Search found 408 matches

by eion_padraig
Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:44 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Bangkok Pollution
Replies: 111
Views: 704417

Re: Bangkok Pollution

@mathman85, my comment was a general one saying I feel lots of people list Thailand as high on their list on this forum over other countries I think are quite similar. If you're looking for effective government decisions in Thailand over long term issues, you are likely to be disappointed. It's good they are extending the MRT, but right now the sky train and the subway use different transit cards, and the lines to get cards can be huge. How easy would it be to integrate those systems in one card? That's just one issue I can name off the top of my head. I suspect you're more likely to see them censoring data on air quality like China has done. Japan and Korea would be other countries I see making good decisions on long term issues in general besides Singapore, but in a lot of countries it's can be easy to see the downsides of decisions being made.

Cost in Thailand varies hugely. Yes, if you're looking for Western-style entertainment and food, it can be very pricey. I went drinking at the Mikkeller Bar in Bangkok and it was crazy expensive (but still worth it in my opinion). On the other hand, Chang beer from the local convenience store or their hard alcohol is super inexpensive. You can get great food from small little kiosk type places, or pay sky high costs for high end foreign food.

So back to your original question, did you make a mistake giving up clean air and an easy commute in Western Europe? If those are the things you value most highly, then yes, you did. If you're looking for re-assurance that things are "not that bad" with the air quality, then you're going to get lots of opinions. If you're looking at this more holistically, valuing pay, quality of life, future work opportunities, and health impacts, then I think you've made a decent choice.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:39 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Bangkok Pollution
Replies: 111
Views: 704417

Re: Bangkok Pollution

@falloutmike & @mathman85,

Congratulations on the jobs.

I'd say this is the same decisions people are making for jobs in China. Nothing is locking you into staying if you find it's not worth it to you. If it's a highly regarded school, you can leave in two to three years and find a better option.

I find a lot of people tend to idealize Thailand on this forum. There's a lot to like, but there is plenty of downsides and hassle too that are similar to other parts of Southeast and East Asia, and some that are particular to the country. I wonder how much of that is due to limited time spent in vacation spots in the country.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:17 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Seeking advice
Replies: 36
Views: 34889

Re: Seeking advice

wrldtrvlr123 gives some good points on his last post.

For what it's worth, Taiwan is a very liveable country for foreigners I know who have lived there. It's a nice mix of the good things from China and a few things that feel like Japan. While the level of English is not very high outside of Taipei (and even in Taipei it's not as high as Shanghai or Hong Kong), but people are super friendly and willing to help.

The downside for IT is that the pay and quality of the schools falls off dramatically from the top school in the country to a few others (I'd say 2 from what I've heard) to lots of low tier places that really just serve Taiwanese kids (who have managed to secure foreign passports). Usually it comes down to poor leadership by Taiwanese owners and nepotism issues, which makes things chaotic and less professional than better schools.

But if you need the two years experience, there are worse countries to start in.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:05 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Looking for some advice
Replies: 17
Views: 19987

Re: Looking for some advice

China should still be an option. The degree to which schools can navigate the visa requirements and individuals' experiences can be used (previous ESL experience, being a TA in graduate school) to meet the requirement, it's worth a shot. It seems that it's easier once you're out of places like Shanghai and Beijing for it to work.

*edited to add - So though there is flexibility, I strongly urge you not to take a job if they don't get you a Z visa so you can get a residency permit. The visa situation has tightened in recent years. Working on something other than a working visa is not a good idea.

Again, the quality of schools varies greatly in China, but if you can put in two years, the options will open up a lot more.

Good luck.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:13 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Seeking advice
Replies: 36
Views: 34889

Re: Seeking advice

@straycat2019,

The issue is that you can be hired at Chinese schools running international curriculum without a credential, but the long term issue is that you'll be stuck in those type of schools going forward. For the long term if you want flexibility in where you work and at least of having the option of working in some of the better paid schools which in China are the international schools serving foreign passport holders, you'll need to invest in getting a foreign teaching credential. Your TESOL won't cut it.

Getting experience working at a Chinese school running an international curriculum can be good for your resume. Depending on the school the students may or may not have the language skills to do well in IGCSE, AP, or IB curriculum, but getting the experience teaching the curriculum will be helpful. However, without a credential the other type of schools and even some of the better paying Chinese schools won't look at you. So if you can find a decent job, and then start working on getting a credential while living in Asia, that would probably be worth your time if you plan to teach for the long haul.

From reading your previous posts, I wouldn't assume the lack of interest is based on a bad resume. I think it's a lack of credential. I know a Chinese Canadian guy who was doing ESL teaching for years, and once he had a credential and some substitute teaching experience at an Chinese school running a foreign curriculum, he started to get decent offers to teach AP/IB/IGCSE courses. They were not outstanding, but he's on track to work his way up.

