Hello,
My husband and I would love to get a job in Eastern Europe or South America. What do you think about our possibilities based on the following experience?
My husband has been teaching in US for the past 18 years-Math, Business and computers/technology. I have been teaching ESL and Spanish for the past 10 years in a public school as well. I speak English, Spanish and Russian fluently. I also have elementary certification. Both of us have Master degrees in Administration. I have IB training due to the fact that my school was IB candidate for the past 3 years, but decided not to go through with it due to Superintendent's change. I attended IB MYP trainings and workshops and developed and implemented IB units.
Do you think we have enough experience to get a good offer or any offers at all?
Thank you for your advice in advance:-)
Marketability for spouses
Re: Marketability for spouses
I think you're both in a position to get good jobs. Your husband will be especially desirable if he can teach upper level math. You will probably have to teach elementary but your ESL experience will make you marketable (as well as fluency in Spanish if you go to SA). The IB training probably won't mean much without experience, but might give you a bit of an edge since you're at least familiar with it.
Take a look at Colegio Americano in Quito; I had a great experience there and they do their own IB training (I had no clue what the IB was at the time). Pay isn't great, but the two of you will live very comfortably and probably be able to save a little. They recruit at a lot of fairs and will usually make offers on site.
Take a look at Colegio Americano in Quito; I had a great experience there and they do their own IB training (I had no clue what the IB was at the time). Pay isn't great, but the two of you will live very comfortably and probably be able to save a little. They recruit at a lot of fairs and will usually make offers on site.
Go for it
I think you will be successful in a job search overseas, your husbands math and computers is going to put him in high demand. It really depends what level you want to pursue. elite schools are different then the other 1st tier, or 2nd tier schools.You will ge scooped up by a second tier school very early if you want, you might have to wait a little later for the 1st tier schools. You will be a little harder to place,Spanish and Russian are not common languages supported by many international schools, and when they do become available they almost always go to native speakers. You might have to settle with ESL, which sees considerable demand every year.
Honestly Search doesn't have a lot of schools in eastern Europe in their system, combined they have about 12 schools or so,but if you reallt want to go to eastern Europe you can probably do it by yourself.
Honestly Search doesn't have a lot of schools in eastern Europe in their system, combined they have about 12 schools or so,but if you reallt want to go to eastern Europe you can probably do it by yourself.
Ugh
I think I post this every couple of months and then someone accuses me of being a "Tier Czar".
There is no objective definition of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, and as such there is no "master list" of who is in which list, and to that end even if there was no one would agree on it. Youd have some consensus with schools like WAB (Beijing), and ISB (Bangkok), but there would still be a lot of disagreement. Though if your on the international school circuit long enough you get a feel for which schools are at which tier. School quality also has a lot to do with where you are a tier 2 school in Hong Kong, might be a tier 1 school in mainland China...
There is no "definition" of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3. Its all subjective, in general when teachers describe a tier 1, etc school from one another it comes down to
1) Compensation package
2) Work environment.
Historically the compensation package is the priority, not because of greed or anything, but because its easy to quantify. If your in Brazil, $30K is better then $28K. Schools that pay more for a given region tend to have more stable finances (a sign of longevity, given enrollment, and reputation), and have larger endowments, meaning they have been around long enough to develop efficiency and have well planed capitol projects. Better schools can charge more in fees, and be more selective in their admissions. This creates more "cash" on hand for salaries and benefits.
COMPENSATION:
Typically includes (in this order of importance/priority:
1) Salary (based on number of contract or teaching hours per week)
2) Housing (including utility costs)
3) Tuition (If you have kids. In addition if you have a non teaching spouse, how easy is it for them to find a job)
4) Transportation (Including Airfare, moving, and settling in allowances).
5) Insurance (Mostly how good the medical is)
6) Retirement (Including end of year bonuses).
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Working conditions is the far more subjective of the two. It means something slightly different to everyone. But can include as a general principal (and these get more "fuzzy" the lower I go):
1) Staff/Faculty/Parents:How qualified are your co teachers? Do they know what they are doing? Do the aids, secretaries try and help you? Is the PTA crazy helicopter parents? Are the parents really the ones running the school?
