Background:
1) Teaching couple.
2) My partner will have 2.5 years of experience teaching middle and high school English. 2 years internationally, .5 of a year domestically (no IB or AP). My partner would like to teach HS English again eventually.
3. I have 5 years of teaching lower elementary school experience but would like to transition to one of my other certification areas where I do not have any teaching experience (Art).
4. We'll have 2 years at our current school at the end of this school year.
5. We are at a tier 2 school in Asia, very low pollution, with good leadership.
We are having trouble deciding whether or not to sign on another year. My partner will get more teaching experience, but it will be in middle school. I will still be in lower elementary, which I can do, but I'd like to eventually make the move to to the new certification area. Trying to figure out if now is the right time.
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.
Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
Response
I doubt you are at a tier 2 IS, probably closer to a floater tier 3 IS. This is a difficult inquiry to respond to; should you go... where. You dont have any opportunities to make a comparison between. Its really should we stay or should we LOOK. Unless your content with staying where you are indefinitely than you should always be looking. Its just how IE works, you have to keep moving until youre content.
Assuming you are looking than the following are preliminary observations:
1) What is your ISs policy regarding EOC resignations and notice? Did the time already pass or is it in the near future? If you must give notice soon than are you comfortable looking with what are essentially lite resumes (as a package) knowing you dont have a job at the end of the year, and you may not have a new one, and may have opportunities that are at lower tier ISs than you are at now.
2) What opportunities are you going to lose if you leave, are there any leadership vacancies you have access to if you stay? Can your current IS move you into art and your spouse into upper secondary if not this year, what about next year?
3) What are you getting yourself into if you stay? Is your great leadership rotating out to better things and new leadership is arriving? Is the contract renewal 1 year or longer?
4) Understand if you are moving into a new area (art) you have no experience and are thus less marketable, meaning the ISs you will be competitive at are going to be lower tier. Your spouse has minimal experience in upper secondary English. If you stay its going to be another year or more that your spouse wont be teaching upper secondary, especially given your spouse has no AP/IB/A* experience. You dont say you have any PYP experience or not.
My personal philosophy is 'If not now when?', what are you waiting for? If your stuck, and you wont be happy until youre doing the thing you want, there isnt a lot of risk in just looking, even if it means being a little less than open with your current IS.
Assuming you are looking than the following are preliminary observations:
1) What is your ISs policy regarding EOC resignations and notice? Did the time already pass or is it in the near future? If you must give notice soon than are you comfortable looking with what are essentially lite resumes (as a package) knowing you dont have a job at the end of the year, and you may not have a new one, and may have opportunities that are at lower tier ISs than you are at now.
2) What opportunities are you going to lose if you leave, are there any leadership vacancies you have access to if you stay? Can your current IS move you into art and your spouse into upper secondary if not this year, what about next year?
3) What are you getting yourself into if you stay? Is your great leadership rotating out to better things and new leadership is arriving? Is the contract renewal 1 year or longer?
4) Understand if you are moving into a new area (art) you have no experience and are thus less marketable, meaning the ISs you will be competitive at are going to be lower tier. Your spouse has minimal experience in upper secondary English. If you stay its going to be another year or more that your spouse wont be teaching upper secondary, especially given your spouse has no AP/IB/A* experience. You dont say you have any PYP experience or not.
My personal philosophy is 'If not now when?', what are you waiting for? If your stuck, and you wont be happy until youre doing the thing you want, there isnt a lot of risk in just looking, even if it means being a little less than open with your current IS.
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sdakota
Re: Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
No PYP experience for me.
Admins will stay at least one more year. It's tough. We told the school we are looking, and have about a month before we will need to sign contracts for an additional year or look for jobs without a backup job.
Been looking and applying on Search but no interviews yet. Such a tough decision!
Admins will stay at least one more year. It's tough. We told the school we are looking, and have about a month before we will need to sign contracts for an additional year or look for jobs without a backup job.
Been looking and applying on Search but no interviews yet. Such a tough decision!
