bobbydylan84 wrote:
> A self righteous group of mostly white
> privilege career teachers looking to teach the elites and maintain neo
> feudal economics.

What an ignorant statement with racist overtones, Dylan! Says a lot about you. I get it you're disappointed but hardly fair to throw shade at 1 particular race of people!

The Colombia age restriction of 57 is inaccurate and/or outdated. I have a friend working there who just turned 70!

reisgio wrote:
> I'm at Search London right now. What can I say? More disappointed than ever
> in the 'globally-minded' and 'boundary-pushing' international school
> community made up of entrenched white men or feminazi harridans who proudly
> discriminate in hiring based on gender, national background, or family
> status. How progressive! No wonder education is made up of so many
> Trump-hating leftists. It's the only field that structures and sustains
> itself as the exact opposite of a meritocracy. Stop complaining that
> education pays so little. It pays so little because most in 'education' are
> worth so little and could not make it in any field but modern education.
> Only college professors may be more worthless for society. Even so, I've
> had three interviews before sign ups and have three more scheduled today at
> schools that seem genuinely interested in student success and breaking the
> restrictive mold of present-day international education. I will only
> interview with the contrarians. "Top" schools in Asia, Europe,
> and Africa put little love letters in my folder, but after getting one look
> at them, I say no thank you. I know they want me not for my talents but
> more for the superficial boxes I check or my cost relative to more
> expensive candidates. I am more than happy to stay in my current school
> because I won't consider trading down; yet, sadly, most schools here
> present no value added that would prompt me to leave.
>
> Otherwise, lots of pretty and perky youngins ready and eager to sign
> two-year contracts in order to feel good about themselves without even
> wondering if making a life choice about where one lives and works for at
> least two years probably isn't the best thing to do with a gun to your head
> over a 24 hour period.
>
> Associates are as unhelpful as ever, with my assigned fair counselor simply
> nodding (not even smiling) as I asked her questions. Her response?
> "That's interesting." Not as interesting as how you siphon money
> off of poor teachers and call it a career honey. Gez and his family are all
> here making sure to make things far more complicated than they should be.
> All is right in the world...More later.

LOL! MORE PLEASE, Reisgio! Love your perspective!

Agree with Joe on this one. Don't question it too much- If it checks all your boxes as a newbie international teacher, jump on the opportunity. Worst thing that can happen is that you move on after 2 years (with the "magical" 2 years international experience that a lot of Tier 1 heads seem to covet) and IB experience at that.

I'm guessing that the reason they jumped on you is that you came across in the interview as friendly, professional, and fit the "profile" of what parents expect at that school. You interviewed well, in general, and it's getting late. You'd be surprised how many great international school teachers just don't come across well in interviews and as a result, lose opportunities.

If wanting to go to Europe, it is much better to focus on Eastern European schools in the CEESA conference in cities like Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow, Bucharest, etc. Savings potential for a single will usually range from 10,000-25,000 depending on your lifestyle, housing is provided by the school, and cost of living is usually lower than Western Europe. Although it is quite competitive to get a position in these schools and teachers tend to stick around longer, many Americans are hired at these schools every year.

I'm considering attending this Fair next year so any updates and opinions on how things are going would be appreciated!

shadowjack wrote:
> cms most reputable international schools offer teachers paid days for
> recruiting. I have never taught at a school that didn't.

I second ShadowJack on this. This has been my experience in the 5 international schools I have worked (mostly Tier 1s). It is a great example of another advantage of working at better schools versus Tier 3s (and their less work demands). You simply don't get the perks like this in most low quality schools.

This is a great debate and I do enjoy Joe's take on things. I've heard similar debates on other places as well including Venezuela (up until recently), Indonesia, and even Russia. One person't heaven is another person's hell.

vandsmith wrote:
> many schools will allow for about 3 days for something like a fair if they
> know you're departing.
>
> v.

Yes, I agree. My school and my previous 4 schools all offered 5 recruiting days to attend Fairs.

