If your looking at the ME - then they tend to hire as late or later than Europe. There was a reason that the ME fairs were later than the Asian fairs. If your looking at the ME - then you have a much better chance of getting a job.

Do note that I have heard stories of many expats leaving places like Dubai so more local schools will have more jobs available.

In a normal hiring season - many of the better schools have started to hire for the more difficult to fill positions during November/December. Hiring continues with more positions becoming available until early Feb when numbers of jobs starts to decline due to being filled. Covid will delay many schools from hiring as early as they normally do due to not knowing numbers for the next school year.

You also teach subjects which are less in demand and have jumped around quite a bit as well. That might put off some of the more fancy schools which can easily choose from the best - but you have some IB experience which means your not at the bottom of the pile when people are looking at teachers to employ.

To put it simple - it may be too early for a teacher such as yourself to be getting offers from the worlds best schools so early in the job season but good quality schools may start looking at you soon. Note that living in the US may also made you less desirable at present due to COVID.

As such - just keep your chin up and not all hope is lost.

Ahhh Taiwan - lovely country.

It's true that some schools may not employ you due to your skin color - but to be honest these are mainly schools where you do not want to work. Think schools which cater to a local clientele with the word "International" placed in it's name.

In general - the better schools look for the best teachers they can get and if you have taught at an English First Language school such as what you have for a while then it's not really a hindrance. To be honest - I don't really see your background as a negative apart from visas.

On a side note - have you thought about teaching in Australia? The ACT and Queensland in general look for teachers all of the time (in demand teachers such as math/science) but they do have a different school year (starts at the actual start of the year).

On Japan - note that the better schools are a bit like an old boys/girls club. I've worked with people at a school in Japan who was at the school longer than I had been alive. As such - don't expect too many bites as few people leave the better schools and the lower tier schools pay quite low.

Subject states it all. Hopefully it was better than the October fair.....

To be honest - it's better to get a minimum of 2 years experience before you apply for international schools. For most - this is the expectation and it's also needed often for visas.

International schools tend to be near population centres - so there are few schools in smaller towns or out in nature. Those that come to mind are some in Switzerland and Jeju Island. We are also not allowed to mention specific schools in the general forum as well.

In general - a bad international school is much worse than a bad school in our home country due to the language barrier and lack of common language. Having such a bad experience at the start of your teaching career can be pretty difficult.

RE: Kellysensei

In general - teachers with 3 dependents (2 kids + partner) tend to be at the bottom of the totem poll when it comes to hiring. This is generally due to cost - which will be exacerbated due to COVID at present.

Depending on the school - I've found the following to be generally true from most employable to least employable

(1) Teaching couple
(2) Teaching single
(3) Teaching couple with kids
(4) Teaching single/couple with kids (only 1 works)

Even though there is a lot of doom and gloom about China (and I am one of those people thinking that), Tier 1 schools specifically in Shanghai and Beijing still get to choose from the best teachers out there. As such - competition is still fierce and there has never been a better time for a Tier 1 Chinese school to get local hires as they are less likely to move. Note that there has also been lots of problems with getting visas for dependents in China even to this day.

So should you give up on China if you set your heart on it? I don't think so - but reevaluating to one of the better schools in Tier 2'ish cities such as Suzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen etc might be a good idea. Schools that have a majority Chinese student body sometimes will often hire a family with more kids to get more expat kids into the school. Do note that often these schools might use your kids often in advertising (even without you knowing it!)

Note that this is not just a China thing - I've seen this in other schools in asia!

To be honest - I don't think is really comes down to how much experience you have. It's really down to if those jobs will be available. In the current environment - I doubt that almost anyone would get a teaching couples position in Germany for only one school.

@ Psyguy

It basically means that both left on amicable terms due to extenuating circumstances (aka - COVID). It's really just a discussion on semantics - which is a 0.1/10 level of importance to most at the moment.....

@jboeh2

How about the best of both worlds. Could they write that the position is no longer available so there has been a mutual agreement between the two to leave???

For me - it's been a strange one. I decided to take a years breather at home in January after living overseas for a long time at the end of the 19/20 school year. Then covid hit which has been both a blessing and a curse.

It's a blessing as no-one will ask "what did you do in 20/21" due to covid, but a curse due to the ramifications of what covid will do to international business and families moving overseas.

This is my own opinion - but I think that expat student numbers will tumble as families relocate home or complete their work virtually with time. Governments are spending significant amounts of money supporting their citizens while tax receipts take a dive. Many countries in Asia may not open up to travel to Europe and the Americas in the medium term which will help cause a further positive feedback loop with student numbers.

Schools with a strong reputation in major centres such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong probably won't be as affected as they can take students from schools with a weaker reputation. This was already happening at my previous school in asia. Schools that serve a majority local population will be the safest, but it will be a mixed bag due to politics and financial need.

I've heard rumblings of some schools in China having no luck getting any people interested in positions due to politics and closed borders. I've also heard stories of some of the better schools in China having many in-China staff wanting to move up the ladder and competition has been fierce.

Politics will be tricky - with some people not wanting to move to China for politics and potentially more unrest in the middle east as economic production follows the price of oil (down). But then again - some people come from countries which do not have many jobs and may not be financially stable have little choice.

I guess all I can say is expect the unexpected and 45+ Chinese schools attending the first SA fair gives us an indication of the current job market for 21/22....

Some schools have dealt with covid well - others not so much.

Does anyone want to share some of the strange, odd or moronic decisions made by either admin or other parts of your school community?

As always - it's probably best to try and keep it as anonymous as possible.

To be truthful - you are in a difficult situation. You have no teaching experience but have qualifications for one of the most competitive subjects (English). Student numbers are decreasing in many countries due to the flux of COVID-19 and the economic impact that closed borders entails.

Many countries require teachers to have a certain number of years experience - which means these countries are already out of the question.

You might be able to get a paid internship - but these may be rare this job hunting season due to flux. This potentially means more teachers applying for less jobs than normal

It's possible that you may be able to get a job - but these will be at some of the local international schools. Some of these are great - some feel as though you are in hell. These schools often are not the best place to learn to teach. Some of these schools are great for people who have a bit of experience as they often let you do whatever you want to do or micromanage everything which is the nightmare part of this.

My personal recommendation is just suck it up and try and get 2 years solid US experience and then branch out from there. This will give you some experience and more importantly some cash to help set up in your new country when you move there.

Others of course will have other things to say.....

It's fair to say that the 2020/21 school year is probably the strangest any of us will experience in our lifetimes. Many people lost their jobs due to less students, many people could not get to their job, borders were closed etc.

What I'm interested in hearing about is how COVID has changed what you look for in a school for 2021/22. This might include how specific countries have handled covid or even how specific schools have or have not handled covid. As always - it's fine to mention specific countries but shy away from naming particular schools on the forum.

I'll add my thoughts after a couple of other people post (if people post - that is)

The comment on the 2021/22 job season being unconventional is correct. Due to COVID - there were MANY schools who cancelled contracts in May/June for both working staff and newly employed staff. This includes some of the most reported 'best schools out there".

Also having two teaching working in the same department can be seen as a problem from an employer perspective