The International Schools Review Forum

My wife and I are applying to schools in Germany. She has taught IBPYP for seven years at a German Immersion School (and she is German) and I have taught IBMYP and IBDP for the last 10 years (German, History, TOK, and DP Coordinator). We both have held leadership positions in our schools.

We have applied together as a couple but we are not attending any conferences. Do we have any chance at all of obtaining positions w/o going to the conferences? Most schools give priority to those who attend so our chances must be reduced. Right?

Please give me some advice or information!!!

Cbad,

Given your background I do believe you would be a viable candidate even though cannot attend a fair. I presume your wife has a German/EU passport. Obviously, you need to be aggressive in applying to the schools that have openings for you.

Good luck.

We have managed to land jobs at solids schools using Skype for the last two recruitment seasons. We have over 15 years of PYP/MYP/DP experience.

We have Skype interviews this weekend as well for the 2014-2015 school year.

I stopped attending fairs as a matter of principle. However, I am aware that this limits our chances for landing jobs at certain schools.

Put together a solid CV, perhaps a website with samples of this and that and don´t give up.

Good luck.

Thank you for both of your replies! We have already sent off all of our documents and are just waiting to hear back from the schools. I tend to think of myself as a realist and since we haven't been contacted about an interview yet, I assume they are waiting to look at other candidates or wait for more applications. In other words, they didn't look at our applications and snap us up before other schools got to us.

By the way Nomads, what did you mean by aggressive in applying? Should I contact the schools?

Thanks again!

We have never attended fairs and have managed to get work. However, there are some dodgy "schools" so take care.

cbad,

To me being aggressive means researching who the building principal is and sending him/her your resume and cover letter directly rather than only the head of school and/or HR department. Check the schools' website frequently as the vacancies may change with new openings appearing. If you are contacted for an interview, make sure you follow up the contact promptly and foolwo up with thank you e-mails.

I would not call the school directly. While some may see this in a positive light, most do not welcome the interruption.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for the advice Nomads. I had thought about doing that but did not want to come off as pushy. One last question: Do you have any input on how I should frame the email message? I am very nervous about seeming too pushy. I have read "The Art of Emailing Directors" but most of it doesn't really pertain to me writing the building principal.

Thanks in advance!

Cbad,

The email to the principal is basically the same. Explain how your experience fits the school and position. Do your research, know the mission and main initiatives. Explain how your experience and skills fit those initiatives. Emphasis how you can contribute to the school outside the classroom. Specific examples of collaboration with colleagues would be helpful.

Hope this helps.