Social sciences is a tough one. We're a dime a dozen on the international circuit. I started applying for openings seen on TIE and ISS in November. I sent out 55 applications by Jan. 1. I received six real human responses. Of those six I had four schools interview me via Skype. Three happened in early December. One was a no go immediately. The person interviewing and I did not click at all. The other two went great. Thought i would get offers, only to receive the dreaded "we loved you, but we decided to go with a teaching couple," email. My final interview(s), which was in early January, led to a job offer.

Job 1- February at UNI Fair.
Job 2- March, via networking, I knew the director.
Job 3- June! Cold call offer after the original teacher backed out.
Job 4- April. The school I'm currently at. They start recruiting late, and the recruitment/interview process is long. I had my first interview in February.

There's still hope and time.

After a number of years teaching high school social studies internationally I returned to the USA to get a SPED endorsement to my teaching license. I was back in America for two years. When I applied for overseas SPED jobs I had trouble finding a job. Despite years of teaching, many schools considered me a new teacher as I had not taught SPED before. So I did not fall under their "two years experience" rule. The few offers I received were at less than desirable (for me) schools. I ended up taking a social studies gig.

It might be just another round of hassles, but my school is taking these "new rules" VERY seriously. As are a lot of other schools. There was a meeting of school directors in my region a few weeks ago to try to figure out how to move forward. Our principal told me he'd never been to meeting that was as serious as that one was.

It's not the new regulations as far as teaching our local students religion and language that seems to be freaking out admin. That can be easily done. (And my school does some of it already anyway.) It's the crackdown on KITAS/employment rules that's the bigger issue.

Take a look at this:
http://www.smh.com.au/world/two-austral ... zrxyq.html

Some staff at my school have been told their contracts will not be renewed because they do not have the proper qualifications.
This was sent to staff a few weeks ago and came from the Education Ministry:

-Teacher must hold at least a Bachelor degree in a field of education - and be teaching in that field. Ideally, a teacher should be holding a Bachelor of Education.
- A school principal must hold a Master of Education degree.
- A teacher needs five years from when a degree is issued before qualifying for a KITAS.
- Early Years teachers must have a Bachelor in Early Years or a psychology degree. A transcript identifying early years courses studied as part of a degree will not suffice.
- A work permit states that any expat teacher has a responsibility to be training an Indonesian staff member to take over a grade or class.
- An original copy of certification is to be presented to the Education Department. If an original cannot be shown, six copies of certificates are required - all verified and stamped by a JP or ambassador. The original stamp must be used on every document - you cannot get one stamped and then make copies.
- Any successful candidate needs to be able to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia.
- The school will submit a successful candidate's CV and all certificates to the Department of Education for checking before any contract can be issued.

My school quoted me a gross salary. They also told me I'd be taxed. All of that is fine. I knew what I was getting into. My net salary is very respectable. I'm not complaining. But I'd just as soon not have Indo taxes withheld if there's a law that says they shouldn't be. Like I said, even our legal department agrees the treaty is valid. They just can't or won't take the next step. Which is why I asked the question. Perhaps every American teacher in Indonesia is having their taxes taken out of their salary. If that's the case, then no harm no foul.

Please thank your friend for his reply. And thank you for asking him.

Bump. Hoping someone will stumble across this with an answer.

The American staff at my international school in Indonesia became aware of a tax treaty between Indonesia and the USA. Basically the treaty says if you come here from the USA to teach at a non-profit school (and I think all international schools here are yayasans) you do not have to pay Indonesian income tax for the first two years you are working here.

It's a valid treaty, even my school's legal department agrees with that. The trouble is we can't get more out of the school. Basically accounting and legal are dragging their feet and telling us, "it's valid, but it's complicated, and we're going to withhold tax until we hear otherwise."

My question is: Are there any American teachers teaching in Indonesia who are NOT having income tax withheld?

Green School has always had top notch advertising and outreach. It has to. The one problem the school will always have is that it's a destination school. There's no diplomatic corp on Bali to populate the school on the government dime. There's few to no no big businesses that attract expat workers with kids that would attend the school on the businesses dime. The local population is not full of wealthy parents wanting their child to get an international school education. Most children at the school are there because their parents want their child to be educated in the atmosphere and program that Green School provides. (And mom and dad get to live in Bali.) Parents put their child in the school for the "Green School Experience," mom and dad get the Bali Experience, then they move back to their home country after a year or two. There are Bali and Green School lifers of course, but at this time they are in the minority. The school has to reach out, get its name out, and advertise continuously in order to flourish.