Call me cynical but I believe that the reason some Administrators prefer job fairs is because they consider the traveling a nice job perk that they enjoy. Yes, they need to interview candidates but they also network/catch up with old friends, stay in nice hotels, eat good meals, do a little sight-seeing, and get away from the routines of their normal work day all on their school's dime. I've worked with Admin. who seem to never miss an opportunity to leave school on a trip whether it be for recruiting, PD, Assessment team visits, etc. Ironically, these same Administrators are usually "too busy" to attend overnight class trips or anything of that nature. Lol

Not all Administrators are like this, of course, but some are from my experience. And obviously, job fairs are the life-blood of organizations like Search and ISS, so they are in no hurry to have them replaced by virtual fairs or whatever.

I've worked in several international schools and while I am in my 40s, I have always valued working with a mix of veteran teachers (for their knowledge and experience) and newer teachers (for their youthful energy and new ideas from their homes of origin). In my opinion, it's important to keep that balance for an optimal school environment. It's also been my experience that the "better" schools seem to prefer experienced teachers with a proven track record more so than Tier 2 or 3 schools, which prefer younger, "cheaper" teachers.

I worked at one Tier 2 school with mostly younger teachers and some were frustrated with the more experienced teachers as they felt they were too set in their ways. But most of the younger teachers seemed to respect the more experienced teachers especially when it came time to dealing with Administration. I have also worked at several Tier 1s that had sky-high expectations and some of the younger teachers just simply couldn't keep up. It was then that some of the experienced teachers would show frustration at the the hiring of such inexperienced teachers.

You still have plenty of time to find a decent fit. There will be plenty of Tier 1s recruiting teachers in January.

wilcoman wrote:
> Is it possible though to get a counselor position at an IT without a school
> counseling credential, but just a masters in counseling and as a LPC?

Yes, it's possible and I know several School Counselors currently working at decent international schools who do not have a Masters in School Counseling. Masters in School Psychology, Clinical Counseling, Social Work, and Clinical Psychology will be considered by a lot of schools from my experience.

Yes, I have the same question as Psy. You say you got offered a job on your 2nd interview, but was it your first choice school? Meaning did a school (or schools) you wanted more pass on you?

Excellent information, Eion! Great ways to get some of the basics of University Counseling before taking on the job cold.

I also remember there used to be a summer workshop offered at Georgetown University and sponsored by the State Dept. According to this link, it will be at New York University this summer: http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/c6969.htm



eion_padraig wrote:
> UCLA has a good certificate course on the fundamentals of college
> counseling that is offered online that many people have taken who don't
> have other training and don't come from a university admissions background.
> I haven't done it, though I know many people who have. I do think it's a
> bit more US centric.
>
> I've mainly learned about UK universities through conference sessions on
> UCAS. The UCAS website is actually very well put together and so it's a
> good resource to check out. They have some useful training videos that I
> think are available without being an adviser. Admittedly, I've had the
> opportunity to strengthen my understanding by talking with UK admission
> representatives.
>
> I've included a list of things to check out that would be in person
> training opportunities.
>
> There are other good training events that specifically address
> international school counselors like the Principal's Training Center
> (http://www.theptc.org/) and College Board's International Summer Institute
> for International Counselors . Some places also do training for college
> counseling aimed at people working at US private high schools, but these
> probably are more US centric that you might need. Taft School in
> Connecticut has one; https://www.taftschool.org/tec/detail.aspx?id=16E10.
>
> If you're in Europe, I would recommend going to Council of International
> Schools' (http://www.cois.org/page.cfm?p=2132) conference in Barcelona
> Spain in November on international admission and guidance. This will be a
> great opportunity to network with other international school counselors and
> learn about the university admission process in many different countries.
> CIS also has regional forums that could be worth going to in Bangkok
> (October), Mexico (October), and South Africa (March '17), which would
> serve some of the same purpose in those regions.
>
> International ACAC (formerly OACAC; http://www.oacac.com/) has a very
> useful conference each year in different parts of North America during the
> summer. Another great place to network and learn about the university
> search process. This year they are also hosting a regional event in Africa
> in Nairobi, Kenya in October. They did something similar in Shanghai last
> year. It's meant to reach counselors who can't get to North America during
> the summer due to cost/time issues.
>
> A good Facebook group to join is the IACAC group, though it's closed so
> you'll nee to reach out and ask to join. Lots of people with good advice
> and who are willing to be helpful once you do start working in the area.