ESL teaching outside of international schools is a dead-end path. Yeah, people can make money and pay their bills, but outside of few other places in Asia, the job won't take you anywhere. Sure, you can be a head teacher, but still that doesn't mean much other places.

The other concern is that China could at some point decide that only teachers credentialed to teach in their own country are eligible to work teaching subjects in international schools. Something like that happened in Singapore a few years back. There were people who had been teaching for decades at schools in Singapore that suddenly were given notice that they had to have credentials to teach or they were going to lose their jobs. Now, that doesn't seem likely to happen soon in China, but you never know. So even if you get a lot of teaching experience with AP or IB, you may be excluded from working in other countries without the credential.

Getting the credential takes some time and some money, but it really can open up opportunities.

As to your question, I don't know what you think the "obvious questions" are, so it's hard to advise you what else you should ask. The most important thing is that the school provide you with a Z visa that allows you to receive a work permit. I'd want to know about the school schedule and what obligations besides teaching you would have. If it's a boarding school are you required to supervise study hall in the evening or something like that. How many different types of classes (preps) you'd have and the size of the classes. The thing is that with locally run schools there can be a lot of bait and switch with stuff like this.

Good luck.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:25 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Should I take this salary package?
Replies: 28
Views: 32375

Re: Should I take this salary package?

There are a number of good international schools in Suzhou. You might target them specifically. Even if you lived in Shanghai, you'd find it easy to go to Suzhou on weekends. We're talking about a 20 minute train ride from city to city. You'd spend more time depending on how far each of you lived from the train stations.

But that's a terrible salary as other people mentioned.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:21 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: More or less marketable?
Replies: 14
Views: 15713

Re: More or less marketable?

It's generally a value for a school to hire two people they need as they save money in most cases. But the real question is if the school needs the other teacher. If the couple is open to just having one job secured (saying this in the letter) and waiting for an elementary school position to open up later, a school may decide to hire a chemistry position first.

Is this for a specific school or are you wondering about the process in general? Is there a reason the elementary school teacher doesn't want to work?

Eion
by eion_padraig
Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:42 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Teaching at a public school in China (Beijing)?
Replies: 6
Views: 7279

Re: Teaching at a public school in China (Beijing)?

I wouldn't be overly wary of the schools with Chinese nationals. A well-run school that works with Chinese students can be a lot better than a poorly-run place that has foreign students. But the two types of places will feel very different with major differences in classroom dynamics. Also the norms for administration will likely to be very different.

I think getting AP/IB experience (IB is a wider spread curriculum in international schools these days) at a decent Chinese school is preferable to going to a school where you don't get AP/IB teaching experience at an international school myself. But there are lots of routes to success.

The hard part of job searches is you don't often have too many on the table at a time. Now, you're more likely to have multiple offers if you go to a job fair, but that's no guarantee.

spanged wrote:
> ($50K+ USD pa, accommodation, flights, insurance, PD, etc)

That looks to be pretty good for a starting job with minimal experience. It depends on what your local taxes are, but that seems decent to me. To give you an idea at my school, you'd get about mid USD$50,000 take home with your experience (more with a MA).

Good luck.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:55 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Visible tattoos
Replies: 6
Views: 8842

Re: Visible tattoos

My school, an upper tier school in China, has lots of people with visible tattoos. It may be more of an issue at schools run by local administrators, but I've had friends working at those schools with visible tattoos as well.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:48 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Teaching at a public school in China (Beijing)?
Replies: 6
Views: 7279

Re: Teaching at a public school in China (Beijing)?

It's not the jackpot, but if you put in 2 or 3 years and get experience teaching IB, AP, or GCSE, then it will help you leverage a better job later. Besides air pollution and bad traffic, Beijing can be a decent place for the short term. Cost of living will vary depending on how international your lifestyle is because you can eat inexpensively if you don't mind eating dumplings or noodles for dinner.

I've known people to hit upper tier schools after coming from these schools if they're in high need areas or they may need an intermediary first. A lot of it depends on getting teaching experience for IB/AP/GCSE courses.

A lot of the times the management at these schools is very local in nature. For instance, you may not know your exact holidays until a few weeks before when the government sets it down. The better of these schools are decent, but new ones or schools in smaller cities can be pretty awful. If you go with one that's been around for 5 or 10 years in Beijing it should be okay.

Oh, and make sure you play nice with colleagues, and network at conferences and training events that you go to. Having friends that put in a good work for you at good schools when you leave is huge. If people don't respect you and/or think you're hard to get along with they're not going to advocate for you. I've known people stuck at mid-tier schools, who are good teachers, but miss out on the issue that former colleagues can help or hurt your chances. I've backed people and gave warnings to admins at my schools when they were considering people I've worked with previously.

