The International Schools Review Forum

We finally got an offer! No fairs... just Search, a few Skype interviews, and a lot of patience. I got the offer during lunch. Did a crazy dance in the teachers' lounge, and then immediately wanted to go throw up.

I might be freaking out a little. Making a commitment is equal parts exciting and scary.

Fantastic!

It was an anxiety inducing experience for us too, but one that is totally worth it.

BookShelfAmy - that is AWESOME! Congratulations.

Is it where you want to go? What region are you headed to?

Cheers - go celebrate tonight :-)

CONGRATS!!! That's super exciting! :D

It is exactly where we want to go. I can't believe our good fortune.

I noticed a few science people posting nervously this week, so, for anyone who might be reading this:

Mr. Bookshelf has four years of experience teaching American HS bio and chem. He is also getting certified to teach math. I have two years teaching upper elem and two as a librarian. I can teach a lot of things, but mostly Elementary, English, and Library.

We've only received four requests for interviews, and only two of them happened. The first interview was really bad; clearly not a good fit on either end. It feels like the stars alligned for the interview with the second school. I wasn't expecting to get hired until later in the season, after the fairs. The interest we did get -- I think -- is because we are married w/o kids, are a good combination of subjects, and are able to teach a variety of classes. We DID have to wait until after the London fair to get an offer, even though we interviewed in Dec.

Assuming nothing falls apart now, we're heading to a school with a great reputation in a pretty competitive part of the world.

So... I don't know if that's comforting or makes things worse, but that's how it happened to us.

Congrats, Bookshelf and Mr. Bookshelf! Super news.

Congratulations! Hope you both have a great time!

Thanks, everyone! We're pretty excited.

Pippafrit,
I got the feeling that our school wanted to hire us in early January, but they had to wait until their current teachers officially resigned, hence the delay 'til after the fair. The whole time we were waiting to hear from them, I kept hearing PsyGuy in my head: "They don't really want you. They're putting you off and looking for something better..."

You know that old trope about having an angel and a demon on your shoulders? Mine are shadowjack and PsyGuy.

@BookshelfAmy

Im sure you want to think that was the truth that they were only waiting for a resignation, but if thats true they would have had them before the fair and they could have offered you a contract before the fair season started, their was no reason to actually wait until after the fair, unless they were still looking for a better candidate. In your case they just didnt find one, and they didnt want to risk losing you by continuing to wait.

Not every school has the same notification/resignation date. Some are actually shocking late for final decisions...

Sadly, my former school is not one of those, but my present position gives us until the Spring to make up our minds :-)

Truth. Some schools have resignation dates as late as June. It's a nightmare for recruiting, but tends to be an offshoot of national law, so nothing a school can do, unless they can afford bonuses for early notifiers, which encourages decisions but doesn't force them.
Other schools have Jan 31 dates, or mid Feb.
And some recruiters will let their teachers delay a decision if its someone they really want to keep. Which would make the incumbent first choice, and you second, but it's not really apples and apples.

Okay, sid and shadowjack on one shoulder, PsyGuy on the other. :)

Thank you for the compliment BookshelfAmy!