My guess is the salary at the school will never be at the top end. I don't think it can afford to pay teachers more than it is at the moment. That being said, the salary isn't bad. Teachers can save. Not Saudi Arabia save. But can save. And hey... You get to live in Bali. And teach at an amazing school.

Jane Goodall will be the commencement speaker at the high school graduation ceremony this year. Pretty cool.

I occasionally hear complaints about the air quality in Bali, but I've never really understood it. Compared to almost any place in the world where you'll find an international school, the air here is fantastic. Yes, the local villagers burn their trash and sweepings here and there, in small piles, every few weeks if it's dry. So you'll drive through some clouds of smoke, but on the whole the air here is fine. And more so at Green School, which is not really near any populated areas.

Just an FYI, Green School doesn't do short-term contracts. They offer two year contracts like most schools. And yes, getting a job at the school is competitive. I may have this wrong, but if memory serves, there were several hundred applicants for every open position last year. (This might not stack up with the big boy international schools, but it's still a lot of people applying for a few openings.)

The school hasn't begun advertising it's openings for the 2014-15 school year yet, and there will be some positions open. The school does its hiring via a series of Skype interviews. But coming to visit the school, and maybe setting up a quick hello meeting with someone from administration, will give you a leg up on the competition. In the end the school hires those who they think are the best teachers, and best fit, for the school. But a face to face meeting, or at least being able to say you visited the campus, will not hurt.

I think everyone has different experiences and perceptions about for profit schools. I can only share mine-

NEVER AGAIN!

I'd rather not work or work at a school in the USA over working ever again at a for profit school. I put my first two years of international teaching in at one in Egypt. Horrible experience. But I toughed it out to get those vital two years in. My school was a business first, a school second. Yes, grades were changed. How can you stay in business if you're not providing happy customers? The happy customers are parents paying for good grades, not a good education. (Again, this is my view, based on teaching in Egypt.) I was never asked or told to change a grade. The principal would just do it later. What made it doubly hard was my students knew this. Why work when you're going to pass no matter what?

At my school everything was based around money and saving money. I was given my supplies at the beginning if the year. I had to turn them all back in again the end of the year. Every used up white board marker, pencil stub, and empty pen. If not turned in I was charged for the item. If a student did not turn in their textbook at the end if the year, I was charged for it. Every copy that I wanted done, every single one, had to be signed off on by the principal. My pay was awful, but it was on time. (Fortunately Egypt was a cheap country to live in.) The school did manage to skew the contract so I was paid less though. My housing stipend was pathetic. My health insurance was a joke. Every student who applied to the school was accepted. Almost no English? No problem. Kicked out of four other schools because of violent behavior? No problem. You pay, you are in.

I was screamed at by the owner, whose management style seemed to be "humiliate to get results." I was threatened by parents. Very powerful parents. When poor mid-term reports went out. (Those couldn't be flubbed by the school.) I had students who would just laugh at my attempts at management and teaching. It was tough. But I also had great students, worked with great fellow teachers, and did have parents who truly wanted their child to learn.

The first year I told myself I was going to quit pretty much every day on the way home from work. The second year I kind of let go and went with the flow. I taught to the best of my ability, the kids that wanted to learn did learn, the rest still passed my classes, but I can hold my head high and know I tried.

I will say that I was not worked very hard. I've refused to even apply for for profit schools since Egypt, and have been lucky to work for non-profit schools since then. (Most good, some almost as bad.) I was and am worked far harder at the .org schools. There are much higher expectations for the staff from administration and parents.

Apply, but don't hold your breath. I'm not sure if those austerity measures that kicked in last year after congress failed to pass a budget agreement are still in place, but there was very little hiring, if any, done at DODEA schools last year. (Can't recall what the measures were called, but basically amounted to a hiring freeze.) Also, history/social studies teachers are not in high demand. You'll join the back of a list of thousands of other applicants. I taught history internationally, wanted to work for DODEA, so returned to the USA to get my SPED certification. Something that was, prior to the hiring freeze/drawdown, a very high demand area for those schools. I'm also classified as physically disabled, which puts me at the top of the list. I got zero offers or interest. Finally, Europe is the last stop for teachers who have been working at DODEA schools for years. You'll usually begin in South Korea, or Japan, IF you get a job offer, then have to work your way up the ladder to the sweet gigs in Europe. In the best of times those jobs are as rare as hens' teeth. Teachers, once there, tend not to leave until they retire. Openings, when they happen, are filled internally by looking at DODEA teachers or trailing spouses of military members first.

