The International Schools Review Forum

Hi Everyone, reading posts on this forum has been great. I am a first timer registered with Search Associates and going to the Cambridge, MA fair in January. I read the "diary" that was posted on this site from another fair and it was very illuminating! It made me realize how much work I really need to do upfront before attending the fair.

I am an 18 year veteran teacher with the bulk of my experience in secondary ed. My degrees and certs are in Elementary, Reading, Dance, and Admin. with National Board Certification in adolescent lit. Currently, I am the Literacy/Instructional coach in high school.

I am looking for advice on the best way to prepare for the fair... upfront work, communications, plan once I get there, etc. Is it imperative to contact all the schools one is interested by email prior to the fair (as the posting information comes in through Search)?

Can someone explain more about the tier levels of schools? I have seen that phrased used several times in this forum? What do you think about registering with TIE as well?

Thanks in advance for an advice and suggestions!

I wish someone would answer your post as I am new, too, and would love to hear what they have to say.

I signed up with Search 2 months ago and send out some emails when jobs are listed. I'm not bothering too much with the really big schools because I feel like I'm just one of thousands. I'm elementary so not in a critical shortage area. I am getting this feeling that all hinges on the job fair in Cambridge. I'm planning on bringing hundreds of resumes, looking professional, and selling myself at the interview. I have a lot of experience and am single with no dependents so that's a tiny positive in this highly competitive market.

Good luck!

Litgal,

thank you for your praise :-) So now you are going to the fair. What to do what to do?

1. Make contact with schools of your choice as the jobs come up via the Search site (but often I used the information on the Search site but sent everything from my own email address (which I set up specifically for my professional persona, so it would be instantly recognizable). Often, realize you won't hear back.

2. I also was on TIEonline to see what other jobs were coming up at the non-Search schools. I applied to a few of those too, but mainly used Search.

3. I had a paid membership to ISR. That allowed me to look at the reviews. Remember to take the reviews with a grain of salt and look for patterns rather than specific reviews. You can also get a sense of the directors, so that you have an idea of what it is like to work for particular ones (or which ones to avoid!).

4. Network. Do you have friends internationally? Keep in touch - ask about openings, what they know about schools, etc. Above all, don't be afraid to use the forum to ask questions about specific schools. Sometimes it might be slow, but you will usually get a response or three.

5. Forget taking "hundreds of CVs". If you are going to be somewhat selective, you should take perhaps 25 to 30. Proof it, run it by your friends, make sure there are no typos or other errors in it. Put your photo on it. Mine highlights my training and degrees, then my related experience (coaching and other extra-curricular) and then goes through my teaching experience in reverse chronological order, with references (three) at the end.

Hope this helps!

Shad

Ouch...that sounded like a dig at me, Shadowjack. I'd rather take a hundred CV's and have too many than not enough. There are well over a hundred schools registered for the Cambridge fair and it's only October!

There won't be too many more schools registering. Generally schools have already decided which fairs they'll attend.
And even if there are 150 schools there, there will be a good fair few of them which you won't be interested in or which won't have an opening for you.
And if you're thinking of dropping your CV into every recruiter's mail folder, think again. Unless you attach a personal note, that unrequested CV is not likely to get much air play. Remember that the recruiters will already have access to all your documents through the Search database - a recruiter who's doing their job right will already have been through them all and prioritized who they want to contact. If you're not already on their list, dropping a duplicate CV into their folder isn't likely to change anything. Better to target the schools you really think have potential for you, and write them a nice personal note / cover letter explaining why you and the school are such a great match.

Not a dig at all, just the reality of transporting 100+ CVs (and will you put a cover letter or note on them?) and actually USING them all.

Realize that many schools will be (a) in locations you might not be interested in; (b) as sid mentioned, not have something in your field; (c) make it clear they are not interested in single teachers; or (d) are saving their elementary positions for the spouses of the teachers they really want.

I would stand by my comment to take 25 - 30. If you think you will hit more, than bump it up to 45 - 50. But don't take 100.

Of course, those are just my thoughts. And no, I was not trying to put a dig in, just trying to be realistic.

No worries...someone just told me once that they ran out of resumes and printer was down and they had lots of tech issues.

Anyway....I also heard that many administrators rip off the cover letter and go straight for the resume. But, I suppose I have to do a cover anyway...what do you usually say in the cover?

Anyone have any suggestions for a good, interesting cover that will set me apart?

Hi Shadowjack, thanks for the posting. I think I will register on TIE because it is so reasonable.

