Search found 325 matches

by Walter
Mon Jun 17, 2019 1:37 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Location, Location, Location!
Replies: 128
Views: 118391

Re: Location, Location, Location!

It's appropriate to inform the readers that quite a few school heads have weighed and measured the merits of Dave's teaching and found it wanting and unpersuasive. Sadly for him, his various applications to DODEA have met a similar fate...
by Walter
Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:14 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Breaking Contracts
Replies: 72
Views: 63997

Re: Breaking Contracts

Dear Dave is playing "Second Life" again:

@sid

Like I would ever give up working for DODEA to work for @Sid.

@dave

Like you ever worked for DODEA.
by Walter
Tue May 21, 2019 8:20 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Is only using Search Associates a mistake?
Replies: 43
Views: 53897

Re: Is only using Search Associates a mistake?

1. The SEARCH Associate in question seems to do pretty well in placing those teachers in his portfolio, so the additional fee can't be much of a disincentive;
2) The school that would use the few hundred dollars extra as the compelling criterion in selection is probably not the school you would want to work at in the first place.
by Walter
Mon May 20, 2019 11:49 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Is only using Search Associates a mistake?
Replies: 43
Views: 53897

Re: Is only using Search Associates a mistake?

"On Search, I have been told that I am assigned to an associate within the UK office, and so don't have to pay the fee each time. Does anyone know what this is about?"

It's the law. In the UK, employment agencies are not allowed to charge job-seekers. In situations like this, SEARCH bills the schools a higher fee to compensate the SEARCH Associate.
by Walter
Wed Apr 03, 2019 3:30 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: New resume for re-applying? Use a professional service?
Replies: 41
Views: 34131

Re: New resume for re-applying? Use a professional service?

As usual, Dear Old Dave is talking bullocks. Which isn't a surprise since he has zero experience of being a recruiter, despite the claims that he makes about having a ghost experience as a recruiter at SEARCH Melbourne while working in a junior admin post in Europe. (Not one part of this true.) Then again, he also claims to have worked for DODEA, and that isn't true either.

Different recruiters do things differently. There is no one way. But this is how I do things at recruitment fairs:
1) I check through all the relevant applications and study the experience and qualifications
2) If I'm still interested, I read the references
3) If I'm still interested, I read the personal statement
4) If I'm still interested, I will contact the favorite candidates by e mail and also leave a message/brochure in their folders

There is no one who comes by at sign-up whose docs I haven't seen. That doesn't mean to say that I never interview those who approach me at sign-up without having received an invitation. There may be some on my "possibles" list whom I haven't invited and have decided to see if they approach me. Then I'l make a call on how they present themselves.
I can say for certain that I would never interview someone whose personal statement (which is of course a cover letter under another name) is of poor quality.

For those who make contact directly by individual application through HR:
1) I read the resume
2) If I'm still interested, I read the cover letter
3) If I'm still interested, I contact the referees
4) If I'm still interested, I contact the candidate

If the cover letter is generic or of poor quality, they don't get to third base...
by Walter
Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:54 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?
Replies: 60
Views: 54801

Re: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?

Ah Biggus Davus strikes again with more blustering BS. This is even more foolish than your usual blurting:
"When they post actual vacancies for male primary ITs that female ITs need not apply, than its something."
You might get away with a statement like that for a single sex school in the Middle East. You might just get away with expressing a gender preference in a sensitive subject like PE, but posting a vacancy of the kind you countenance in the US or UK for a regular classroom teacher simply wouldn't be allowed.
You really don't understand recruiting at all, do you? But then again, there's no reason why you should, since you've never done any. Candidates bring with them a smorgasbord of talents and aptitudes - and maybe some things that you like a little less or don't even need at all. Of course, the craft of teaching is critical, but "fit" in terms of how that person would mesh with other teachers and the culture of the school is just as important.
An experienced, expert teacher who is vain and condescending and difficult to work with will struggle to get a job and struggle even more to keep one. Someone who is on the way to being a good teacher and happens to be congenial, collegial and a contributor will get a job - because it's easier to take some on the journey to become a top professional than it is to change someone's personality. Have you ever wondered why it is that schools never want you to stay beyond your initial contract (and often want you to leave before)? It isn't because you're too stupid to be a decent teacher. It's because of the "who" that you are.
And then, after the "fit", schools look for a range of other things: the added extras that help schools become the places that they wish to be: sports coaching; drama directors; musicians and so on. Schools want teachers with a hinterland. They want real, authentic people to whom kids can relate. And good international schools also look for diversity. All of these factors help to bring recruiters to the point where they will say "yes" to one candidate and "no" to another. So I tell you again, a male ES teacher (and especially in Early Years) and a female STEM teacher both have a leg up when it comes to getting into an interview, and gender will be part of the discussion when we look at the entirety of the candidates who are in the frame for the final decision.
So stop being so stubborn and stupid and just accept that it's okay to be wrong. Once you do that, you may start to learn.
by Walter
Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:53 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?
Replies: 60
Views: 54801

Re: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?

It's a bit early for me to start drinking, but doubles all round if you can confirm Dave's friendship with Pilate!

https://youtu.be/kMGu-55sKJs
by Walter
Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:16 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?
Replies: 60
Views: 54801

Re: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?

Hey Dave, you remember that fatuous candidate assessment form you developed? The Psyguy Interviewee Scoring System? (I can't remember the acronym.) You know, the one where you ascribe random values to elements of people's experience and education. The one that's based on zero discernible data? The one where you've used your professional background of no years whatsoever in recruiting teachers? The one that reflects your several years of being shuffled around third tier schools like an old deck of playing cards?
Isn't it funny how in your system it's okay to give points for individual qualities, but when I and others say that being a male candidate for ES classroom positions or a female candidate for STEM subjects is advantageous (exactly like your points for individual qualities) you claim to have data that disproves this?
by Walter
Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:10 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?
Replies: 60
Views: 54801

Re: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?

