The International Schools Review Forum

Hi All,

I am in talks with a top international school for the 2010-2011 academic year (yes I know its early) in a country I really like and know. However, I am banking on another top international school in another country where I REALLY want to live, but there is no firm job available in my subject and I won't know until December if any will become available.

I want to leave my current school to one of these schools but ultimately I would choose the second one mentioned. (Both are much better than my current school).

Does anyone know how the situation works if I were to sign a contract with the school I am talking with now (if they offer me the job), and IF the other school offers me something in December/January cancel the contract and go with them?

So basically, I am canceling a contract and signing on with another school later in the recruitment season.

Is this a big no-no?

Any comments would certainly help!

Thanks in advance.

From my experience, and with the fact that the principal hiring circuit is essentially a large 'boy's club', I'd really think twice about doing that. I'm not sure if there was anything legally the first school could do, but I'd suspect that you might be hurting yourself down the line big time.

Either that or you sign the first contact, then if you are offered the second contract contact the first school and be honest and up front. Tell them you've been offered your dream job. They probably don't want a teacher that doesn't want to be there anyway. If they have time to fill the position they might be Ok with it.

Either that or very vindictive and pissed off....

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Let's turn this around a little bit. A company interviews you, and others, and offers you a job - which you accept. Later on the school meets with another teacher that would be absolutely perfect for the job. So they cancel your contract and hire the "perfect teacher". I could only imagine the amount of gnashing of teeth and comments about how unfair this is and how we need unions and all to prevent this. You might even go to this site and "blackball" a school by writing bad reviews and suggesting people work elsewhere.

Aren't you proposing the same thing? I am a teacher, but if I were the administrator I would be so ticked off. Anyone heard of the Golden Rule? Well in today's society you can get away with this.

I'm not saying people don't kick themselves for not waiting and/or accepting a position they didn't really love but you really need to either wait it out or accept the first offer.

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As an aside, this is the fourth example of a job being filled in September that I'm aware of recently. In the cases I'm aware of, the positions were in a more narrow field; tech leadership and math/science. All obviously outside of the job fairs.

Any earlier and we'll have recruiting in the summer....