PsychGuy, I'm not one who believes I am a 'unicorn', as you say. I don't teach a shortage subject and I know I'm not competitive in early recruiting.

So what I wonder is, when do you think 'early recruiting' turns into something less competitive?

Where is the school? Can you tell us the country?

What subject/grade level do you teach? What is the location of the schools? These things matter.

Yes, be careful.

I knew someone who worked at one of the international schools near London. Their description of the work conditions sounded appalling. Those schools scrape the bottom in a country with its own excellent independent schools.

This is for a new school in Dubai. There aren’t any reviews for the school because it is opening in 2022. Yes, it’s a rent-a-name for another reputable school that doesn’t have any rent-a-names anywhere else.

Is it a red flag that the school uses a UK recruitment agency to interview teachers? I haven’t ever heard of this practice and wonder if I’d get a chance to interview with the real school admin later if I made it to round 2. Has anyone else been interviewed by an agency for the school, and how did that turn out?

I know, I know. I’m getting a little panicky because I haven’t found anything this late in the recruitment season, so I don’t know exactly how choosy I can afford to be right now.

sid wrote:
> [quote=shopaholic post_id=62596 time=1641905427 user_id=219184]
> What do you recruiters think of a 5-6-2-2?
>
> My past two schools have been disasters where I was very unhappy. But I do
> have the longer commitments at my first two schools and am looking for
> somewhere else I can stay longterm. Does having more recent 2-2 experience
> cancel out the earlier longer stays?
> [/quote]
>
> I'd look for the bigger picture, the story. (Which I do anyway, even for a
> 2-2-2-2. In my career so far, I've only found one 2-2-2-2 worth taking a
> chance on, but one never knows when another could appear.)
>
> Your earlier commitments demonstrate that you have it in you to commit, or
> at least that you once did. That's a good start. So I'd want to know about
> the 2-2, and if those were just bad fits or another reasonable explanation,
> and you seem keen to find another longer stay, it would be fine.
>
> One caution - we regularly see people with early-career longer commitments
> in their home country, before moving overseas. If those domestic
> commitments are followed by a 2-2 internationally, they don't count for as
> much. It's important for you to show that you can commit in the very
> different international arena.

Thanks, Sid. The two longer commitments were both international posts, one in a “hardship” country. I have two years in my home country before that.

This recruitment season is so stressful. I hope I have a chance at something that isn’t in China.

What do you recruiters think of a 5-6-2-2?

My past two schools have been disasters where I was very unhappy. But I do have the longer commitments at my first two schools and am looking for somewhere else I can stay longterm. Does having more recent 2-2 experience cancel out the earlier longer stays?

kyoushi wrote:
> I’m wondering if we have passed the peak of the hiring season now? I know a
> lot of teachers who would have moved but decided to stay, from other
> accounts there are less job postings this year. Thoughts?

I know that my school in Western Europe filled vacancies in January for the next school year. Normally they wait several months later, but did it in January because of some worry in HR about visas in the current (COVID) climate.

sid wrote:
> Humph. I had been hoping their “maintenance” story was true.

If it were just 'maintenance', I think they would have kept the button and arranged for a message explaining the maintenance to appear when you clicked the Community button as usual. But the button is gone.

Why has the TES removed the entire Community of forums? It is simply gone, with the Community button now gone as well.

Just that. How many teachers do you personally know who have had Covid?

I think it is especially difficult to predict right now because we can't be sure how the longterm fallout of the pandemic is going to affect the job market for international teachers. There may well be fewer schools in total, everywhere, for the next few years, or at least fewer jobs.

I was in a similar position in a previous post, due to a very corrupt admin. The students were great, but the people running the school made work a kind of hell. I thought about leaving in the October break.

But I have some friends who are administrators at other schools, and what they advised was similar to what Sid has said here.

So I stuck it out for the duration of my contract. It was hard, but I'm glad I stayed. For me, showing that I can honour a contract and keep my CV pristine was worth it because this allowed me to get a job at a much better school after leaving the bad place. The admin really was as bad as they seemed in my first months at the school, but they were happy to give me positive references for Search when I finished my contract, and that meant a lot for getting my new job.

You can PM me if you want to talk more about some strategies for coping in a bad post.

HR worked their magic: I'm in. Such relief.

Guesses on whether the new ban will affect someone with a job in the EU who is currently in the US and hoping to return to Europe in August?

What a mess.