I'd agree with Sid that a not so cookie cutter approach to a cover letter can help, especially if you're not submitting a super CV packed with awards, teaching experience, etc.

Directors can get hundreds of letters for open positions every year. Something out of the ordinary might just grab their attention. At my current school 150 people applied for the position I was hired for. I do not have a stellar CV. How'd I get noticed? I wrote a very different cover letter. I showed my personality instead of just reciting the usual boring things that get put in professional letters. It got me noticed. In the interviews (plural- my school is careful, I had four hour long interviews, each time moving up the admin food chain) I still had to prove I had the teaching chops, but it was my letter that got the ball rolling.

The problem is that it's hard to do this if you're applying for a lot of jobs. No one has the time to carefully craft an interesting/fun/unique cover letter for 50 different schools. I didn't anyway. Last year I sent out A LOT of applications. Did the usual professional type cover letter for every CV I sent. Got almost no bites. The season was ending. A job popped up at a school I thought I had zero chance of getting hired at. So I decided to have fun with the cover letter. Imagine my surprise when I was contacted, interviewed, and interviewed, and interviewed, and hired.

Sorry, I didn't really answer your quality of life question.

Montevideo is more European than Latin in my opinion. I enjoyed the city, but I did find it a bit dull at times. It's not a particularly vibrant place in regards to culture. (I'd come from teaching in Cairo, where I very much enjoyed the insanity.) For a single guy who likes the "what kind of weirdness will I see today," part of living overseas I got bored fairly easily.

For a family though it would be a different story I'd think. Montevideo has some nice malls with all the mod cons. The old part of the city is pretty, with fun shopping and a good vibe. The weekend market is always interesting and vibrant. The food is fantastic, assuming you like meat. Not a lot of options beyond that. The city is fairly clean, wasn't a lot of pollution. And like I said above, it's safe. Very safe in comparison to other South American capital cities. It has a great health care system.

You have to learn Spanish. Uruguay is one of the top tourist destinations for South Americans, but not so much for westerners. So English is not widely spoken.

Travel is easy, and the beach areas to the north are unbelievable.

It is an expensive place to live though. Similar in costs to America. Taxes are VERY high. And you'll be taxed on your income. (Or at least I was. Things may have changed.) If memory serves about a third of my monthly pay went to taxes. I even had to pay a tax on the square footage of my apartment. If you're a teaching team you'll be fine. With a non-teaching spouse it might be tight.

Very good for families. I taught at the Uruguayan American School a while back. Montevideo is a very pleasant city. Very European in a lot of ways. Lots pf parks, good food, great beaches, friendly people. There are parts of the city that you'd maybe not want to wander through alone at night, but for the most part it's a safe place. I lived in Carrasco, which is the upper class suburb of the city nearest to the school. I'd walk alone at night and never felt unsafe. UAS (I assume you're looking at UAS) was a good school when I taught there. Very much orientated towards the school being a "community." I miss Uruguay and UAS.

I was in Cairo quite a while ago. Long before "the troubles." I now teach in SE Asia, but I'm not too plugged into the scene as far as good vs bad schools, or who is looking for what. Just apply, apply, apply.

If no one bites, then try again next year. But you'll get something I'd imagine, as long as you're not too selective. The real trick is to stick it out no matter how tough the job is. (And at the lower level schools it'll probably be tough.) Two years overseas will open up a lot more doors when you begin looking for your next gig.

Not 100% sure I understand your predicament. Will you be a certified teacher soon?

Either way, to answer the "what school did you start at?" question:

I got my first overseas job straight out of school. I had no experience beyond student teaching. (I would be licensed by the time I began teaching though.) I began at a terrible school in Cairo. Not the bottom of the barrel, but very close. I worked my way up the food chain. Every time going to a school that was a bit better. I now work at a fantastic school on a beautiful tropical island. I have no plans to leave. But even then, before getting my current job, I must have sent out 75 CV's. Of those 75, I got maybe ten responses. Of those ten I had three concrete nibbles.

The tier thing is very subjective, but the reality is that new schools, for profit schools that burn through staff, schools in places that are less than desirable, are where most new teachers start out. I took the job in Cairo simply because I knew I had to start somewhere, and that I was not a candidate for 90% of the schools out there. IF you will be certified/licensed you will find a job. (No idea how it works if you're TEFL or whatever.) The trick is to not be too picky. Most halfway decent schools require two years minimum of true experience. Most top end schools will be seeing CV's from teachers with a lot more. It's the schools that just want a body in front of the kids that will be hiring new teachers.