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chemteacher101
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Open Communication
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:53 am
Don't be afraid. I would attend whether your school in Africa was planning on being there or not. If you see a representative from your old school, don't hold a grudge, and at least say hello to them. Time changes things. If confronted by anyone, stick to the facts. As a chem teacher, you'll find people who are willing to give you anther chance.
Go to a fair that they wouldn't attend-you said they were third tier, so that shouldn't be hard. I recently went to Bangkok and had at least 9 interviews. 2 second interviews. Not one person talked to my head or principal that were in attendance. I told my administrators who I interviewed with and they didn't seem to have any knowledge of them. So, the IS world is small but not that small. Everyone that I know that broke contract or even has a pretty bad reputation within the administration has found another job with no problem.
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It was how many years ago and your afraid of these guys? Go to the fair, dont let them scare you away from opportunities, thats called letting them win. If i saw them (and i have), id walk up, smile offer to shake their hand and ask them how they are doing, comment positively on their families. Project both professionalism and confidence. If they see you and you duck them, their going to know, or at least assume your afraid of them and they might take the opportunity to poison the well, if they see that they dont threaten or intimidate you then retribution isnt going to be worth their time. It would just make them look weak, and petty. You dont need to act like some 12 year old avoiding the teacher across the hallway from the bathroom because you might get in trouble.
The tier system really does exist and recruiters know it as well, they know what the bottom tier schools are as well. No ones going to fault you for being smart enough to remove yourself from a bad situation, only martyrs suffer for a the principals of a piece of paper. Smart people change their minds when the scenario changes.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the recognition that somethings are more important then fear, the brave may not live forever, but a coward doesnt live at all".
The tier system really does exist and recruiters know it as well, they know what the bottom tier schools are as well. No ones going to fault you for being smart enough to remove yourself from a bad situation, only martyrs suffer for a the principals of a piece of paper. Smart people change their minds when the scenario changes.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the recognition that somethings are more important then fear, the brave may not live forever, but a coward doesnt live at all".
Last edited by PsyGuy on Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'd base my decision on somewhat different factors.
First, which school was it, and what is their general reputation? Not what do you think of them, which is obviously not much, but what do most people think of them? If they're known as a bad school, they can't do too much damage to you. People will understand, mostly, even though runners are not popular. Don't expect a tier one school to hire you in these conditions, unless you really stand out as an excellent candidate otherwise. And if they're known as a good school, you've got real problems.
Second, who will be at the fair as the school's representative? Was it the guy who was in charge when you left? Or has leadership changed? What does the actual current recruiter know about you, if anything? Maybe he wasn't even there, in which case he probably won't recognize your name, and you have nothing to fear from him.
Third, where is the guy or guys who were in charge when you left? If they've moved on to other schools, they can still do you damage, particularly if they are now at schools with better reputations.
Fourth, what is the nature of the guy or guys who were in charge? Are they likely to be vindictive? How badly did you upset them?
It's hard to tell from the outside exactly what the damage could be, since we don't know exactly what happened. There are runners and then there are runners, and I've seen those that were justified and those that were not, mostly those that were not. I'm not judging yours since I don't know the details, but those details will make a huge difference in what could happen at a fair. Personally, I know some people who ran from schools I was at, that if they turned up at a fair, I'd leave them to the job as much as possible and if asked, would give a reasonable review of the situation - in short, I'd actively try not to scupper their chances. But I know some others that if they turned up, I'd be less supportive. It all depends on exactly what happened.
First, which school was it, and what is their general reputation? Not what do you think of them, which is obviously not much, but what do most people think of them? If they're known as a bad school, they can't do too much damage to you. People will understand, mostly, even though runners are not popular. Don't expect a tier one school to hire you in these conditions, unless you really stand out as an excellent candidate otherwise. And if they're known as a good school, you've got real problems.
Second, who will be at the fair as the school's representative? Was it the guy who was in charge when you left? Or has leadership changed? What does the actual current recruiter know about you, if anything? Maybe he wasn't even there, in which case he probably won't recognize your name, and you have nothing to fear from him.
Third, where is the guy or guys who were in charge when you left? If they've moved on to other schools, they can still do you damage, particularly if they are now at schools with better reputations.
Fourth, what is the nature of the guy or guys who were in charge? Are they likely to be vindictive? How badly did you upset them?
It's hard to tell from the outside exactly what the damage could be, since we don't know exactly what happened. There are runners and then there are runners, and I've seen those that were justified and those that were not, mostly those that were not. I'm not judging yours since I don't know the details, but those details will make a huge difference in what could happen at a fair. Personally, I know some people who ran from schools I was at, that if they turned up at a fair, I'd leave them to the job as much as possible and if asked, would give a reasonable review of the situation - in short, I'd actively try not to scupper their chances. But I know some others that if they turned up, I'd be less supportive. It all depends on exactly what happened.
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I can see the merits of sids comments, but while they are nice to think about they dont offer much thats actionable, as very little of it you have any control over it.
1) If its a new admin/recruiter your not even goingt o recognise them so their isnt anything you have to handle, its like two ships passing in the night.
2) As stated in the opening post, its a third tier school in Africa, thats the schools reputation. That makes them a bad school to start with. if youd said it was a top tier school it would be differnt, but its not.