@ Dave: "No it doesnt, by that line of thought there would be an advantage in recruiting being a woman in STEM applying for SLL maths or physics or ICT."

As it happens, Dave, when I recruit, I do look actively for women who teach chemistry, physics, math or computer science. And nor am I alone in this. Girls need role models to encourage them to take up STEM subjects.

@Dave: "By that line of thought there should be a HUGE advantage in being a minority in getting any IE appointment."

And helping to enhance the diversity of our faculty is another consideration I take into account.

In neither case would I hire an inferior teacher, simply because of gender or color or ethnic origin or religion, but these factors certainly play a part in decision-making.
by Walter
Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:33 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?
Replies: 60
Views: 54801

Re: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?

If you check out from 1:40 you’ll get the gist of what Dave learned from his dodgy Texas Uni:
https://youtu.be/kO8x8eoU3L4
In 35 years of being principal and head of school, I have never once had a Board Member express a policy preference about gender diversity in elementary or primary school. The only parents who’ve talked to me have done so because they specifically wanted a male teacher – almost invariably as a role model for their son.
by Walter
Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:46 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?
Replies: 60
Views: 54801

Re: Male applicant for Primary job at an advantage, or not?

Data Dave strikes again. More blurt and zero evidence. Of course, he has never recruited a teacher in his life and so has no idea what school leaders look for.
Elementary principals, in general, like to have a proportion of men in class teacher positions. As Illiane B notes, no sensible recruiter would hire an inferior teacher just because of gender, but there is a well established recognition that male role models in elementary can be very helpful.
Nor is there a preference for female counselors in international schools. There are more female counselors on the market - just as there are more female ES classroom teachers on the market - but that isn't a product of any desire on the part of school administrators.
The question of gender diversity in top leadership positions has been a matter of concern for some years. Fortunately, it seems that times are changing and more and more women are taking on head of school positions. Sad to say, that isn't true when it comes to ethnic diversity.
by Walter
Fri Feb 15, 2019 1:34 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Bangkok Pollution
Replies: 111
Views: 706399

Re: Bangkok Pollution

@Dave Several degrees several universities.
By the way, he often claims to have a doctorate. That's another lie.
by Walter
Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:53 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Bangkok Pollution
Replies: 111
Views: 706399

Re: Bangkok Pollution

@wt123:
"Strangely enough, the DoDEA piece is one of the few things that I do believe, mostly from the many posts/exchanges on the DoD chat board from when we were both hired at the same time (6 years ago, allegedly)."

Nope it's hokum. He doesn't work for DoDEA and never has. More of Dave's "Second Life" stuff. And as it happens, I'm completely fine with someone who has a shallow life reinventing himself as a success on these pages. What irritates me is the pretense that he is a figure of some reckoning in the world of international education who has important knowledge to pass on. While many who use this site are duly skeptical of his claims, there are some who may take his advice seriously. That's why it's important, from time to time, to prick the bubble of self-importance.
by Walter
Wed Feb 13, 2019 3:03 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Bangkok Pollution
Replies: 111
Views: 706399

Re: Bangkok Pollution

This is Dave's version of "Second Life". On this site, you can find the Dave he wants to be. He does not work with, and nor has he ever worked with, DODEA. Nor does he attend recruitment fairs. Nor does he have access to any quotable data to back up his arguments in this thread, save that which exists in his fertile imagination.
by Walter
Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:16 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Bangkok Pollution
Replies: 111
Views: 706399

Re: Bangkok Pollution

@dave:
"No you wrote it really big, really slow would be o_p_i_n_i_o_n, and your opinion is wrong, because only data matters, but even if this were an issue of opinion vs. opinion yours would still be wrong, and my opinion would still be more credible than yours.
Japan 1st/elite tier ISs are superior to Thailand 1st/elite tier ISs, and are comparable to 1st/elite tier ISs in Asia in terms of "facilities, resources, curriculum, teaching quality, school culture and energy".

Good to see you agreeing with me, the reasons dont matter, the lines do. Doesnt matter if Japans (or Frances or Italys) ISs were in shacks and run by goblins they still get longer lines and more applications, they are still more desirable and competitive, so no @Teacher Tan is wrong, the IS quality doesnt matter and so is @Walter facilities, resources, curriculum, teaching quality, school culture and energy doesnt matter either, and if they did, if they were relevant and material, Japans 1st/elite tier ISs are just as competitive and actually superior in those regards to other 1st/elite tier ISs in Asia and Thailand. Not like you would have the experience to know."

More tripe, Dave. I don't agree with any of the nonsense you spout.Where is the research you're quoting from? I see no data ever mentioned - just your opinion. Tell me when did you last go to a recruitment fair and see the lines at each school? Since I found out your name, I've been looking for you at all the top recruitment fairs - and of course you aren't there. I remember you lied once about being at ISS in BKK, but then lying comes easy to you doesn't it? It's your go-to comfort zone - as you crow about in another recent posting. But prove me wrong, why don't you? Cite the data you claim to have and/or tell me which recruitment fair you say you attended. (But remember not to claim for a SEARCH Fair - we both know why that isn't possible.)

Back to my opinion, for the more sensible readers. I wouldn't dispute that there is one (and only one) Tier 1 school in Japan. I just don't believe that it's as vibrant or as innovative as other big schools in Asia. And the facilities are behind most of them. Meanwhile, most of the international schools in Japan are in a struggle for numbers as the expat population declines, which doesn't augur well for future investment. It's a similar story in much of Europe - apart from cities in Germany and the Netherlands, both of which may benefit if BREXIT goes ahead. Switzerland has been especially hard hit.