Not the primary reason...a reason. I never said it was the primary reason. It can be a good tiebreaker...sorry if that offends you, but being single and having a better dating pool is a plus. Going somewhere with a bad dating scene would be a deal-breaker for many on this forum...nothing to get upset about. Like I said, if somebody has more info on that specific school, they'll post it.

"I asked about the school! Not the women and the curves they have. We are talking about work not a dating site!"

Settle down. It's valid information for some of us. As somebody stuck in the bowels of America right now, that could be a major factor for why to go somewhere. I'm sure if anybody has information on the school itself, they will post it. We're also not just talking about work. We're talking about a place to move to and take your life to for at least two years. There's a lot more to that decision than where you grade papers.

I'll go ahead and ask a couple of the questions I know are coming and then step aside for the people more qualified to answer. What do you have experience teaching? Most international teaching jobs want you to have 2 years of experience teaching a specific field before they will hire you. Where are you willing to teach? The more places you are willing to teach will help your chances.

It's the sister school of Concordia in Shanghai. There was a recent major debate about them here: http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... =concordia. It's a Christian school and is going to favor Christian teachers. The package is quite good and seems to be among the best in Hong Kong.

I've been wondering the same thing. I have a Verizon iPhone 4 that I'd be fine with taking with me, but I'm not sure if it will work overseas. I'd prefer to use the prepaid cards overseas, but not sure if that works with my iPhone. Anybody know if that works?

Admittedly, I'm in the same boat as you being new to this stuff, but I agree to aim high. I am a middle school math teacher with 3 years experience (none international) and no AP or IB and I'm starting the interview process with one of the schools most anybody on here considers elite. I think the important thing to remember is we are all (candidates and schools) looking for the best fit for a job. Sometimes a school is more interested in getting some youthful energy into their staff than 87 years of experience. Find the schools that you think you'd be a good fit at and go for it. There's not much to lose.

Yeah, that was my take too. There's not a balanced review on the site. That many people out for blood is scary though. Hopefully I won't end up that desperate...I'm definitely not there yet.

Any recent info on these schools? The reviews are rather bipolar and I'm not sure which to believe.

I signed on with Search and also with TIE. The thing I've noticed is every job that's been posted on Search has ended up on TIE. TIE is a fraction of the cost so for many people, that may be all they need to do. For me personally, I plan to attend a fair so it was worth it for Search and it's nice having all the salary and benefit information with Search, but depending on my focus, the next time out, I could see just going with TIE.

[quote="kfssbjj"]You should always have a plan B.
At least they were going to give you some money. With all of your crying it sounds as if they made the right decision. They will probably be better off without you.[/quote]

In all my time on the Internet, this has to be the most trolltastic post I've ever seen. If I tore up my life to make a move to another country passing up tons of jobs, I'd be pretty upset too as would you. Get some basic human decency. Jeez.

I'm really glad this was brought up. I've been meaning to ask. I have a cat I'd hate to leave behind, but I want to do what's best for the cat. What countries are generally better or worse? I've heard in the UAE that pets can't fly in the cabin. What type of horror stories are we talking here? Something like that or true disaster stories of bringing pets over? Thanks in advance.

I think we would all be interested in any info you can get about Aramco. It seems like a lot of the info is the stuff of rumor. Some places say starting salary would be 6 figures. Some say $70k range. I've heard rumors of $7500 travel allowances each year, but again don't know if that's true. Aramco seems to be the Big Foot of the international teaching world.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Yes schools are interviewing already, but unless your a prime candidate (generally meaning close to 10 years experience, IB/AP/IGCSE, prior IS experience, advance degree, cross certified, teaching couple and are coming from a tier 1 school or elite school) or are an admin candidate then they are just building a candidate pool. That's why you see the big elite school like ISB (Beijing) posting 20+ vacancies. The ISs don't really know this early what vacancies they will have. Usually teachers need to give intent letters in November, then you have the mid year/holiday vacancies aft the fairs, then the May/June resignations in Europe, along with the "last day" quitters.[/quote]

Okay, that's what I thought. Thanks again for your help.

I have some of the same concerns about overreaching. This is my first time out (4 years US experience in math, single, no dependents, no IB or AP) so I'm trying to find the schools that I'm a serious contender for. When jobs are posted now, do schools generally get back to you this early or are they just collecting their candidates for later in the year? I've applied to a few jobs with no contact. They are all Tier 1 schools so I wouldn't be surprised if they're just not interested in me, but gotta try. Anybody know if the schools are interviewing this early for next year or if they're just finding out what their pool looks like? Thanks.

I don't have personal experience, but I've done some research and have a rough idea.

1. You live on a heavily guarded compound. Everything in the compound is as safe as you could hope for. I've heard differing opinions once you leave the compound.

2. I honestly don't know enough on this one. I know they have some things to do on the compound like a movie theater and some cafes, but from what I've gathered, it's pretty limited.

3. Benefits are outstanding. Great retirement plan and health insurance. They give a 12000 pound shipping allowance. Housing is included.

4. This is pretty simple. Aramco has the clearest pros and cons of most any school out there and they're both significant. The only reason people go there is the money. It's widely considered the best financial package out there. The con is that you have a very limited life while you are there. You can't tell that you are in Saudi Arabia because that compound could be anywhere. I guess depending on who you ask, that could be a good thing, but I do want some kind of cultural experience.

I've had the thought that if I were ever lucky enough to get an offer there that I would take it, but I would go in with a ceiling for how long I was willing to stay (5 years?). I have to say though that if I were good enough to get a job there, I'd probably be good enough to get a job at a top school in a great cultural center. I'd maybe put away half as much money as Aramco, but my days would be much more rewarding. It's a constant philosophical debate for me.

Aramco always makes me think of the joke that goes like this: A man asks a woman if she would have sex with him for a million dollars. The woman responds, "Yeah, I guess I would". The man then asks, "Would you have sex with me for five dollars?" The woman gets really upset and yells, "Of course not, what kind of a person do you think I am?" The man replies, "We've already established that. We're just trying to determine the price."