I want to be sure to do as much up front preparation as possible prior to the fair because the pace and pressure of it sounds pretty intense... especially after reading your diary! It really put the reader right there and I appreciate your writing and posting it.

One of the things that concerns me the most is knowing how to assess the entire package (salary, housing, health insurance, travel, taxes, etc.) on the spot. I read that it is acceptable to ask for a few days to consider if one is offered a job but does that mean the position will be held open? Suppose another applicant is ready to sign on the spot??

I need advice from all of the experienced teachers out there on ISR! What are the really important questions to ask once an offer has been made in terms of the package? What caveats do you have?

Additionally, I am not in a "high needs" area. The majority of my experience is in literacy/reading and in secondary. That, combined with being a first year applicant will probably limit opportunities. Plus, I thought that being single would be a plus but I have been surprised to read how many schools prefer couples (according to the ISR reviews I have read). I contacted the school in Amman, Jordan and that was their response as well. Insights anyone???

Litgal,

I wouldn't count on a couple of days to consider an offer, more like 24 hours if they give you the choice. As for assessing the offers, I wouldn't worry about it too much, in my experience its always been pretty obvious what is a good offer and what isn't. You can get a feel for schools from ISR (with that proverbial grain of salt) and go from there. After an offer was made we always did a little research on safety, economy etc and then matched that up with the school's package and made the choice. Besides there are always parts to the package that you won't be made aware of until after you sign on the dotted line.

As for the couples vs singles, it is true couples seem to be the preference. Housing is definitely comes into play there. Having said that, I work at a large Asian school and we have many single women on staff as well as teachers with non-teaching spouses and some with kids on top of that.

Remember it only takes one school to make you an offer. Sure its nice to have more than one to pick from but in the end you can only take one job. Approach the fair experience professionally and prepared and the odds are you will land a job.

You should have a pretty good idea of what schools have openings in your area before the fair. Do the majority of your research before you step a foot in the sign-up room. Of course, things always open up and disappear at the fair. After an offer, you probably will only have 24 hours to make the decision. Sometimes you may have more if they aren't going to another fair soon after, but don't count on it.

After the sign-ups you'll know which schools you are going to interview with. I suggest getting a subscription to International Schools Review (ISR) if you don't already. Check the reviews of your school there, here, and anywhere else you can find. Talk to people in the candidate's lounge as well as your associate. People already in the international teaching circuit have lot of information.

I would suggest making a list of things that are important to you and your non-negotiables. Know how much you need have in income, what benefits you're expecting. Check the Search database. The benefits information is pretty much all there.

During the interview you can ask to speak with a teacher at the school. Ask if there are any teachers from the school attending the fair. You'll usually have a bit of time before the second interview. From my experience, the offer is usually made after the second interview. Some people even have a third interview. I always ask the interviewer what do they wish that someone had told them.

Couples are supreme, but there is plenty out there for a single with no dependants. It does help to have international experience but Cambridge seems to cater to good number of experienced educators with no previous international experience. Good luck.

Assuming there is a position for you. Reading/Dance are almost non existant. A reading specialist would be an english teacher and a primary school may have a reading specialist but except at large tier one schools its a niche position, since its part of the LS department. Dance gets about one vacancy a year.
Admin sounds the most marketable. Go to either the leadership fair or the earliest fair of the big ones you can get into, really most schools like senior admin in place before teacher recruitment. Junior admin they can wait a bit on.

You want to have as much contact with a school before hand, schools have onlya limited amount of interview slots and you have limited sign up time. Its in your interest to get advance interviews and not waste your time with schools that arent interested.

A 100 resumes is a waste, you wont have nearly that time, and most schools know what fair they are going to attend, very few will add themselves to the big fairs. Smaller later fairs can change signifigantly but not the super fairs. You would need interest and vacancies at all those schools to justify that many resumes. 20-25 is more reasonable, and most likely you will use less then that.

Teaching couples are the most desirable but a single is second best and better then a trailing spouse, but a school isnt going to hire you because your single.

Dont do a cover letter for the fair, its a waste of time, and not even read.

recruiters are supposed to give youa day at a fair but thats unrealistic. If you say no they cant have wasted a whole day. If your going to accept they can scratch the position off the list and move on. A couple days is very uncommon, your liekly to get at most a few hours.

The whole package is really irrelevant, it only matters if you have other offers to compare, and then you have to weigh what the schools are offering for where you will be and what the expectations are. Otherwise what the range is for a particular school doesnt matter much, admins are pretty good at eyeballing what a teacher will accept and walk away from. So really everything you need to know is going to be right in front of you.