3) I disagree that it would be a deal killer for a 1st tier school, maybe the elites but really, if you pulled a runner and it was buried behind at least one more recent school then it shouldnt even be on your resume, in which case its no longer an issue for even an elite school.
1) If its a new admin/recruiter your not even goingt o recognise them so their isnt anything you have to handle, its like two ships passing in the night.
2) As stated in the opening post, its a third tier school in Africa, thats the schools reputation. That makes them a bad school to start with. if youd said it was a top tier school it would be differnt, but its not.
3) I disagree that it would be a deal killer for a 1st tier school, maybe the elites but really, if you pulled a runner and it was buried behind at least one more recent school then it shouldnt even be on your resume, in which case its no longer an issue for even an elite school.
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chemteacher101
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm
I always leave out loads of stuff from my CV because
1) it is not that relevant
2) Need to know only
3) None of their business
4) do not wish to be called upon to do jobs that they really should hire a team of experts to do that is not normal teaching duty
5) makes it seem fake since I was an elite student and still young
6) resumes need to target the audience, I will put some of the other stuff on if it was actually relevant
If they really really tried and found out, I will just say it was a past learning/traumatic experience and you wish to move past it.
1) it is not that relevant
2) Need to know only
3) None of their business
4) do not wish to be called upon to do jobs that they really should hire a team of experts to do that is not normal teaching duty
5) makes it seem fake since I was an elite student and still young
6) resumes need to target the audience, I will put some of the other stuff on if it was actually relevant
If they really really tried and found out, I will just say it was a past learning/traumatic experience and you wish to move past it.
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chemteacher101
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm
Interesting point. Any other opinions on "erasing" the 1-year job with a bad ending?
I'm not really concerned of background checks; I'm more concerned about the international circuit being relatively small and who knows, maybe the new school has a teacher from my old school or similar (which could lead to the new school finding out I worked and breached contract from somewhere other than my CV). Maybe I'm wrong, but the way I see it, I rather having them know about the fact that I worked at that school for a year from my CV and not from a random situation which can end up making me look as if I had been trying to hide something... Then again, this might not be an issue and someone could get away with the "traumatic experience I'm trying to move past on" explanation...
Any other thoughts? I do find it interesting to see how other people rationalize these scenarios.
I'm not really concerned of background checks; I'm more concerned about the international circuit being relatively small and who knows, maybe the new school has a teacher from my old school or similar (which could lead to the new school finding out I worked and breached contract from somewhere other than my CV). Maybe I'm wrong, but the way I see it, I rather having them know about the fact that I worked at that school for a year from my CV and not from a random situation which can end up making me look as if I had been trying to hide something... Then again, this might not be an issue and someone could get away with the "traumatic experience I'm trying to move past on" explanation...
Any other thoughts? I do find it interesting to see how other people rationalize these scenarios.
Somethings were just not meant to be. While I believe that you should be able to break contract, it needs to be done at the agreement of both parties. But I can understand if somebody just wants out. Some relationships are just not worth the effort and criticizing somebody for making what was their best decision at the time is unfair and goes against what we should believe as educators.
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shadowjack
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@chemteacher101
You do have something to hide, a bad experience where a lack of inexperience and resources led you to a school and job that got bad, and instead of suffering over a bad situation you made a smart choice to leave the situation. If you were out on a boat and the boat started sinking would you go down with the ship because you had "made a commitment"? I hope not, i hope youd grab a life vest and get yourself to safety instead of being trapped under water and drowning.
Your resume is not a polygraph or dossier. Its a self marketing tool that presents the best face of you know and in the past. Its advertising yourself. You dont see schools putting in their fancy color brochures that more then half their staff is leaving this year, or that they have had a new HOS every year for half a decade. Why would you think they would do the same?
At the end of the day having your Africa experience on your resume is only going to potentially hurt you. if its not there, how is anyone going to know? Their isnt a clearinghouse for admins to check a candidates employment history against, they are limited to what you tell them. The only way it would be an issue is if they wanted to get rid of you for some reason and were looking for a a reason to do it. In such a case yes excluding it could be grounds for dismissal, but if they want to get rid of you, they will find a way, if not this, it would be something else.
You do have something to hide, a bad experience where a lack of inexperience and resources led you to a school and job that got bad, and instead of suffering over a bad situation you made a smart choice to leave the situation. If you were out on a boat and the boat started sinking would you go down with the ship because you had "made a commitment"? I hope not, i hope youd grab a life vest and get yourself to safety instead of being trapped under water and drowning.
Your resume is not a polygraph or dossier. Its a self marketing tool that presents the best face of you know and in the past. Its advertising yourself. You dont see schools putting in their fancy color brochures that more then half their staff is leaving this year, or that they have had a new HOS every year for half a decade. Why would you think they would do the same?
At the end of the day having your Africa experience on your resume is only going to potentially hurt you. if its not there, how is anyone going to know? Their isnt a clearinghouse for admins to check a candidates employment history against, they are limited to what you tell them. The only way it would be an issue is if they wanted to get rid of you for some reason and were looking for a a reason to do it. In such a case yes excluding it could be grounds for dismissal, but if they want to get rid of you, they will find a way, if not this, it would be something else.