These observations are mine and are based on experience with QSI.
You also need to know that I know many great teachers seemingly happy working for QSI. If you are interested in working overseas and maybe wanting a little more security or to teach in a country a little bit farther off the beaten track then QSI might be for you. However, I would urge you to become informed and to ask the right questions.

Where do we begin, ok how about the positives
-schools in small, unique countries,
-the ability to transfer from school to school and maintain senority,
-pension plan, but only after 11 years,
-overseas allowance that increases each year,
-end of year $2000 bonus,
-great colleagues,

Having said all of that though I don't think their financial package is as good as most schools. Other jobs that were offered to us started higher and had many of the same bonuses etc.

and then the negatives,
-small schools in unique countries,
-textbook driven curriculum,
-lack of supplies,
-top down policies that reduce a school's independence,
-large ESL populations at all levels, including high school,
-low beginning pay, even with an apparent pay raise next year,
-little thought or strategic planning for the future,
-inflexible, payroll options,
-a twisted idea of how Mastery learning should look like and be practiced(this is a big problem)
-unrealistic outcome expectations,
-inadequate facilities in some locations,
-small school sizes leads to lots of demands on teachers to fill too many roles,
-idiotic hiring policies which place unqualified teachers in the classroom,
-communication or the lack of was a big issue,


As for the singles-couples issue, I don't think its a big issue for QSI. We had both hired and fired during our time with them.

Having had experience with QSI I would recommend you get more information before accepting a position with them.

Theres a Super 8 or something similar right behind the Ramada. We stayed there and found it very convienent and not as expensive as the Ramada. If you don't have transportation you don't want to stay to far away and be forced to depend on a shuttle.

For the time and effort it takes it doesn't hurt to contact schools prior to the fairs. Send a cover letter and resumes to the schools you are really interested in. Having said that though, we have only gotten one job offer from a previously contacted school. In another case the director didn't read our letters closely because he had no clue that we have 3 children. In most cases we have been hired by schools in countries that weren't even on our radar prior to the job fair and in the end we feel very fortunate.

This year the fair had a Wednesday night information meeting and signup began promptly on Thursday morning with interviews starting at noon or so and they continued through Sunday.

Bigger salary doesn't always translate into more savings. My wife and I have been at both extremes of the salary scale and in the end I don't believe that we saved that much more at the higher paying school than we did at the lower paying school. The secret is to find the balance between a good salary and a low cost of living. I know that UNI has a box on their school information forms that states a savings potential. I would start with that and work from there.

I would also compare the perks that each school is offering, like the shipping allowance, retirement, health benefits, utilities and transportation. At our last school we were paying 5-600 dollars in utilities and transportation per month while at our new school we are paying $50. This savings adds up very quickly. We were also fortunate at one of our postings to save $200 a month on our housing allowance. This paid for our maid and driver.

In addition, when you get your jobs don't panic the first few months when it appears that all you do is spend, spend, spend and the savings aren't happening. From my experience this is typical and the savings don't kick in for several months.

Each ISS or Search fair has its own deadlines. We attended the ISS Bangkok fair last year and I think we had to be registered sometime in November. I used to worry about the type and quantity of schools that attended the fair I was thinking about going to but I realize now that if you go with a known agency at a good time then the jobs will be there. Personally I don't believe that the big schools have their positions filled prior to the fair.

This is something my wife and I agonize about almost everyday. Are we doing the right thing? Are the kids fitting in? What will they do this weekend? Being a parent at home is hard enough but I think being one overseas offers special challenges for both parent and teen. We recently moved from a school that offered very little outside of the classroom to a new school that offers a great deal (which is one reason we are here)and we moved from a city where we lived on the outskirts without any other kids from school nearby to a house where we can walk to school and there are other teenagers nearby.

I'd have to say we are lucky. I am not sure its easy to "research" these type of issues before you go to a job fair or accept a particular job. I sympathise with your family and wish you the best of luck.

Isn't it kind of ironic, now theres an entire thread being written about a poster? One, who some think posts too much! :lol:

If you were to judge a QSI school strictly by location I don't think many could be Bratislava. The city is wonderful and its proximity to other interesting cities and sights make it hard to beat.

However, if you are judging the school by facilities and function then you might want to look elsewhere. The 3 flights of stairs might not seem like a hinderance at first but by the 10th time up and down in one day you will be cursing them. The fact that the facility is rented is another annoyance, knowing that money put into it won't be recognized if and when the school moves. QSIB is also in the red and budgets are slight and aren't growing. The teaching staff is great but certain members of the admin team leave something to be desired, and reinforce that adage that spouses should never be put together on the same admin team. While QSI honors their committments for the most part there are still plenty of quirky things that will drive you crazy and many of those quirks are out of school control. As for curriculum, anytime curriculum is driven by the textbook redflags should be waving and unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case at QSI as curriculum decisions continue to be driven by the texts. Mastery learning is the name of the game but QSI has forgotten what the rules for Mastery learning are and has instead invented a whole new set of guidelines that really don't work in the long run.

Having said all that lets review the positives: financial committments are honored, Bratislava and Slovakia are wonderful places to live, the teaching staff is great and the chance to move around the world without leaving QSI is always there.

We have tried a number of options and each has their own advantages and disadvantages. This time we are going with rubbermaid containers, the soft sided variety (we have had rigid plastic containers shatter on us in transit), but in the past we have tried cardboard boxes and plain, old luggage. The secret is in matching volume with weight because you don't want to have a too big a container that you can't fill because it would then be overweight. Conversely filling a container to 3/4 allowable weight wouldn't be efficient either. Our hope is that we can use the rubbermaid containers in our apartment, rather than simply storing bags. Cardboard boxes worked well in the past because they were collapsable and could be easily stored when not in use. Luggage is good because it can be used in other situations, who wants to take a storage container on their next holiday? Of course then there is the choice between "hard sided" luggage and duffle type bags, one collapses and one doesn't. Who would know there were so many decisions to be made around how you take your stuff with you.

The USPS no longer does M-bags.

Ouch!

SAS, IS Bangkok, IS Manila, Singapore American, Jakarta International and ISKL were all there, though some had a higher profile than others. We had hoped for ISKL but they seemed to come and go without a lot of fanfare. IMHO if you want a job in SE Asia, which we did, either the ISS or Search fairs in Bangkok are the ones to go to. I know both ISS and Search are expensive, and believe me I have nothing against UNI (two successful fairs there) but they do offer some advantages over UNI.

Any option to go to ISS Bangkok even though you are not thrilled with the organization? My wife and I had luck there and were impressed with the schools that were represented. It cost us, both in lost salary and in flight costs but in the end was worth it.