Okay, I'll bite. What was this fuzzy personality trait? I noticed you mentioned skill and competence. You seem to have left off working with people and your attitude. Could this have been "the fuzzy personality trait"?

Look at the reason you were not renewed and use that to improve yourself at your next job. Learn from the experience so that you don't repeat the same issues over and over. Hope this helps.

As someone who is currently looking for next year, a master's degree is almost critical. Maybe not so much later on in the Spring when schools are more desperate, but early on the schools are very picky. I would add that all recruiters care about master's or beyond degrees. How much they care varies, but what school would hire a BA over an MA if the applicants otherwise appear equal?

I don't think it matters much how/where you got your degree (assuming it is from an accredited university). Maybe an Ivy League degree is more of a door-opener - I wouldn't know.

Absolutely the degree matters to recruiters and schools. I don't think it makes better teachers, and I have not seen any studies that put the degree as crucial to being a good teacher (experience is a factor however), but a master's degree looks better on paper and in the early stages of recruiting, the "good on paper" gets you through the first round and makes you more competitive.

Anyone have any first hand/second hand knowledge about ISS and hiring before job fairs? Is it even worth it to send out the 'express an interest in this job' request? I have been sending one follow-up email to express interest. Do schools even pay attention to the 'interests' that are sent to them via ISS?

Also, when do schools generally start contacting people? I'm thinking it's a tad too early, but should be happening sorta kinda soon.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks for the replies :)

How about this one? After you enter college, no one cares what high school/program you went through. When is the last time someone asked you for your high school transcripts? After many years of working, your college does not really matter. To a lesser extent, does anyone still get interviewed by their college/college GPA after you have years of experience?

I think of teaching as building a foundation. Each grade builds (or does not build) a foundation for later learning. No one looks at the foundation, they look at the outside and the outside designers get all of the credit. When is the last time you looked at a building and said, "Wow! Look at that foundation?" or "Wow! Look at the the frames in the wall. Oh my god that is awesome!"

Each grade is important and each earlier grade gets subsequently forgotten when handing out 'progress praise'. I think we all need to step back sometimes and see how much the lower grades really dictate how well a student will do in the future.

One of the problems we as educators face is our inability to work together as a team, share credit/blame, and see how we can better collaborate. Just saying...

I hope I did not sound too harsh in my comments. I totally agree that there are lots of gems out there - South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia.

I too am looking at this year's recruiting, but I'm pretty open as to where I'm willing to go. I've never been to Asia, Eastern Europe, or South America and would love to teach in any of those wonderful areas. I really think flexibility is the key to getting an awesome teaching position.

I just wanted to be blunt because job fairs can be very expensive and exhausting. I'd rather have someone tell me no thanks than spending thousands (as well as lots of time and stress) to go and get nothing.

To the OP: Someone needs to honest with you, and it sounds like Search tried to do just that. A teacher and a trailing spouse with 2 children is not very high up on the hiring preferences for a school. First would be a teaching couple (preferably with one or more of those being IB) where both teach, next would be teachers in hard to fill areas with IB experience (including trailing spouses). After that would be single teachers in general areas, and last would be a teacher with a trailing spouse with children, but not in super high demand area.

In Europe, most schools prefer EU citizens - this makes the competition pretty fierce for those few available openings at each school. I am also not sure that the Feb. fair in Cambridge is the 'go to' fair for Europe.

I sense you have a feeling of entitlement, and I'm not sure that will help you get an awesome job. Compared to other teachers, your category is very, very expensive for a school. They have to pay your salary, your family's rent, getting visas/housing/etc. for the whole family (sounds like 4 visas to get. A single teacher would be 1 visa), tuition for two children, and flights for the family, so they are going to be paying 2 to 3 times more than if they just hired a single teacher and doing a lot more work.

Put together the EU citizen issue, the extra hiring issue (not getting a teaching couple means hiring another person), huge extra cost of you over a single teacher (or a teaching couple), and the fact that Cambridge is not the fair to find the most/best European jobs means that the odds are very much not in your favor. You can get mad at them, but they are in the business of placing teachers. If they don't feel like they can place you, they will tell you that - they did tell you.

I would love to hear your advice as to what job fair I should attend. I have been teaching internationally for 6 years. I am certified in Special Education and Math, and will be adding TESOL Certification soon.

I would love to teach in Asia and want to know what your recommendations are for job fairs. I am single and in my 40's. Which is better- ISS or Search, early (Jan) or later (Feb)? I would prefer to teach Resource/Special Ed, or maybe even EAL. What are my chances at these fairs?

Many, many thanks for your responses!

The projected layoffs in the States is scary. I'm glad I have some job security overseas!

I agree that you would have better luck negotiating benefits.

I think you misinterpret why people don't want to reply. It seems like you just want to argue and that you want to throw responses out there to see the response you get.

This started out with a really good discussion about how much you can negotiate. It turned into a diatribe about the merits of being a PE teacher.

As I grow older (too fast I might add) my own perceived self-worth decreases. I once thought I was the best and smartest. Now I realize that I can be pretty good, but so can a lot of other people. Other people have value. Many have even more value than me! Maybe I'm not as smart and worth as much as I thought...

