The International Schools Review Forum

Is this even possible? I ran into some unexpected expenses and was not able to submit the Search fee before Cambridge filled up. Now I am wondering if it is worth it to pay the $225 for the database when I truly do not mind doing the legwork of finding vacancies on my own.

Will I regret not having access to the Search database? Does anyone have experiences finding jobs without it (such as through TIE or another agency)?

It all depends... you can find a lot of the postings on TIEonline. You can also find them on the individual school websites. Some schools only hire through agencies and some like to save some money and hire not using them.

In the end it all depends on your experience, certification and where you want to go.

If you are a highly experienced specialty teacher that a school is in desperate need of then you can write your own ticket. If you are a generalist with little experience you might want to use Search or ISS or the like or you may want to 'cut your teeth' on a 3rd or 2nd tier school.

Good luck

You have a very broad job search, and you will more likely be more productive, and able to respond to new vacancies much more quickly being repped by an agency (such as Search). The reason is size and scope.

If we were to take JUST the IB school outside of the USA, there are over 2,000 ISs. Thats a lot of schools by itself, and again thats JUST the IB schools, it doesnt count the IGCSE, AP/USA accredited schools. It doesnt include the other "National Curriculum" schools either. Thats a lot of schools. Even if you had them book marked and organized it would take you days to continually check those schools over and over again, and apply to schools.
The counter argument to that is that Search (the largest agency) has only about 650 schools in its database. Again compared to JUST the IB schools thats only a quarter. If your going to do a complete job search, you have to do a lot of the legwork on your own anyway.

What an Agency does is give you convenience, and fast (not just easy) access to new vaccanies, with a rapid means of applying with a few clicks. In addition your references are available to the schools. Lastly, you have a "presence" that schools can Search and approach you, without even the school formally listing a position.

If those benefits are worth $225, and in my opinion they are then join. If not just go with TIE. Many teachers are successful and get offers though TIE, Joy, etc. You can be successful with those services and your own work.

It'll definitely be easier if you are associated with an agency.
Having spent much of the last couple weeks up to my ears in CVs, this is my take:
ISS does the best vetting. I feel reasonably confident that someone in their database will at least be a teacher with some sort of qualification or experience.
SA seems to let just about anyone in to the database, though perhaps not to the fairs.
The CVs that are sent in by individuals are most often complete rubbish. No qualification, no or very little relevant experience, just people on a fishing expedition to see what they can land.

So why am I telling you this? So you know what biases might be held by the people who read your CV. If someone is used to getting rubbish from independent people, he might be easily impressed when he sees that your CV is not complete rubbish. Or he might just bin your CV on the assumption that it's useless. Either way, if you go independent, make sure to make an immediate positive impression. Start by making the subject line of the email useful. No one needs another email titled 'job vacancy' or 'application'. I already have 75 of each in my email folder, and it doesn't motivate me to go back for a second look at any of them, when I know it'll take me forever to find the one I'm interested in. Put your name and your desired position in the subject line. At least then I'll be able to find you when I realize I actually need a math teacher after all.

Rambling, maybe. But it might help you, and it helps me procrastinate from tackling the next batch of CVs.

Keep going, Sid. This is useful stuff. What else irritates you/makes you fall in love with applicants?

Properly name your credentials, the way they're officially written on the official document you were given.
If you claim to have a teaching certificate from the University of Pennsylvania, I know you're wrong. US Universities do not grant teaching certificates. Which means I have to decide whether you're just being inaccurate (you did the courses at UPenn, and then PA issued a certificate), or you're making it up. If I have the time and the rest of your CV looks legit, I'll check the PA online registry of certified teachers. If I don't have time, or if anything else is out of order on your CV, you just got binned.
You wouldn't believe how many people list their credentials inaccurately.

What else bugs me? When ISS asks the candidate to list what they're qualified/certified to teach, and they put down a laundry list. It's not about what you personally feel capable of teaching, it's what you're officially recognized as qualified to teach. If you feel you can teach more, put it in your personal statement. That way we don't get to the interview or even further along, and later find out it was all a waste of time because the country I'm in won't issue a work visa unless you have a legal credential.

So basically fill in the forms accurately and represent yourself accurately. Padding doesn't help.

I'm not actually a curmudgeon. Please take the advise as it is intended - to help people get the interviews and jobs they want.

You don't sound like a curmudgeon. It drives me crazy when people say, "Just relax, you'll be fine." That's nice, but it won't help me get a job. I don't need to relax; I need a fed-up recruiter to tell me what's wrong with my resume!

Thank you for obliging.