2) Admins Management Style: Biggest reason for a school to go down hill. Does the admin back the teachers? Are they just a spokesperson for the owners? Do they yield to parent pressure? Do they value faculty input? Do they care?
3) Organization: Does the front/back office run efficiently? Do you get reimbursed in a timely fashion? Are salaries paid on time? Is the school relationship with the local immigration bureau good, can they process visas, permits, etc quickly?
4) Resources: Do you have a projector? Access to computers, internet? Can you make copies when you need too. What about textbooks, are they old and out dated, do teachers even use them? Whats the library look like? Whats the cafeteria look like (do they feed the teacher lunch?) Do you have a classroom/department budget, or do you have to ask for everything?
5) Academics: Do they have a curriculum? Do they use the curriculum? Does the department share a common curriculum or does everybody teach what they know and prefer? What are the assessment/grading policies and procedures?
6) Community: Are the people nice, friendly, helpful? What's there too do in the area? Is it safe? Clean? Is transportation easily accessible? Availability of shopping/groceries? Medical Care? This could be a long one....
JOB SEARCH:
Most 3rd tier schools advertise on TIE Online, Joy Jobs, and with SEARCH. You can also find them on Daves ESL Cafe (They advertise everywhere, except the "selective" recruitment agencies, such as ISS)
Tier 3 schools either pay very well because the only reason someone would work there is the money, or they pay enough to get by. Most of these schools are in the middle east or africa. There are some very "beautiful" schools that Dante could use to deepen the levels of hell a bit, and the only reason they have faculty is because 1) The money, 2) Desperate teachers who cant do any better. Of course one issue that i see common with Tier 3 schools is related to "safety" either the regional culture is very very rigid, with serious consequences for what you might consider "minor rule infractions" or the region/area could become quickly hostile and dangerous...
Your typical "ESL School" is right around the border between tier 3 and tier 2 schools.
ESL language teaching doesnt count. I'm sorry, and you have no teaching experience, in your certification area, nor any experience teaching what so ever. None of the first tier schools (which require 2 years experience) will talk to you, and the elite schools (which typically require 5 years) will laugh behind your back So what do you do???
There is no objective definition of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, and as such there is no "master list" of who is in which list, and to that end even if there was no one would agree on it. Youd have some consensus with schools like WAB (Beijing), and ISB (Bangkok), but there would still be a lot of disagreement. Though if your on the international school circuit long enough you get a feel for which schools are at which tier. School quality also has a lot to do with where you are a tier 2 school in Hong Kong, might be a tier 1 school in mainland China...
There is no "definition" of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3. Its all subjective, in general when teachers describe a tier 1, etc school from one another it comes down to
1) Compensation package
2) Work environment.
Historically the compensation package is the priority, not because of greed or anything, but because its easy to quantify. If your in Brazil, $30K is better then $28K. Schools that pay more for a given region tend to have more stable finances (a sign of longevity, given enrollment, and reputation), and have larger endowments, meaning they have been around long enough to develop efficiency and have well planed capitol projects. Better schools can charge more in fees, and be more selective in their admissions. This creates more "cash" on hand for salaries and benefits.
COMPENSATION:
Typically includes (in this order of importance/priority:
1) Salary (based on number of contract or teaching hours per week)
2) Housing (including utility costs)
3) Tuition (If you have kids. In addition if you have a non teaching spouse, how easy is it for them to find a job)
4) Transportation (Including Airfare, moving, and settling in allowances).
5) Insurance (Mostly how good the medical is)
6) Retirement (Including end of year bonuses).
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Working conditions is the far more subjective of the two. It means something slightly different to everyone. But can include as a general principal (and these get more "fuzzy" the lower I go):
1) Staff/Faculty/Parents:How qualified are your co teachers? Do they know what they are doing? Do the aids, secretaries try and help you? Is the PTA crazy helicopter parents? Are the parents really the ones running the school?
2) Admins Management Style: Biggest reason for a school to go down hill. Does the admin back the teachers? Are they just a spokesperson for the owners? Do they yield to parent pressure? Do they value faculty input? Do they care?
