No idea. But I'm curious to find out, too. There must be lots of registered candidates. But what proportion of those are actually looking & applying? I'm coming up with all kinds of 'would like to know' things now - average number of applications per job advertised, application numbers to IB schools, to British, to American. Number of applications per advert by region, month, day of the week. How many successful hiring matches do they make in a year?

>
> Worse case scenario, you had back home, do a year domestically, and do the
> London fair and head out again.
>
I was considering doing that, but thought it might worsen my chances. Yes, the London fair provides more opportunities in quality schools, but how to explain that random year? Most likely, I'd do supply (substitute teaching), tutoring, or work outside of teaching.

bounty wrote:
> Hi,
> I am sure I am in the same situation as other people.

Not much help but, yes I'm in the same situation. I'm secondary and not physics or maths, but one of the subjects for which there are lots of teachers and it seems like they're all applying for the same jobs. :(

I did wonder if a delayed reference could've affected your TES-advertised applications too. Depends on when hiring schools take references but if it's before shortlisting, it might be the case.

I agree about a high proportion of local students being off-putting, depending on the location, but am also intrigued to know where we're talking about.

Apart from the local students factor, a climate with exceptionally cold and/or gloomy winters would put me off. So, I need a school somewhere warm and sunny, with hard-working students. Not much to ask, is it? ;)

Would resigning within the terms of a fixed term contract (as opposed to a permanent one), but before the contract's expiration be considered breaking contract? Why or why not?

Just a quick update for those who may later find themselves in a similar situation: I was offered, and accepted, a job in Europe last Friday.

Thank you, Bij Bam, for being the voice of reason. :) I definitely prefer to be in Europe and would have lived with not having a job before I'd look at places like Asia or the ME. Just my preference. I'm not massively money-motivated. So long as I can pay my rent & bills, go out from time to time, and travel a bit during the holidays, I'm content. Retirement's a long way off (25-30 years), and it's pretty much provided for.

I just hope I like my new place: job hunting is horrible. ;)

Thank you :) It's difficult to keep motivated to apply when receiving rejection after rejection.

I'm kind of hoping there are now around 40 fewer competitors applying than there were before, because they all got the jobs from those applications where I wasn't successful. So I'm hoping to find somewhere to stay till retirement, because I turned 40 this year, hence the hesitation to venture outside Europe. That, and a very horrible past experience of working in the Middle East.

Nonetheless, I'll cast the net wider if I'm still looking in a month or so.

Is it perhaps time for me to get the hint & give up? ;)

Since Easter, I've sent around 40 applications, had about 10 interviews, but only one offer. I turned the offer down because I heard bad reports about the school. I'm secondary English, 7 years of overseas teaching, applying mostly to schools in Europe.

Thank you. Yes, that's where it was. As it turns out, I declined the offer anyway. Thank you for the information, though.

Thank you for replying. I don't like to name the school, because it's not allowed. It's near Blantyre, though, I can say that much.

I've used the search box, and not found anything recent. I'm considering an offer to work in Malawi. Has anyone recent experience of working in the country & how was it?

The school is not reviewed on the paid site; that must mean it's ok, right?

Thank you for your responses. I'm very uncomfortable with not getting payslips, but it seems it's not so unusual. I'm in an EU country, so it struck me as particularly odd. I'm happy enough to spend the money, payslip or not ;)

I'm in my second school (out of 4 in 7 years) that doesn't give payslips to teachers and I find that a bit worrying. Is it common for international schools to not give payslips?

I'm just curious here; the important thing is that the money is paid on time.

I have an interview with a school that has a very poor review over on the reviews section here. There is only one review, and it's scathing. I'll ask about the points in the review during interview.

However, is it best to avoid any school that has a bad review?

There's a new (ish - it's in its second year) accredited European School in Tallin, Estonia. No idea about working conditions, but am aware the pay's not great.