Thanks for all of your feedback. I convinced my friend to reach out again to the few schools going to the fair that were listing her position. None showed any interest in her and she came to the same conclusion last week that I came to earlier - that she was wasting her time going to the fair. She cancelled. Even though it's break time, she has already applied to a few more positions with other schools (that are not going to the fair) and she is hopeful that she will find something by spring. At least she won't waste the money going to the fair and can still search over the coming weeks.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @marina
>
> How old is your friend?

She is 48-51ish.

First, thank you both for responding. Second, I can assure you that I am really asking for my friend and I am not trying to live my friend's life for her. I am looking for concrete information that will help her become as convinced as I already am that this is a waste of time and money. The reason for my pessimism is from my own past experience of getting bites by no later than the first week of December for positions I had applied to by then and in many cases applied to as early as late September or early October. I wanted and still want to learn from others on this board about whether my experience is out of the ordinary or typical. I assume it's typical because of what I've read about the run up to fairs previously on this board and from fair diaries of others detailing their own fair experiences. But, I never saw the questions that I posed asked directly, so that's why I am asking these questions directly.

I actually think my friend will get a job at another school if she really wants one but her prime time will probably be post-fair because of her amazing experience and age. I don't think she needs the fair but she is also likely to waste a lot of money on the fair because the schools going there have expressed no interest in her and she is not as young or current as what appears to be the most popular types of hires at the fairs.

So, again, the basic question is, have people who have put out many apps by now (without getting any pre-interviews/follow-ups from schools) ended up going to the fair and ended up with good results? Or, as I suspect, did you get no interest pre-fair and ended up going to the fair and the fair ended up being a dud for you?

Despite my best efforts, my long-time friend signed up for the London Search fair scheduled for January. I am not a big fan of fairs or international education anymore, but she's been in the business for almost twenty years and she is looking to switch schools and she didn't feel confident enough to simply apply to them directly - instead she wanted to join Search and have the fair as a backstop. Fast forward to now, December 1: she has applied to roughly 15 schools that are planning to go the the fair for her position but none have showed interest back at her. I am trying to convince her to just cancel her spot at the fair. I think that the schools probably are looking for someone a bit more spry and without a college-age dependent like my friend has. What can I tell her to convince her this fair is just not worth it? When someone has applied to a good number of schools in the months/weeks leading to the fair and none have bitten, isn't the writing on the wall that the fair will be a complete waste? I think she should just stay where she is a bit longer, it is really a good school and in a nice location, and she should avoid all this nonsense. Or just apply to schools directly and stay put until she has a firm commitment. Any tips?

I think it would be interesting if all of these "elite" schools had to put in their admissions literature something like this:

"Our school hires the best single teachers with no children from around the world who had enough emotional baggage to want to escape their home countries and families."

I have a feeling they would not be a school in business for long if they had to tell their prospective parents the truth. Yet, a good number - though not all international schools - do exactly this. I hope things change.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @marina
>
> Its exponentially worse for those with a trailing spouse and kids. Trailing spouses
> are drama, and kids are empty costs.

Of course it is much hard for a teacher with trailing spouse + children to get hired than any other class of teacher. But I would not refer to them as empty costs if they are associated with a superior educator compared to the single teachers a school is considering. Sometimes the single educator is better, but sometimes the one with dependents is, but too often the one with dependents is treated like African Americans or Jews were 100 years ago - they are blatantly discriminated against by international schools. Which, again, takes out of the equation a whole class of people who are likely not teaching at "top quality" international schools, which makes me question if they are really top quality at all if the single 30-year-old almost always gets hired over the eminently qualified 40-year-old with a trailing souse and a kid, two, or dare I say, three! I know at least in the US, top quality private schools will often give teachers who teach there the ability to school their children in the same school for a deep discount or free, but I don't see a willingness on the part of most international schools to do the same unless they are of "low quality" and trying simultaneously to fill student seats. I think it's because international schools think they are generally above any national laws and instead adhere to their own special international code of conduct that the heads of these schools think they can get away with blatant discrimination. It's really a disgrace. And highly ironic considering the whole "diversity is our strength" dogma at EVERY international school these days. If diversity is a strength, why not diversity of teacher backgrounds? Put your money where your lying mouths are heads!

Applebutter makes the most understated but honest comment in the thread about being passed over for jobs because of a trailing spouse. I left international education because of this - and it didn't hurt to get $100,000 post tax per year for the pleasure of being rid of IE once and for all (I would only return if appointed as a head). It was particularly galling to have so few bites when singles with one tenth of my experience were getting chic assignments in major capitals around the world. To the original poster, just get pregnant already and hopefully over the months following your baby's birth your man can get a job in his home country.

