The answer to your original question is: anything can happen.
You could end up at the top international school in the world. You could end up at the worst in the world. The chain of events that a job search entails is so serendipitous that nobody can figure out where they will be next year in the world of IE.
Newbies with ZERO teaching experience - domestic or international - end up at top schools and people with the perfect resume cannot get a decent job.
I remember I was having breakfast in the hotel that was hosting the job fair I was attending. Two school heads were sitting next to me talking about a teacher and the only thing they talked about was her enthusiasm at a workshop. They talked for 10 minutes about how this woman was so enthusiastic and positive at workshop. Never once did they mention her teaching ability or anything pertaining to her classroom. So, who knows who will want to have you and your partner as teachers?
Just apply to everything you are interested in, apply as early as possible, and wait to see what happens.
Or, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Teaching couple question
Reply
@earthgirl
Primary and/or lower secondary IS counselor vacancies are difficult to come by, they are a much smaller niche than whole IS counselor, and even in large ISs that do have grade level counselors, those ISs are going to expect that you can provide services at any grade level, and may very less assign you to upper secondary counseling. You may also be required to carry a teaching load in psychology, etc.
You dont need a lot of experience to be marketable as a counselor, and your spouses previous mental health work is likely applicable and relevant.
You are competitive for tier 1 ISs. You wont likely get early or late night recruited, but you will be looked over as opposed to over looked. As a couple an invite to the BKK is very reasonable.
@senator
Recruiters are more interested in ITs that are good employees as opposed to good teachers, and the definition of a good employee is in part an IT with qualities that describe them as highly likable.
A great scholar and highly experienced teacher who is unmotivated isnt worth anything. An admin/head can teach and train competence and content mastery; enthusiasm, adaptability and collaborative willingness are of far greater difficulty to transfer and instill in an IT.
Primary and/or lower secondary IS counselor vacancies are difficult to come by, they are a much smaller niche than whole IS counselor, and even in large ISs that do have grade level counselors, those ISs are going to expect that you can provide services at any grade level, and may very less assign you to upper secondary counseling. You may also be required to carry a teaching load in psychology, etc.
You dont need a lot of experience to be marketable as a counselor, and your spouses previous mental health work is likely applicable and relevant.
You are competitive for tier 1 ISs. You wont likely get early or late night recruited, but you will be looked over as opposed to over looked. As a couple an invite to the BKK is very reasonable.
@senator
Recruiters are more interested in ITs that are good employees as opposed to good teachers, and the definition of a good employee is in part an IT with qualities that describe them as highly likable.
A great scholar and highly experienced teacher who is unmotivated isnt worth anything. An admin/head can teach and train competence and content mastery; enthusiasm, adaptability and collaborative willingness are of far greater difficulty to transfer and instill in an IT.
Re: Teaching couple question
@earthgirl,
If your husband gets some elementary school counseling experience it will be very helpful. Male elementary counselors are extremely hard to come by. Tier 1 schools often say that they don't want K-12 counselors, or counselors coming from other divisions. They want depth of experience in that particular developmental stage. Your husband would be able to meet that criteria, and schools would very interested in you guys.
If your husband gets some elementary school counseling experience it will be very helpful. Male elementary counselors are extremely hard to come by. Tier 1 schools often say that they don't want K-12 counselors, or counselors coming from other divisions. They want depth of experience in that particular developmental stage. Your husband would be able to meet that criteria, and schools would very interested in you guys.
Discussion
I only find that true when it involves counselors that are differentiating services between mental health roles, student service/management roles, and career/university guidance roles. There is very little designation within those roles between grade levels.
Re: Teaching couple question
@senator - Thanks for the reality check. So much is a crapshoot.
@nikkor - Thank you for all of the helpful information. The whole male counselor in elementary/middle school is probably the path he will take for now. However, a strange thing happened last week. We are friends with a principal at a high school in our city and he contacted my husband to see if he wanted to be one of the high school counselors next year. Weird coincidence! He is thinking about it for now. Of course I am all over him to take it to gain some experience.
@nikkor - Thank you for all of the helpful information. The whole male counselor in elementary/middle school is probably the path he will take for now. However, a strange thing happened last week. We are friends with a principal at a high school in our city and he contacted my husband to see if he wanted to be one of the high school counselors next year. Weird coincidence! He is thinking about it for now. Of course I am all over him to take it to gain some experience.