Hi there,
So, I am just finishing my first two year contract as a high school Social Studies teacher at a privately owned school in Vietnam that follows the IGCSE curriculum. Before that, I've been a substitute for a year in the US (I'm American), and taught ESL in France for a year before I received my teaching license.
I have a Master's in Education, a highly qualified license from the US, two very solid letters of recommendation from my recent supervisors, and this year I was promoted to Head of my department.
However, I would prefer to work anywhere in Europe (east or west), South America second, and anywhere else third. I teach social studies, and I have no official IB training/experience yet (I am signed up for a workshop this spring though and am developing an MYP unit with some teachers at an IB school over here.)
I'm registered with Search and CIS. As the fairs are booking up quickly, which fairs would I be most competitive at? And on that, how competitive would someone with my background be in reality? I ask because due to the expense, I may only be able to choose one fair.
Any/all advice is much appreciated. Thanks,
Which fair would be best for my experience? Help plz!
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buffalofan
- Posts: 350
- Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:08 pm
Search
There may be a spot in Bangkok, but I dont think Search would give you an invite. Really you have an option of one, and thats the Cambridge fair in february with Search.
Your credentials are about the same as everyone elses, at your stage of professional development. The ESL experience doesnt count (its ESL, and before certification, though France isnt your typical posting). The substituting experience doesnt count. You have the minimum 2 years experience, except you didnt get IB experience (though you did get IGCSE experience). The masters is nice but lots of people have Masters degrees. The HOD experience is a nice plus. Lastly, social studies isnt a high needs area. I dont think your competitive for Europe, but your in the same category as everyone else with a few minor pluses for everywhere else. Your best angle is to work the IGCSE experience, and aim for a tier one British school. South America would probably pick you up, your biggest liability is going to be your relatively minimal experience. Lack of IB experience is going to limit you to tier 2 IB schools, with all the other newbies
The UNI fair is OK if your close (as in driving distance), its less stress, but also fewer schools. Being in Vietnam and having to spend the money to fly, you want the biggest bang for your buck and thats going to be the Cambridge fair, its really not even much of a contest. (I always though of the UNI fair as the "Kiddie" fair, but thats just me).
Your credentials are about the same as everyone elses, at your stage of professional development. The ESL experience doesnt count (its ESL, and before certification, though France isnt your typical posting). The substituting experience doesnt count. You have the minimum 2 years experience, except you didnt get IB experience (though you did get IGCSE experience). The masters is nice but lots of people have Masters degrees. The HOD experience is a nice plus. Lastly, social studies isnt a high needs area. I dont think your competitive for Europe, but your in the same category as everyone else with a few minor pluses for everywhere else. Your best angle is to work the IGCSE experience, and aim for a tier one British school. South America would probably pick you up, your biggest liability is going to be your relatively minimal experience. Lack of IB experience is going to limit you to tier 2 IB schools, with all the other newbies
The UNI fair is OK if your close (as in driving distance), its less stress, but also fewer schools. Being in Vietnam and having to spend the money to fly, you want the biggest bang for your buck and thats going to be the Cambridge fair, its really not even much of a contest. (I always though of the UNI fair as the "Kiddie" fair, but thats just me).
Yeah, I kind of figured I was about at the entry level. However, Cambridge is literally the farthest point on the globe from SEA, so it would be very expensive and time consuming to go there. But I will if that's the best bet for landing work.
I'm also considering the Dubai job fair and/or the London Search Spring Fair. Any thoughts on either of those? I already read the reviews on this site from the '09 Dubai, however, I am not super excited about working in the Middle East.
I'm also considering the Dubai job fair and/or the London Search Spring Fair. Any thoughts on either of those? I already read the reviews on this site from the '09 Dubai, however, I am not super excited about working in the Middle East.
Fairs
The Cambridge fair is "THE" fair to go to, its run back to back with the ISS fair in boston, its basically one of the three super fairs. The Search London fair is run back to back with CIS, and is mostly British curriculum schools (which youd be a good fit for) and european schools. It attracts a very elite crown of teachers.
If you have to do the Bangkok fair you could always attend rouge. Basically, the fair is just people and a hotel. So email your prospects and tell them you dont have an invite, but because of your proximity your planing on being in Bangkok at the time of the fair, and will be staying at the hotel, and youd like to interview with them. If they are interested you could get a couple interviews out of it. If there not interested, then likely they wouldnt be interested in you if you had an official invitation anyway.
