AASSA Job Fair Prospects and South American Schools

[ekumbier]

Hi,

I just joined the forum today, so I'm sorry if I ask some questions that have been beaten to death already.

I am a recently married (no kids) social studies teacher set to complete my MA in July. My wife is currently completing her MA/elementary credential and will also be done in July. We both have two years of ESL experience in Korea. I will be attending the fair, but she cannot because she has a final presentation for her courses that Saturday. She speaks intermediate Spanish, but I speak zilch.

I'm trying to get a feel for what the fair will be like so I can calibrate my expectations. Basically, I'm curious about our chances to get hired there.

As far as schools with positions for both of us, there are three in Quito (AS Quito, Cotopaxi, and Menor San Francisco), several in Brazil (IS Curitiba, AS Belo Horizonte, AS Brasilia, PAS Porto Alegre, School of Nations Brasilia) Colegio Burehce in Colombia (which I can't find anything about on the internet other than their website), and a few in Central America/ Caribbean (Carol Morgan, a couple in Honduras, AS Panama, Peterson Schools in Mexico). We'd be open to most of those, though we have serious safety concerns about Honduras, Mexico, and Santo Domingo.

Any information about our chances in those countries or about the schools themselves would be greatly appreciated. Also, I'm wondering how I should prioritize my time at the fair, i.e. I want to focus on schools where we are most likely to be successful. Thanks!

[PsyGuy]

ESL experience doesnt count for anything except in VERY narrow circumstances, and this isnt one of them.

So your wife has no experience and I get the sense you have very little?

Neither of your positions is high need, but your a couple with no kids so your in a better logistical situation.

[ekumbier]

Hi Psyguy,

I realize that ESL doesn't count. I just mentioned it because I thought having taught and lived abroad would give us a leg up on other newbies. We both have not "real" experience. I am just curious how schools at AASSA will look at us. Are their a lot of opportunities for people in our situation?

[PsyGuy]

They will see as a couple of entry level teachers who dont want to start out at home, and aside from a couple of veterns will fit in with a lot of the same candidates who mostly will have a few more years experience then you.

[ekumbier]

I have heard that Latin American schools are more willing to hire those without experience, and that there are a lot of newbies at this particular fair. I've also heard that schools in SA don't like to hire those with dependents, which could make it a bad fair for more experienced couples with children. We certainly aren't looking to get rich yet, just trying to find somewhere to get our feet in the proverbial door and start working our way up.

[PsyGuy]

In general those are true. SCA schools dont have the salaries and packages that you find in other regions, and its hard to attract highly experienced teachers when your salary in global perspective is low. More established teachers usually with families have expenses or are saving for things that just cant reasonably be funded on a SCA salary.

[ekumbier]

Have you worked in SA before? If so, where?

[DCgirl]

I can only speak it terms of prioritizing your time. Send a letter of interest to the schools before the fair. Check your folder when you get to the fair. Visit any schools that showed interest first. Then go to the other schools on your list that have positions and try to get an interview. The fair is small, so it shouldn't be any problem getting to all of the schools that you mentioned during the sign up session. They'll quickly let you know whether they want to interview you or not.

[ekumbier]

Thanks, DCgirl.

I've been sending out letters of interest as new positions open up. I'll be sure to prioritize based on what's in my folder. Hopefully some schools will take a chance on a newly minted teaching couple.