Ok, we've decided to attend 2 fairs just in case. Any advice for interviewing as a teaching couple? Any general fair advice? We're doing Toronto and Cambridge Search this year.
Thanks Neptune :?:
Job fair advice
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markholmes
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 10:54 pm
How to get your 2 cents in when interviewing
How do you get your 2 cents in while interviewing? Are the questions generally the same as traditional job interviews. We've never done the tandem interview thing so any advice is helpful.
Thank you
Neptune
Thank you
Neptune
In my experience the "dual" interview is pretty typical. Interviews are pretty standard in that they can be all over the place. We have had them where they drilled us on specific information (how would you handle this? What would you do in this situation) to the more general philosophical type of questions. I wouldn't worry too much about it. In some ways its helpful to have your partner/spouse in there with you as support.
Thanks for the input :)
Thanks for the input. Its new to me so any advice is really appreciated!
We interviewed as a couple at the ISS/CIS fair in Seattle last year. It was actually a lot of fun. They had us both answer the same question and we switched with who would go first. So it gave the other one plenty of time to build off of what your spouse had just said. Yes we it was a lot of fun and I actually thought a bit easier then a standard interview. You'll be fine!
Have you contacted the schools going that you are interested in ahead of time? That is a must in my opinion. We had the dialogue going and even a phone conversation before we even got to the fair. Very helpful.
Good luck! :)
Have you contacted the schools going that you are interested in ahead of time? That is a must in my opinion. We had the dialogue going and even a phone conversation before we even got to the fair. Very helpful.
Good luck! :)
Super!
Gosh that is super advice!
I like being able to switch back and forth. I have been in email contact with a number of schools to send our resume and indicate that we are interested. I have not called for fear that they think I am too forward but perhaps it is not too forward at all. I haven't done this before so I don't know how forward/agressive to be. Our current post was a much different process. I am wondering if I should keep some kind of dialouge going at least once a month so they remember us and know we're around? I just run out of things to email about without straight out saying "we're here and still interested" Any thoughts?
Thanks for the advice!!! :0)
I like being able to switch back and forth. I have been in email contact with a number of schools to send our resume and indicate that we are interested. I have not called for fear that they think I am too forward but perhaps it is not too forward at all. I haven't done this before so I don't know how forward/agressive to be. Our current post was a much different process. I am wondering if I should keep some kind of dialouge going at least once a month so they remember us and know we're around? I just run out of things to email about without straight out saying "we're here and still interested" Any thoughts?
Thanks for the advice!!! :0)
Good to hear that you have already contacted them. Now I would really try to keep an open mind on where you would like to go. Do some research and find out if there are other places that you may not yet know about that would be a good fit. It is funny cause while we weren't exactly set on where we wanted to go, we did know where we didn't want to go. Well we ended up in Indonesia and it has been wonderful. I guess I would just say to keep an open mind.
We never called the schools they ended up calling us. I would just email that you are interested and send them your info or let them know what you guys teach. I really think you will be shocked as the Fair gets closer you are going to start hearing from schools. About two weeks before the job fair we really got a lot of emails and people wanting to even set up interviews at the Hotel the night of the check in. You guys are going to have a great time.
Best of luck! :)
Really try to relax and enjoy the whole process. It can be stressful but take a lot of deep breaths and remember you have each other. We really felt like a team and that is the way we went about it.
We never called the schools they ended up calling us. I would just email that you are interested and send them your info or let them know what you guys teach. I really think you will be shocked as the Fair gets closer you are going to start hearing from schools. About two weeks before the job fair we really got a lot of emails and people wanting to even set up interviews at the Hotel the night of the check in. You guys are going to have a great time.
Best of luck! :)
Really try to relax and enjoy the whole process. It can be stressful but take a lot of deep breaths and remember you have each other. We really felt like a team and that is the way we went about it.
Thanks Shansar!
Shansar,
Thank you so very much for your response. It is great to hear from someone who has gone through the process. It sounds like I can chill out a bit and enjoy the time from now to the fair and do a 2 week check in if needed. I feel better after you told me they'd call/email us around the 2 week date. After reading some posts I was starting to get worried that we may have missed the boat already! We are pretty open minded about where we'd teach. I think the only place we really don't want to go are placed with escalated political conflicts (middle east). Everywhere else seems fair game. I will definately keep an open mind. Did you find you had many offers? If so what is a reasonable amount of time to ask for to think it over? Will they let you think overnight? Will they give you an actual contract? Anything to be warry of when signing at the fair? Hopefully we'll get an offer, but I'm leaving it open. We're attending a fair the following week also in case nothing pans out for the Toronto one.
Thank you soooo much!
Neptune :)
Thank you so very much for your response. It is great to hear from someone who has gone through the process. It sounds like I can chill out a bit and enjoy the time from now to the fair and do a 2 week check in if needed. I feel better after you told me they'd call/email us around the 2 week date. After reading some posts I was starting to get worried that we may have missed the boat already! We are pretty open minded about where we'd teach. I think the only place we really don't want to go are placed with escalated political conflicts (middle east). Everywhere else seems fair game. I will definately keep an open mind. Did you find you had many offers? If so what is a reasonable amount of time to ask for to think it over? Will they let you think overnight? Will they give you an actual contract? Anything to be warry of when signing at the fair? Hopefully we'll get an offer, but I'm leaving it open. We're attending a fair the following week also in case nothing pans out for the Toronto one.
