I would recommend Search over ISS. ISS has a lot of American schools and it looks like you want to focus on Europe. Also, you probably would start off high on the pay scale. Your years of teaching would all be recognized at my school. You would be at the top of the pay scale.

I just spent the evening with a teacher from there. They were raving about how much they love it and that they could stay there until retirement. They said they take very good care of their teachers. The school picks them up in the morning. They're supposed to start dropping off next year. They said that the area around is very easily accessible.

Bilingual in English and Mandarin. Mix of students, mostly Chinese but not all from Hong Kong.

Also South Africa and Kenya, but I think most international schools keep the other calendar.

[quote="AnneBar"]Indeed, does that mean schools think just anyone can teach languages or are there an abundance of spouses with language teaching qualifications?

Ann, I have just tried to send you a pm with my email but this service doesn't seem to be available to me.[/quote]

Most of our language teachers teach Mandarin. We have 2 Spanish teachers. One is a spouse qualified to teach it (and native speaker) and then we have one recruited from outside the school.

[quote="emilyhurd"] Initially, I'm thinking we should schedule our top pick as early as possible. However, does it make instead to schedule the school we're almost certain will make an offer and then follow that one up with the first choice school? Thanks![/quote]

Has your top pick indicated that they wanted to interview you? Because if you're going to walk up at sign-up they may or may not interview you and if they do, you may not have much choice about the time.

Considering that you probably will not be offered a job at the first interview, I think you should try to schedule in the one you really want first. And a lot of schools don't like the "someone else wants me" game. They like to think you're waiting on them. Be careful to use it only when you mean it.

I would dress up as I would during the interview days. At Bangkok, I was contacted and set up an interview the same day-before the sign-ups. I already had another pre-fair interview that was scheduled so I was dressed for that, but I would have panicked if I had been in more casual attire. Even if you don't interview on that day, you will still be in front of the recruiters.

Go to a fair that they wouldn't attend-you said they were third tier, so that shouldn't be hard. I recently went to Bangkok and had at least 9 interviews. 2 second interviews. Not one person talked to my head or principal that were in attendance. I told my administrators who I interviewed with and they didn't seem to have any knowledge of them. So, the IS world is small but not that small. Everyone that I know that broke contract or even has a pretty bad reputation within the administration has found another job with no problem.

This is laughable. I don't know why this seems to be the word you can not say on the forum.

Let's just say there was a movie called -lyze This with Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal. Hope everyone can fill in the blanks.

In the previous post I spelled it different ways and used caps and those are all the -s.

[quote="escapeartist"]I am at a loss in my attempt to fill in the blank. ________ the psych reports.[/quote]

I'm not crazy. For some reason when I type the word -, it gets deleted. -, -, - let's see if this works!

I skipped a word in my post. They want to know if you can - the psych reports, not administer them. In most schools, the students are bringing in outside reports. The tests that you may be able to administer would be Woodcock Johnson, DRA, etc.

Basically your experiences with push in versus pull out, what assessments you are familiar with and can administer, can you - psych reports, what types of special needs students you have worked with, your familiarity with co-teaching and dealing with other teachers that may be resistant, have you worked on Student Support plans (or such), how do you deal with parents (this particularly in countries where parents don't like to admit to special needs), who would be the team of people that you work with, what has been your greatest challenge, how do the students respond to you, and what would you be looking for in terms of a teaching environment.

Also, several schools are looking for people to start up a special needs program or have a small department. They'd want to know how you'd start from scratch. How would you identify students, what materials would you order, who you would collaborate with.

[quote="johnp"]Thanks for the information.

Would you expect a school to fill all positions at this fair? If a school indicates that they will be attending two fairs, will they often fill all positions at the first one?[/quote]

It's entirely possible that they could fill all of their positions if they don't have many available. It all depends on the fit at the fair. Sometimes schools offer positions to candidates that don't accept. You just won't know until after the fair. The fastest way to a broken heart in the IS teaching circuit is to get your hopes up about a particular school. Hope that they save something for you.

I'm not at the fair but the Search database says that they are one of the schools in attendance. I assume that's correct.

A lot of the schools advertise in numerous places. My school advertised on TIE but they don't hire outside candidates (those that they can't interview in person at the fair) until after the fairs.

It will depend on the country. I know someone who had their helper move from Malaysia to Hong Kong.

I'm having a hard time believing that a school doesn't make hiring decisions until after the San Francisco fair. They would deliberately be making a decision to lose out on the most competitive candidates. I would seriously consider looking towards other options. From what I know, if the school really seriously intends to hire you, they don't wait until a few other fairs go by. If another option comes, let them know but I wouldn't put any eggs in your #1 school basket.