I dont even bother looking at a resume for a qualification list, for the same reasons as sid. An additional problem I have is when applicants have "generalist" certifications and they think it means they can teach anything in any grade level. Most of the amature mistakes (such as teaching certificate from a university) are really signs of inexperienced teachers.

My first and primary focus when looking at a real teacher applicant is their experience, what have they taught and what have they taught most recently. If the vacancy is for a IB SL/HL math position and all you've taught is 6th/7th grade math, your not qualified for the position.

Fluff and inflation bother me no end as well. When someone has a position for 1 or 2 years and they have 10-12 bullet point accomplishments I get bored and move on, because most of their "accomplishments" are just regular job duties. I know you taught classes, gave tests, met with parents and attended staff meetings. Those arent accomplishments.

Finally, this is education your resume should be focused on education, I know your career services office gave you all this dvice about identifying experiences that show maturity and leadership, but your retail job while you were in school is not relevant, and working at "Kids GAP" is not "experience working with children".

SighGuy,

Do spelling mistakes bother you too? What about grammatical errors? It seems like they probably wouldn't. What about people who claim knowledge that they don't really have?

I actually have the knowledge and experiences I claim, that's how I'm able to relay it in my posts.

Spelling and grammar do bother me a great deal. A résumé is a professional document, it should be cleanly and professionally written. I can excuse a minor error, but obvious errors tell me the applicant isn't serious. What bothers me more when it comes to style, structure, and composition is a generic résumé, that attempts to through everything into one document, and was clearly created for an unrelated industry.

More then fabricating a claim on a résumé is inflating accomplishments on a résumé, though I don't pay much attention to them anyway, and they are time consuming to check. Chair of a committee sounds better then just being a member on a committee, and maybe one day they actually did hair a meeting, but that type of inflation is pretty common and difficult to verify.

What do I really like? A well-written cover letter.
Specific to my school. Which doesn't mean you wrote a generic cover letter and then slipped the school name and country name into a few blank spots. Really specific to my school. I will love it if I can tell that you did your homework. You checked out our website thoroughly, know our mission statement, noticed that we're an EAL not an ESL school. You've possibly talked to some people who have worked here (feel free to name them). You know some relevant bits about the country and culture. And you show me all this not by quoting the mission statement (trust me, I already know it), but by crafting a letter which incorporates key words and concepts, and by stating clearly, pretty directly, how your personal ethos and experience match up with the school's ethos and direction.
You are direct about the position you would like. Don't stick so much to ethos that I have to check your CV to find out you're a math teacher. You don't tell me you want position x, y, z, p or q, because that just tells me you want a job above all costs. Too desperate, even though it might be true. Pick one or two positions and stick to them. If I like your letter, but for some reason you can't have the position you named, and your letter gave the impression that you might be flexible, I'll contact you and ask if you'd be willing to consider a different post.
If there's anything out of the ordinary, discuss it. You have a spouse who isn't a teacher? Explain. What will he/she be doing? What are your expectations? Most countries have some sort of limitations in terms of trailing spouses, so I need to know at the start if what your spouse is after will at all match up with my country's reality.
You're moving from admin to teaching? Explain. Otherwise I'll think you aren't really wanting to move, you're just applying for back-up teaching positions in case you can't get another admin post.
Your teaching credential is currently expired, which is clearly indicated on the ISS page? Explain that you're in the process of renewing, and when it will be current again.
You have a partner but you aren't married? Explain. We need to know the basic details so we can figure out the right way to approach it.
You get the idea. Don't leave me with a bunch of unanswered questions.

I would say that less than 1 of 25 cover letters really impresses me. Get yourself into that tiny group, and you have a huge advantage.

Many admins/recruiters dont read cover letters for the same reason in the early screening/selection process. The vast majority of them are generic, and little more then bragging. Its really frustrating when you have a good cover letter and turn the page only to find out the applicant isnt remotely qualified.

"I actually have the knowledge and experiences I claim, (sic) that's how I'm able to relay it in my posts."

I love this. I asked you in an earlier post to tell us how many fairs you've attended as a candidate and how many as a recruiter. Funnily enough, you never answered.

Please, please be at a fair in January or February!

Sid,

Thank you for the solid advice.

Sid, thank you for your candid input on the subject of what administrators are looking for. Could you please give me the straight up on how administrators feel about hiring people who are in their 60's? (62 in my case) I can retire in America at the end of this school year and would like to return overseas to teach. Although I am highly qualified and have great references, no one seems interested in my candidacy. I think it's my age. How do you feel about the issue?