I am unimpressed with the lot of them as well.

I'm talking about a teacher, who has less experience, and less of a positive track record, getting paid more than someone who is more experienced and has a positive track record at the school. I would be very upset if a rookie teacher came in making more money than me. The school knows what I have done, and they know first-hand what my record is right now. A rookie teacher (and I remember my clueless days as a rookie) does not have a track record. The same could be extended to a 20 year international vet and a stateside 4 year teacher. I am in no way saying that the new teacher is not amazing, nor am I saying they could not be amzing someday. You hire on what you know from evaluations, and experience - not bargaining power/prowess.

Conflicts in an international school can lead to a mass exodus, maybe right in the middle of a school year. When you work overseas, you'll start to see this dynamic as people work very closely together, and often times depend upon each other. To find out you earn a lot more than me for less experience, and no track record at the school - this is insulting. The last thing an international school needs is more conflict. That one conflict could literally be the straw that broke many camels' backs (people deciding to leave).

I can see you are a bargainer. Please, use your bargaining strategies for your next job - maybe this will work for you. Out of curiousity, maybe a nice science experiment, try the round after round negotiations at all of your interviews. We can compare it to other interviewers and their success rate. Maybe some useful information can be gleamed out of it all!

What's that saying, "Walk in my shoes before commenting", or something like that? PE teachers are out in the hot sun/cold doing the PE thing. In a lot of international schools, PE is almost exclusively outside. When it's 110 outside, I don't want to be out there all day. Redrider, I agree with the creativity part, although I think there is enough blame to be spread around both political parties (Race to the Top has issues as well. Does "Fire them all and let God sort it out" sound familiar?).

Derphysik- when you get to an international school, you will see how closely people have to work together/live (sometimes everyone lives in the same building, or general vicinity). Morale is much more important, and teachers see each other a lot more. Teachers talk, and tempers flare - does a school really want to throw gas on that fire? I can guarantee you that most of my fellow teachers would be livid to find out a new person makes more than they do (more pay for less experience). International teaching tends to magnify teacher interactions/relations - in a good and bad way. I'm also not sure I see school as a marketplace - a profession yes, but not a marketplace.

So I guess I am okay with a reasonable counter-offer (especially for unique circumstances/kids/etc.), but not okay with rounds and rounds of negotiations. I suspect you will find most schools are not interested in "round after round" either. But hey, what do I know. Negotiate away - literally.

I think the school was getting snippy because derPhysik kept asking for more, just in a different area each time. As it sounds, I would have been annoyed as well.

"Can I have $200 more?'.

"No, it's not in the handbook."

"Can I have extra shipping allowance?"

"No, it's not in the handbook."

"Can I have a greater flight allowance?"

"No, it's not in the handbook."

"Can I get...?"

"No, it's not in..."

Can you see where this is going? If one of my students did this to me, I'd give him/her a lunch detention! The school may/may not be cheap, but annoying is still annoying.

I also think one area has been overlooked here - morale. Let's assume someone bargains, and gets more money, allowance, or whatever. Now what happens when someone, who is better qualified finds out? I would be pissed and feel undervalued. It's almost like they are paying extra for someone who keeps pushing and pushing. What about experience and evaluations? If I have more experience, and better evaluations, I'm going to be very upset, and hurt to find out that this person gets more. How fair is that? My morale is now zero. Not a good thing at an international school.

Don't even try to tell me that that you would be okay with this (especially if you were on the losing side). Does a school want to risk this situation, especially with their core of experienced, and returning teachers?

I'm kind of divided on the topic of bargaining for more money. I guess I'm okay with a counter offer, but I could see how a counter to your counter offer (and on and on in many cases) would be a huge turn-off and an even bigger red flag. Is that person going to bargain duties at school? Is that person going to bargain sick days at school? Is that person going to bargain assignments, rooms, furniture, etc? Where does the bargaining stop? Someone who likes to bargain does not just "turn it off" once school starts.

I could also see asking for more money - hey don't we all think we should earn more money?

So... I guess I am a one-time counter offer person, but it needs to be realistic.

We knew who the person was, and yes, some of the negative reviews were totally made up. I am not saying all negative reviews are made up. I'm saying that I can't tell unless I have first hand knowledge. I also wonder if some of the reviews are actually real, or just someone writing for kicks.

Some people truly love to be miserable - others should feel the same of course. I would like to try and be happy. Some days are better than others of course! I'm trying not to ruffle my feathers or toot my horn (I was kicked out of music as a kid, so I don't care to toot as I don't know/understand musical notes).

As to conspiracies, I think it is simpler. Some people are like dark rain clouds that rain wherever they go and they just can't help it. I'm not sure it is a conscious decision, but it is the way some people live. People want others to feel like they do, and this is kind of sad in a way. Life is too short to look at the glass as half-full (or dirty, wrong, etc.).

I agree about comments being lifted and used out of context - with no citing. It's taking someone else's work and calling it your own - plus making money from it (especially on the pay side). Maybe that is stealing someone's horn and tooting it?