Good luck.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:05 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Search and Bad References
Replies: 4
Views: 6823

Re: Search and Bad References

This is a situation where having a friend who is an admin somewhere that uses SA can look over your references and tell you if one is bad. Obviously this person would have to trust you a lot because if you reveal to your Search Associate or a former reference that you know, it might reveal that your friend misused their database. I'm sure they can see which recruiters have looked up your file, and if an elementary vice principal is looking up the references of a high school math teacher it would probably look funny.

I've had friends who have had this done before for their piece of mind. This, of course, means you need to have a friend that has this kind of access.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Mon Sep 03, 2018 6:23 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Downsides of IT
Replies: 33
Views: 43359

Re: Downsides of IT

Upsides
Being away from family and their expectations
Being challenged to grow by living in different places
Having great opportunities to learn and use different languages
More freedom to move when things get bad at the school you're at or when the country's economy weakens
Opportunities to get to know host culture deeply
More opportunities for friendships with colleagues of different ages
Potential for living well above the socio-economic lifestyle of a teacher back in one's home country (depends on country)
Quickly having friends who live all over the world

Downsides
Having to plan another vacation ever couple of months
More challenges to moving pets across borders.
Difficult for US citizens to save in ways that are tax protected (IRA, 403B/401K); maybe this is tough for other people too
More difficulties in managing property one owns back in home country
Potentially making long haul flights back to one's home country

Another thing you may want to try doing is not working at a boarding school. Working in a boarding school tends to be intense. While there are benefits in the US because of housing and food, it's not as good overseas where lots of schools pay for your housing not on a school's campus. I've had friends who were getting burned out on working in boarding schools, but when they left the boarding school environment they were happier. It depends on what you like/don't like.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Fri Aug 24, 2018 11:03 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Guidance Counselors in ISs
Replies: 15
Views: 19134

Re: Guidance Counselors in ISs

First, a question about what age level you want to work with? That may determine how easy/hard it will be to get a position and what further experience you'd need. Often high school counselors need background in college counseling. There are ways to get trained so you would have the basic skills/knowledge needed beyond counseling. There are some positions out there for high school counselors that are solely focused on grades 9/10 or places that have separate college counselors where that isn't an issue.

I would suggest that you find a larger school or a school in a larger city where there is more support for you as a counselor starting off if you don't get a few years working back in your home country first. Some cities have really good networks of counselors sharing information and working together. Some don't.

I someone who did a counseling degree overseas from University of West Georgia. I'm pretty sure they were CACREP accredited. Lehigh has a program, but it's expensive.

I think you might be able to find a job as a counselor with your experience, but I don't think it would be a great idea. Earning the degree is going to open up a lot more doors at much better places. You'll be able to find positions without the two years of experience though. The better schools will want 2 - 4 years of experience though. School counselors are in short supply though.

Good luck.
by eion_padraig
Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:16 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Let's try this again...
Replies: 3
Views: 6393

Re: Let's try this again...

Did you accept a contract and then pull out? That could be problematic with the SA. It's still worth signing up again if you're interested and see if they take you on.

In terms of having 3 years teaching experience and a MA degree now, you'll be more competitive. A lot of the growth in international schools has been in the Middle East and East Asia (more specifically China, Korea, Vietnam). Again, it will depend if you have dependents, but if it's just you then I'd say you should get different options to choose from. Are you planning on registering with either SA or ISS?

What are you looking to teach? What has your experience been in? Were you teaching in a IB PYP program?

Bottom tier and schools focusing just on local students in places like China and Vietnam are less likely to look for special ed teachers anyway.

If you're interested, then go for it.

Eion
by eion_padraig
Fri Jul 20, 2018 10:27 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Ghangzhou/rural, teacher appearance expectations, tattoos?
Replies: 4
Views: 6513

Re: Guangzhou/rural, teacher appearance expectations, tattoo

Very few colleagues of mine work jackets and relatively few wore ties in GZ. Yes, during parent teacher conferences we'd dress up a a bit more, and I tended to wear a tie if I knew I was going to have a parent meeting. I'd say most schools will expect you to wear slacks, a button shirt or polo shirt for men, and closed toe shoes. Most schools don't want you to wear jeans unless there's a special clothing day. The only folks who wore shorts were PE teachers.

Lots of my colleagues had tattoos and piercing, and folks I know at other schools had tattoos. I think you may want to ask a returning teacher about what people do if you don't want to ask admin. Suits are not common at all. Basically the only person who wore a suit was our principal and he had just come from the US.

@Doctor is right that younger Chinese people are getting tattoos and it seems to be more generally accepted.

I don't see that there would be any reason for you to need to hide your tattoos the rest of the time.

Eion