Thank you soooo much!
Neptune :)
Offer
We got an offer in June (maternity). The contract was FedEx'd to us. Because it was June, we had 4 days to read, sign and fax back. The contract was VERY specific in terms of pay, benefits and everything. Looking back there was very little that was left off. We were then FedEx'd plane tickets and additional info, as well as the school arranged for shippers to come get all our stuff. This was from a Tier 1 school that really knew how to facilitate the transition.
We were offered a job, accepted, packed and arrived in our new home in under 4 weeks. Luckily we didn't have kids, nor much in terms of stuff as it was the fastest 4 weeks of my life.
We were offered a job, accepted, packed and arrived in our new home in under 4 weeks. Luckily we didn't have kids, nor much in terms of stuff as it was the fastest 4 weeks of my life.
Jisalum wow that is nuts! What a great story though. Very cool.
Neptune I am not an expert but this was sure our experience.
We had several (7) job offers that was with 8 interviews. Now this was in late February and the schools were really getting nervous to fill their positions. When they made their offer they didn't expect an answer on the spot but wanted a response before the fair had ended. Actually the schools were different but I do know we told them we had other offers and wanted a night to make our decision. We are both elementary and were pretty flexible so maybe that is why things went as well as they did.
I will say that I would really look at the list of schools attending. Check out their websites online and google them. You can find a lot of info out that way. If there are schools you know there is NO way you would go to don't waste your time or theirs. You only have so many slots to interview. I also made sure to bring our lap top and have access to the internet as at night I pulled up a lot of info.. Easier said than done but just try to remember to relax and have fun with it. It will work out the way it is supposed to! I would always tell my wife before we went in the interview that worst case scenario we go back to our regular teaching jobs (which we loved!). You guys will do great.
I am sure there are people on this board that know WAY more about teaching Overseas than I could ever hope to know. This was just our experience. You have found a great resource here as these guys know a ton. Goodluck!
:)
Neptune I am not an expert but this was sure our experience.
We had several (7) job offers that was with 8 interviews. Now this was in late February and the schools were really getting nervous to fill their positions. When they made their offer they didn't expect an answer on the spot but wanted a response before the fair had ended. Actually the schools were different but I do know we told them we had other offers and wanted a night to make our decision. We are both elementary and were pretty flexible so maybe that is why things went as well as they did.
I will say that I would really look at the list of schools attending. Check out their websites online and google them. You can find a lot of info out that way. If there are schools you know there is NO way you would go to don't waste your time or theirs. You only have so many slots to interview. I also made sure to bring our lap top and have access to the internet as at night I pulled up a lot of info.. Easier said than done but just try to remember to relax and have fun with it. It will work out the way it is supposed to! I would always tell my wife before we went in the interview that worst case scenario we go back to our regular teaching jobs (which we loved!). You guys will do great.
I am sure there are people on this board that know WAY more about teaching Overseas than I could ever hope to know. This was just our experience. You have found a great resource here as these guys know a ton. Goodluck!
:)
Myself and my wife flew from Germany to Bangkok for a job fair!
Thankfully we got a job but we learned a lot at it.
1. Keep your spirits up no matter what. If that school that you really wanted isn't contacting you straight away, don't fret.
Maybe they won't, it's not meant to be, another school will take their place.
2. Move quickly away from people bragging about how many interviews they have lined up and the job offers they have on the table. This will happen and it's loathsome.
3. Often when asked a question about myself I would often include my wife in the answer (ie. "I know my wife has a similar attitude in her classroom etc.)
4. Oh yeah, as mentioned, laptop is essential. For checking up that school you never heard of who want to interview you. My laptop fell off the hotel bed on our first night. The loss was immense!
Thankfully we got a job but we learned a lot at it.
1. Keep your spirits up no matter what. If that school that you really wanted isn't contacting you straight away, don't fret.
Maybe they won't, it's not meant to be, another school will take their place.
2. Move quickly away from people bragging about how many interviews they have lined up and the job offers they have on the table. This will happen and it's loathsome.
3. Often when asked a question about myself I would often include my wife in the answer (ie. "I know my wife has a similar attitude in her classroom etc.)
4. Oh yeah, as mentioned, laptop is essential. For checking up that school you never heard of who want to interview you. My laptop fell off the hotel bed on our first night. The loss was immense!
Referring to pt #2 above, we were once at the Northern Iowa job fair and a guy in a glaringly white suit got up in the opening session and said "I have so many invitations that I don't know what to do?". Obviously a huge groan was to be heard from the rest of us poor teachers. Anyway, we saw the same guy on Sunday morning shortly before we left the fair and he hadn't gotten any offers at all.
In terms of the tandem interview, it was great for my wife and I as we were able to share thoughts regarding each other with the interviewer, and were able to project much higher enthusiasm and provide details and information that may have been overlooked in an individual interview.
Much as a good comedy team develops expert timing, a couple that is in sync can make a tandem interview a thing of beauty.
Best wishes to you.
~gengrant
Much as a good comedy team develops expert timing, a couple that is in sync can make a tandem interview a thing of beauty.
Best wishes to you.
~gengrant