Thanks for all of your responses.

How do international schools view taking a year off of working in a school in order to earn an MA in Educational/School Leadership? I could finish it by the end of the year off, but if I complete it as I work full time, it could take until 2021 or longer.

I said yes. I will miss international education but, at this rate, I can buy a pied-à-terre in my favorite international city after a few years of working at my new school. I will stay on the forum though. Thanks to you all.

1. I would be leaving a school that pays more than 50% less than this offer but which does pay for flights, health care, and schooling of dependent children up to two children
2. Varied (public, private, and parochial) and of ok to good quality and ranging from free to $30,000/year per student
3. Below national average (not NYC, LA, DC, BOS, SF, SD)

I am sorry about the confusion. The offer was actually $100,000 even post- income tax. It was not inclusive of schooling for children, housing, or flights. But health care insurance was included. Before I let you know if I took it or not, should I have?

They are completely screwing you. What do you do for insurance for the rest of them? I hope you are in a first world country with great public health care. Have you started looking at listings? This school sounds horrible. Are all the teachers who are expats singles?

So, I was offered a job back in the US that pays well over $100,000. I know that schools in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and a few other extremely high cost of living or hardship locations offer over $100,000 salaries, but without naming particular schools on this thread, can anyone else name countries where such salaries may be found? I would love to stay international, but I also would love to live well too, so I am torn. The offer I am considering would be equivalent to $170,000 in Zurich. Is that ever achievable in an international location that is not in the ME?

PsyGuy, let me disabuse you of a few, but not all of your notions.

A. I am at one of the top two international schools in Brazil; it has been a positive and negative experience
B. It is possible to make coin here if you are single and live on the local economy

Specifically in response to your points.

1. True
2. True physically, though mentally is another story; the best catches want Brazilian men, not expats
3. True
4. True, but if you have high standards as an educational professional, you will be frustrated
5. True if you are an outgoing woman eager to speak/learn Portuguese
6. Food sucks except for fruit, which needs to be treated before eating
7. True, but again, if you actually have high standards and want your students to learn you will run into issues
8. True
9. Domestic help is cheap BUT English is not spoken by almost anyone other than those affiliated with the international school and hotels + the culture is not Western or Eastern; it's Brazilian. Nothing else like it on Earth. Impossible to penetrate the web of social networks that exist above and below the surface
10. Wrong - only super rich can afford anything, everyone else has to suffer in mercantilist closed economy that benefits the powers that be. Sure, order something on Amazon for $100 that you can't find in Brazil and be ready to pay $400-$600 import fee on top to make your total cost up to $700. A teacher can't do this but your students' parents who own OGLOBO or PHONE COMPANY can. Most basic items that can be found in 2nd and 3rd world countries can't be found in Brazil and quality of local products is horrible.

Overall, Brazil is great for the right person. I have nothing against it, but it is certainly an acquired taste and remember that Brazil is not for Beginners.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @marina
>
> I get the impression from your recent posts that your experience in Brazil
> and IE was not 'positive'? Care to elaborate (without naming the IS)?
>
> I only ask because I love Brazil, if I could make the coin in Brazil you
> find in more economically advantageous locations I could retire out in
> Brazil. Then again Im more the type of person you would describe as part of
> the problem with Brazil. My reasons why Brazil is so awesome:
>
> 1) The Beaches, if your on the coast its a sand and surf paradise.
> 2) The woman are absolutely some of the most beautiful in the world. Even
> the average woman is a 7 or 8.
> 3) Its cheap, if your on any type of decent OSH package you can afford a
> high standard of living.
> 4) Brazilians really know how to have fun and relax, its not a work
> yourself to death culture.
> 5) Ive been told that for IT single woman LCSA is one of the few places
> they do as well as men in Asia do as far as a dating scene goes.
> 6) The food is pretty simple but as long as its hot you wont get sick and
> its got a great compliment of tropical and spice flavors that few people
> seem to hate.
> 7) The standards at ISs tend to be less work compared to their tier level
> counterparts in other regions. As long as the kids get high marks, the
> parents are happy, and your leadership is happy. You basically have to work
> hard your first year and after that youre done.
> 8) They seem to have a holiday, festival, celebration for everything. There
> isnt a weekend that goes by that there isnt something going on. Something
> to do.
> 9) Domestic help and navigating the culture is pretty easy, you can pay
> people to do most of the things youd normally do yourself. Theres a lot of
> English spoken.
> 10) Its one of the few places that you can get anything in the world if you
> can afford it. A lot of stuff moves through Brazil.