard copy in the past. Because of location, It'd be much easier to just have an email sent to me from a previous school back in the US, rather than an official document mailed to me across the world. Is an email that is printed out acceptable for a recommendation letter?

@wilcoman

If by email you mean a PDF of a reference letter written and signed on stationary (whatever they are using), than yes thats acceptable for a reference letter. Open letters arent worth a whole lot, and if an IS wants to verifying and clarifying anything is as easy as picking up a phone or sending an email.

sid wrote:
> I think you can add a reference without renewing. Anyone know for sure?

i just emailed my rep and asked if i could. they need to put it in a different status for you to be able to add references, i think. but it's definitely possible.

v.