Reply
@sdakota
You are nt going to see any action on your applications yet. Yes, ISs have requested intent letters earlier and vacacines are being posted earlier, but that doesnt move the peak of recruiting earlier. ISs are just taking more time to build the applicant pool, no one, not even the bottom third tier ISs are desperate yet. You dont have super star resumes so youre not part of early recruiting which is the group that are reviewing contracts and offers now, nor are you pursuing leadership vacancies. Your current IS isnt worried because with only a month before you have to give notice of intent they are pretty comfortable nothing is going to really happen in that time. You arent going to get much interest in your resume until much later in the recruiting cycle since you essentially have no experience in the target vacancy and your spouse has half a year and no SLL experience.
I dont see what the issue is though, sign your contracts for another year and keep looking. If you dont find anything you will have the security of knowing you have a job in hand, which is going to reduce your stress levels while job searching. If you find something and get a new contract then you can deal with how you inform your current IS at that point. If they have been good and decent to you, let them know with as much notice as you can even if turns out to be very little, and if they havent been then just dont show up at the start of the year.
Dont feel guilty, the recruiting cycle calendar is set up the way it is because thats how leadership and ownership want it, because it works for them, not for you. Remember, you are not the consumer, the recruiters and leadership are the consumers, you are the commodity. To put that into KFC terms, you are not the person buying the 1000¥ family value meal, youre the chicken. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that is keeping IE from changing the cycle and moving contract renewal and intent to February/March and the major recruiting fairs to May/June, nothing at all. Why should they though? There is no benefit to them and weakens their negotiating position. They want you scared for that year that you are recruiting and dont have a job to come back to. They could even keep the fairs and recruiting where they are and move intent end renewal time to Spring.
You are nt going to see any action on your applications yet. Yes, ISs have requested intent letters earlier and vacacines are being posted earlier, but that doesnt move the peak of recruiting earlier. ISs are just taking more time to build the applicant pool, no one, not even the bottom third tier ISs are desperate yet. You dont have super star resumes so youre not part of early recruiting which is the group that are reviewing contracts and offers now, nor are you pursuing leadership vacancies. Your current IS isnt worried because with only a month before you have to give notice of intent they are pretty comfortable nothing is going to really happen in that time. You arent going to get much interest in your resume until much later in the recruiting cycle since you essentially have no experience in the target vacancy and your spouse has half a year and no SLL experience.
I dont see what the issue is though, sign your contracts for another year and keep looking. If you dont find anything you will have the security of knowing you have a job in hand, which is going to reduce your stress levels while job searching. If you find something and get a new contract then you can deal with how you inform your current IS at that point. If they have been good and decent to you, let them know with as much notice as you can even if turns out to be very little, and if they havent been then just dont show up at the start of the year.
Dont feel guilty, the recruiting cycle calendar is set up the way it is because thats how leadership and ownership want it, because it works for them, not for you. Remember, you are not the consumer, the recruiters and leadership are the consumers, you are the commodity. To put that into KFC terms, you are not the person buying the 1000¥ family value meal, youre the chicken. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that is keeping IE from changing the cycle and moving contract renewal and intent to February/March and the major recruiting fairs to May/June, nothing at all. Why should they though? There is no benefit to them and weakens their negotiating position. They want you scared for that year that you are recruiting and dont have a job to come back to. They could even keep the fairs and recruiting where they are and move intent end renewal time to Spring.
Re: Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
i agree. doesn't hurt to look. unless you're dead set on leaving, let your partner gain more experience and you both should start padding your CV - assuming your school gives you PD. you say your good admin are on for another year - use them to your advantage! you're somewhere in asia with low pollution? great! if you're happy, stay; if unhappy, try to go; but at least look at what's out there either way.
good luck!
v.
good luck!
v.
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sdakota
Re: Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
Would love any other perspectives on this. Thanks in advance!
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sdakota
Re: Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
Well, I just took the plunge and told my school I wouldn't be returning. Here's hoping I get at least an offer somewhere this recruiting season! It's hard to have to rip the band-aid off this way. We have a few interviews lined up though.