With SG, can you live across in Malaysia and commute - does this save money, or is the commute just too stupid to consider?

OK, so in the hope that I'm not adding fuel to a fire, I'm going to chip in!

I'm relatively new to teaching. In my previous career, you did not tell your employer about your resignation before you had another job and until you were ready to hand in your notice. The reason for this was two-fold; firstly, it avoided any potential problems between you and your boss, and secondly (in the UK at least) a verbal confirmation of resignation can be accepted in lieu of a written one, so even if you later changed your mind your employer could hold you to it.

Moving in to teaching in the UK, it was a bit of a shock that you were expected to tell your manager that you were applying for a job in another school if you wanted to move. This causes difficulties if someone is unhappy, doesn't like where they work, or simply just fancies a change. However, references given by employers in the UK can only include very basic information about attendance, sickness, formal disciplinary matters, etc. and not personal statements about the individual - they can and have been taken to court if the statement is defamatory and cannot be justified. They are also subject to the Data Protection Act in the UK in that any personal documentation an organisation - employer or agency - holds on you can legally be requested and must be provided, so you can get a copy of your reference.

I get why international schools want people to indicate whether or not they are leaving before they get a job. From their point of view, they need to know who is staying and which positions they need to recruit for. Speaking personally, if I was in a Head's position where a teacher I liked was leaving, I would give them a good reference being a fair person, but if that teacher then (after a fair, for example) said that they wanted to stay I would keep them on and withdraw any offer on that position made. I know that's unfair on the person to whom it's been offered, but I always prefer the known to the unknown.

It will be interesting to see how schools cope this year, as it lands directly in the middle of the exam season. It could be worse though - back home in Scotland, daylight in June is often from about 3.30am until 11pm (or later) so it's actually more of a problem for Muslims there than in the ME!

Rkvp, teaching jobs in Scotland generally aren't advertised through agencies - have a look on myjobscotland (Google it, I'm afraid I can't remember the full address!) and all jobs in Scottish state schools are advertised there.

Before you go, though, I would strongly suggest speaking to GTCS about what your wife has to do - there are registration requirements which are significantly different to England which you will have to go through. Good luck!

rkvp - your wife is a primary teacher? Get thyself to Scotland, I say! If you're prepared to consider a move to one of the more remote areas (and by remote, I mean Highlands & islands / Aberdeenshire) then you're more likely to have a chance of getting a job. The Canadian and Scottish systems are very similar (many Canadian teachers get their qualifications at Scottish universities such as Strathclyde and Edinburgh) so although she'd have to register with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (www.gtcs.org.uk) she'd have a good chance of getting something because primary is a shortage subject in those areas.

Thanks, psyguy. A lot of useful info there - a lot to think about too before August!

Although I'm teaching abroad at the moment, I got the job through a direct interview and have never attended one of the Search or ISS fairs (I have a Search profile, but I was only half-way through completing it when I got this job and it's currently inactive.) I'm in the first year of my contract and am happy to stay for the second, but the city I'm in is probably one where I could only stand living for two years so will be off at the end of the contract.

Firstly, I noticed that a couple of posts mentioned "ichiros" rather than resumes / CVs - what are they? (A Google search only brought up a Japanese baseball player!)

Should I register for both Search and ISS? Which is better?

Is there a real problem if I don't have a parent reference (Search strongly advises having this, but frankly I don't have the sort of contact with parents that would really make this relevant or appropriate.)

I get the feeling that most of the potential candidates who attend these are "Type A" personality people - which I am definitely not! Is this a disadvantage?