The Dubai fair is just middle eastern schools looking for the desperate (with a few exceptions). If you wouldnt accept a position from any those schools, it doesnt matter how much cheaper it would be.
If you have to do the Bangkok fair you could always attend rouge. Basically, the fair is just people and a hotel. So email your prospects and tell them you dont have an invite, but because of your proximity your planing on being in Bangkok at the time of the fair, and will be staying at the hotel, and youd like to interview with them. If they are interested you could get a couple interviews out of it. If there not interested, then likely they wouldnt be interested in you if you had an official invitation anyway.
The Dubai fair is just middle eastern schools looking for the desperate (with a few exceptions). If you wouldnt accept a position from any those schools, it doesnt matter how much cheaper it would be.
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justlooking
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:02 am
Re: Search
[quote="PsyGuy"]There may be a spot in Bangkok, but I dont think Search would give you an invite. Really you have an option of one, and thats the Cambridge fair in february with Search.
Your credentials are about the same as everyone elses, at your stage of professional development. The ESL experience doesnt count (its ESL, and before certification, though France isnt your typical posting). The substituting experience doesnt count. You have the minimum 2 years experience, except you didnt get IB experience (though you did get IGCSE experience). The masters is nice but lots of people have Masters degrees. The HOD experience is a nice plus. Lastly, social studies isnt a high needs area. I dont think [b]your [/b]competitive for Europe, but your in the same category as everyone else with a few minor pluses for everywhere else. Your best angle is to work the IGCSE experience, and aim for a tier one British school. South America would probably pick you up, your biggest liability is going to be your relatively minimal experience. Lack of IB experience is going to limit you to tier 2 IB schools, with all the other newbies
The UNI fair is OK if your close (as in driving distance), its less stress, but also fewer schools. Being in Vietnam and having to spend the money to fly, you want the biggest bang for your buck and thats going to be the Cambridge fair, its really not even much of a contest. (I always though of the UNI fair as the "Kiddie" fair, but thats just me).[/quote]
Dear Psychguy,
Unlike some others on the forum, I appreciate your lengthy, thoughtful, and prolific responses to posters. However, you are driving me crazy with using "there" when you mean "they're" or "their." You also have a problem with "your" and "you're" as well as "its" and it's." And would it kill you to use an apostrophe when called for?
On a forum like this a certain amount of informality is, I think, fine. But I don't think it's too formal to ask teachers and members of admin (including you I think) to express themselves clearly and accurately.
Can you tell I'm an English teacher? :wink:
Your credentials are about the same as everyone elses, at your stage of professional development. The ESL experience doesnt count (its ESL, and before certification, though France isnt your typical posting). The substituting experience doesnt count. You have the minimum 2 years experience, except you didnt get IB experience (though you did get IGCSE experience). The masters is nice but lots of people have Masters degrees. The HOD experience is a nice plus. Lastly, social studies isnt a high needs area. I dont think [b]your [/b]competitive for Europe, but your in the same category as everyone else with a few minor pluses for everywhere else. Your best angle is to work the IGCSE experience, and aim for a tier one British school. South America would probably pick you up, your biggest liability is going to be your relatively minimal experience. Lack of IB experience is going to limit you to tier 2 IB schools, with all the other newbies
The UNI fair is OK if your close (as in driving distance), its less stress, but also fewer schools. Being in Vietnam and having to spend the money to fly, you want the biggest bang for your buck and thats going to be the Cambridge fair, its really not even much of a contest. (I always though of the UNI fair as the "Kiddie" fair, but thats just me).[/quote]
Dear Psychguy,
Unlike some others on the forum, I appreciate your lengthy, thoughtful, and prolific responses to posters. However, you are driving me crazy with using "there" when you mean "they're" or "their." You also have a problem with "your" and "you're" as well as "its" and it's." And would it kill you to use an apostrophe when called for?
On a forum like this a certain amount of informality is, I think, fine. But I don't think it's too formal to ask teachers and members of admin (including you I think) to express themselves clearly and accurately.
Can you tell I'm an English teacher? :wink:
C7E, my Search rep advised me to choose a fair based on how many schools I was interested in that had POSITIONS I could apply for. It's no use going to a fair with lots of great schools attending if they don't have any positions for you.
See what Colegio Americano in Quito has available. I enjoyed my three years there.
See what Colegio Americano in Quito has available. I enjoyed my three years there.