3) Organization: Does the front/back office run efficiently? Do you get reimbursed in a timely fashion? Are salaries paid on time? Is the school relationship with the local immigration bureau good, can they process visas, permits, etc quickly?
4) Resources: Do you have a projector? Access to computers, internet? Can you make copies when you need too. What about textbooks, are they old and out dated, do teachers even use them? Whats the library look like? Whats the cafeteria look like (do they feed the teacher lunch?) Do you have a classroom/department budget, or do you have to ask for everything?
5) Academics: Do they have a curriculum? Do they use the curriculum? Does the department share a common curriculum or does everybody teach what they know and prefer? What are the assessment/grading policies and procedures?
6) Community: Are the people nice, friendly, helpful? What's there too do in the area? Is it safe? Clean? Is transportation easily accessible? Availability of shopping/groceries? Medical Care? This could be a long one....
JOB SEARCH:
Most 3rd tier schools advertise on TIE Online, Joy Jobs, and with SEARCH. You can also find them on Daves ESL Cafe (They advertise everywhere, except the "selective" recruitment agencies, such as ISS)
Tier 3 schools either pay very well because the only reason someone would work there is the money, or they pay enough to get by. Most of these schools are in the middle east or africa. There are some very "beautiful" schools that Dante could use to deepen the levels of hell a bit, and the only reason they have faculty is because 1) The money, 2) Desperate teachers who cant do any better. Of course one issue that i see common with Tier 3 schools is related to "safety" either the regional culture is very very rigid, with serious consequences for what you might consider "minor rule infractions" or the region/area could become quickly hostile and dangerous...
Your typical "ESL School" is right around the border between tier 3 and tier 2 schools.
ESL language teaching doesnt count. I'm sorry, and you have no teaching experience, in your certification area, nor any experience teaching what so ever. None of the first tier schools (which require 2 years experience) will talk to you, and the elite schools (which typically require 5 years) will laugh behind your back So what do you do???
Well
There arent really any free public international school job fairs. The market is pretty much cornered by: Search Associates (SA), International School Services (ISS), and Council of International Schools (COIS). They are all fee based recruitment services. You have to be a member of their agency to attend their fairs.
As I said in my earlier post Search (the largest of the three big agencies) only has about 12 or so Eastern European schools in their database. You could easily google and book mark them and check their HR page easily enough for vacancies, and then email them your resume materials. In that case Search wouldnt really give you a lot of return or value for your money. South america has more schools, and in that case Search might be worth the money in how much time they save you. More and more schools are doing interviews via Skype now, though some schools will insist on a face to face interview, and the fairs bring everyone together at one time in one place.
Basically, if your going to do a broad, and expansive job search with the intent of finding a position for next year no matter what then a recruiting agency is the way to go. If your only interested in a handful of certain schools, and its either a job with one of them, or forget it, I think you can do the work and be successful on your own (many people find positions on their own with out one of the big agencies).
As I said in my earlier post Search (the largest of the three big agencies) only has about 12 or so Eastern European schools in their database. You could easily google and book mark them and check their HR page easily enough for vacancies, and then email them your resume materials. In that case Search wouldnt really give you a lot of return or value for your money. South america has more schools, and in that case Search might be worth the money in how much time they save you. More and more schools are doing interviews via Skype now, though some schools will insist on a face to face interview, and the fairs bring everyone together at one time in one place.
Basically, if your going to do a broad, and expansive job search with the intent of finding a position for next year no matter what then a recruiting agency is the way to go. If your only interested in a handful of certain schools, and its either a job with one of them, or forget it, I think you can do the work and be successful on your own (many people find positions on their own with out one of the big agencies).
Thank you for all your answers. It helped a lot! We have a lot to consider. My husband and I both have steady jobs here in US. We have been in the schools we are teaching now for a long time. It is very scary and exciting at the same time to venture into new possibilities. We are not concerned with moving since we have been traveling a lot and consider ourselves quite multicultural. Our kids are bilingual (Russian and English) that is why I would like Eastern Europe, particularly Russia (I noticed that not being a native speaker of English has been a big topic in the past, but I will have to find out for myself). I am excited to see what is out there for us. Thank you again.