Your admission counselor has no clue about teaching abroad!

Take advice from those of us teaching abroad--if you want to break into the good international schools, you need a degree in education, which leads to a teaching certification.

Look--if you really want to teach--why would you major in one thing and then go through the alternative certification? That is at least two years of extra coursework--and you are basically (at least, in my licensure state) repeating the last two years of college.

Some Tier 1 schools snub their noses at candidates who have alternative licensure. A degree in education is a make or break for the ultra, ultra competitive.

Your admissions counselor may know people who taught abroad--perhaps ESL in a language school (that's a tougher life than international school) or a local Ecuadorian school. Anyone with a degree can do that (you probably don't even need the degree). His/her friends were certainly not at Academic Cotopaxi, the US State Department school in Quito.

International School of Benghazi, in Libya.
American International school in Mozambique

Ameson interviewed me and offered me a position teaching AP English/history--which is outside my current certification area (science/math). My bachelors in history was sufficient enough of a qualication for Ameson. Hunh?!?! Yet--they set me up to interview with a current employee--a math teacher--because that was what they wanted me to teach! A bait and switch? The employee said that his students were marginally competent in English and should not have been enrolled in AP courses--he had to really lower his expectations of his students. Housing is arranged by the school (not Ameson) and could be in the dorms. Some teachers have to commute long distances and to several schools to meet their contract hours. Think of them more as a headhunter company than a school organization. Bascially they place American teachers at domestic Chinese schools. Shady, shady, shady--but they do a great PR job.

I know some people that work in schools. "Elite" is a relative term--just remember that. You will end up teaching one AP-like classes-some students might pass--as well as English language classes (because that is where the demand is). You will be the only American teacher at your school. Private message me and I can tell you more.

The Engelska Skolan schools in Sweden hire native English speakers to teach math and science. It's a series of 19 bilingual schools that emphasize English education. They are located in smaller communities/towns, as well as Stockholm.

Pay isn't great, and Swedish taxes are high, but if your priority is location, location, location and the great outdoors....

http://engelska.se/

There is a prestigious government school that focuses its study on language and international relations. It's designed for the children of high ranking government officials and, possibly, diplomats. I cannot remember the name but saw it mentioned in "Crossing the Line," the story of James Dresnick, the American who deflected to N. Korea during the Korean conflict. He has earned a place of prestige in the country and his son attended the school.

I asked my Search recruiter the same question. His replied to me, in short, that 125 schools attended last year's (2011) Cambridge job fair. Only 14 attended the Bethesda fair. The difference is stark.

What do you think are the best 5 schools/working conditions in Qatar? And the bottom five?

As the hiring season begins to wind down, and schools become more urgent over their "hard to fill" spots, will recruiters become more likely to sift through our profiles on Search and contact potential candidates?

After weeks of contacting schools through the Search database, I wonder if, shall you say, this is a two way street.