Search found 1392 matches

by sid
Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:11 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Flight for Non-Accompanying Spouse
Replies: 21
Views: 19139

Re: Flight for Non-Accompanying Spouse

Some schools have clear cut definitions for what an accompanying spouse or child is. Most do not. Those that do, you could expect something along the lines of maintaining their primary residence in the country, being physically present for at least six months per year, maintaining a residence visa. For schools without, they’d still expect to see behavior along those lines.
Six months a year might prove difficult, presuming you’d be away already for all of summer and Christmas. And who wants to teach online in the USA time zones from the ME for six months a year?
Maintaining a residence visa also a challenge if you intend to go and come frequently. Getting the initial visa in the ME can take months, and you have to stay in the country continuously until it’s issued. Most take around a month, but a sizable portion take significantly longer, even up to six months. We occasionally had teachers who couldn’t get them in time to travel at Christmas. Which really sucked for them, and you can’t always predict whose visa will take longer.
Once you have the visa, there can be restrictions on how long you can be outside the country each year. Never really an issue for those who are living there, but you could find your visa cancelled automatically at some point, and the school asking questions.
by sid
Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:02 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Vaccination Requirements
Replies: 7
Views: 8281

Re: Vaccination Requirements

Just for any kind of employment, for employment in a school, or for entry into the country?
by sid
Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:32 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Best TAX Company for Expats
Replies: 2
Views: 5542

Re: Best TAX Company for Expats

I did much better switching to a live preparer after years of turbotax. Saved me hundreds of dollars annually, even refiled past years to get money back. Try tax911.
by sid
Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:27 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Flight for Non-Accompanying Spouse
Replies: 21
Views: 19139

Re: Flight for Non-Accompanying Spouse

Despite my first post probably sounding like a downer, I'm rooting for you. Ask, and you may receive. Just don't get your hopes up too high. In most schools in my experience, this is a no.
by sid
Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:05 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Flight for Non-Accompanying Spouse
Replies: 21
Views: 19139

Re: Flight for Non-Accompanying Spouse

Just because you want it doesn’t mean they’ll give it. And it’s no argument to point out what you would get if the situation were different. It’s not different. It is what it is.
Please don’t try to pretend that you will be an accompanying spouse to get more benefits. Schools don’t like feeling taken advantage of, and when they realize you aren’t accompanying, and that benefits were taken on false grounds, that’s cause for termination. I’ve seen it happen.
You can try to negotiate, but don’t expect much. Or anything. If you get it, great. Cheers to you.
Perhaps best to accept that he is entitled to single status, and possibly even got an offer with a better school because of it.
Good luck.
by sid
Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:54 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Medical Insurance for Dependents Included in The Packages
Replies: 3
Views: 6127

Re: Medical Insurance for Dependents Included in The Packages

It’s seen more at second tier schools. Rare in first tier.
As with all packages, look at the whole thing and decide if it’s worth it for you before signing. It won’t do you any good to know what is typical, even if your school is the only one in the world that does it their way. They won’t change.
by sid
Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:55 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools
Replies: 50
Views: 87515

Re: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools

How long is a piece of string?
There are so many variables that any number is automatically both wrong and right. Having said that, at least three, more likely five, and possibly a decade or more
by sid
Tue Jan 18, 2022 4:35 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Eligibility does not mean suitability
Replies: 21
Views: 15534

Re: Eligibility does not mean suitability

To me, they're separate, not a matter of percentages.
Eligibility is a tick box. Yes/No. Binary - either I can consider you as a candidate, or I cannot.
If you get past that hurdle, suitability is the name of the game. Once I've eliminated all the non-eligible applicants, all I'm looking for is the most suitable candidate.
by sid
Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:05 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Top Tier - Top Pay?
Replies: 11
Views: 14826

Re: Top Tier - Top Pay?

It's not as uncommon as some people think.
American international schools tend to pay less than British ones, but also tend to define a teaching load as lighter than Brits do. So if you have a top-tier American school, it could pay less than the British school across town.
Benefits also vary, and you have to find ways to compare apples to apples. 100K annually with a 10% retirement match is better than 105K annually at another school. Housing - cash, actual house, or nothing? Insurance - worldwide, except US, or just in-country? Etc, etc, etc. Make sure you compare it all.
Pay scales also move at different rates. Case in point from a previous school of mine, a teacher with more than 8 years of experience would get paid more with me than across town. But at 7 years or less, they would have done better at the other school. By 10 years and up, the difference was quite significant and growing each year, and we had lots of teachers attempting to switch schools once they hit the 8 or 9 year mark.
And then there are simply those that pay less. It happens. Top tier means many different things to different people. We're judging, from afar, and without all the info, various points about the students' overall experience, work-life balance, teaching resources, community support, leadership approaches, pd provisions.... The package should be good at a top tier school, but that doesn't mean it has to be the best in town.

If you like the school, and the overall package works for you, take the job.
by sid
Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:00 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Malaysia Salaries
Replies: 5
Views: 6559

Re: Malaysia Salaries

Friends of mine have done all of that on 12,000 RM per month, all in, before taxes.
Other friends of mine would not find 12,000 RM per month sufficient. It's all in your lifestyle and what you consider appropriate.
by sid
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:50 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: New to The Game...
Replies: 64
Views: 214814

Re: New to The Game...

[quote=Bioguy21 post_id=62602 time=1641989336 user_id=262547]

I'm 3-1-9, and no one asks me about the 1 anymore. After a certain amount of time, it seems like no one questions your ability to stay put.
[/quote]

Absolutely true.
by sid
Wed Jan 12, 2022 1:17 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: New to The Game...
Replies: 64
Views: 214814

Re: New to The Game...

[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.
by sid
Mon Jan 10, 2022 10:10 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: New to The Game...
Replies: 64
Views: 214814

Re: New to The Game...

I’ve got a teacher at my school right now who wallowed in low-tier schools far too long, rising to principal. He met his partner at a better school across town, and she clued him in. They hitched up and came to us. He had to drop all the way back to teacher, and his past experience is hurting more than helping him. his understanding of leadership skills is ridiculously unusable.
by sid
Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:40 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: New to The Game...
Replies: 64
Views: 214814

Re: New to The Game...

Wrong.
Waste of time working at four low-tier schools in a row. You should move up a tier as often as possible (for those who want better schools), and if not after the first school, definitely after the second. Staying at that level for four schools tells recruiters that something is amiss. A good egg with potential moves up fast.
by sid
Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:17 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: When is the recruiting season in the USA?
Replies: 8
Views: 9531

Re: When is the recruiting season in the USA?

It tends to be last minute- think August for August. But at the moment, with so much attrition due to the pressures of Covid, there seem to be many positions open relatively urgently. Start applying.