Sounds like a kind of low package....

My biggest issues have been technical and not the interview itself. For instance at home you get to control the room temperature, dont have to find parking, or wait in a waiting room. The one drawback is that because of time differences your interview may be in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning.

Try and dress as you would for a real interview, you can skip the jacket but a shirt and tie at the least.

Again technical issues are the hardest, try to prepare a space with a wall thats over head lit, not floor lamps. You want the light coming down. Also use old fashioned light bulbs, florescence flicker on a computer screen. Make sure you have a good stable internet connection, and steady the device, holding an iPad or iPhone (smart phone and tablet) makes for jerky blurry video. Use the lowest resolution and smallest video window you can. This can increase frame rate and audio (makes it smoother). despite how fast YOUR internet access is, many countries are a bit behind, and may only have 1.5MB DSL. Anything you can do to make the video audio easier on network traffic will be helpful. Lastly, you will improve the quality of the call if you use a headset, internal mics and speakers can have feedback and noise.

Its not uncommon to loose a call at some point, at the start of the interview ask the recruiter how they would like to handle a disconnected call? One suggestion is to do a mock interview with a friend just so you can work out the technical stuff.

Its fine to refuse any position you want for any reason.

International schools are private schools, and unlike the public school market where salaries and benefits are well known, posted or understood, packages vary. If a paid ticket every year is important enough to you to walk away, and you have better option or offers, then say so, and move on.
Admins/heads are grown ups, you arent going to hurt their feelings or offend them. You will probably be forgotten, before you forget them. Recruiting is a numbers game, recruiters especially at the fairs (like Search) will assume youve read their profile page and know the general composition of their package.

That being said while not impossible, declining a position is an irreversible choice. You cant take it back later, after reconsidering, or if your other options dont work out.

When they offer you the job or position, unless they bring up your "expectations" earlier in the interview, and if they do ask if they are offering you a contract?

Most of them blend the interview and negotiations together. If you blink you can miss it. Be prepared to discuss your compensation requirements, and understand that you might have to walk away. The bargaining table is where you get what you want, and you will really only have once chance at it. No what your flexible on, and what your deal breakers off. Also know going into the interview what the "standard/typical" package is. Usually salary is negotiable in one form of another. Either directly in a school with a "closed" pay scale (teachers negotiate their best package individually). In open systems (where there is a clear pay scale) by negotiating more years of experience or degree equivalents. Understand you cant negotiate factors without a precedent or a mechanism. For instance you cant negotiate housing if the school doesnt provide housing (they arent going to build an apartment building for you), on the same issue, if a school hasnt or doesnt provide a housing allowance, you arent going to get one. Few teachers are in a position to create new precedents when it comes to compensation. You also cant ask ask a school to do something that is illegal (my example is asking a school to exempt, or reimburse taxes).

Seriously, you believe that? (LOL) He was pulling your leg.

1) Who would keep it?

2) How would one access it?

3) How would new admins be inducted into the secret list society?

3) What would it be a list of names? Im sure our little circle is big enough and with enough history that there might be more then one or two "John Smiths"?

4) And seriously, you couldnt keep this kind of secret a secret very long. Some ex admin with an axe to grind would have exposed the whole thing long ago.

Im sure with a circle of friends who are admins/heads their is some behind the scenes "word of mouth", but heir is no "black list"....


No if you will excuse me I have to get my robes and practice the secret hand shake in the mirror for a while....

I would also imagine that the third . providers that do provide PD, probabley do so at a cost thats about equal to college anyway? Id look at that list and see if the IBO is recognized as a provider, and if your at an IB school (and before I go any further this is what i used to do) print up some certificates with the IB logo (which IB schools are permitted to use) for all your in house PD, and then just keep your fingers crossed that they accept it....

Another option Id explore is looking at my network of contacts back at your old district/school who can "help you out" by using their school as sort of a clearing house for your PD. You know they help you, you send them back 20 pounds of Danish Chocolate, or some anime DVD from Japan, or wine from France, or you know whatever they are into, or hard to get.

Its been mentioned before but ultimately what i did was just move my certification to a state (Cali) that doesnt have any PD requirements, or a lesser option would be to a state or country that has lower PD requirements. I cant say much about it, but several teachers ive worked with just moved their certification overseas or across the boarder (Canada was popular at the time, and even with the new $88 a year, id rather just pay a fee, then go through the PD nightmare).

If your a single subject teacher, you could also explore an NBTS certification, good anywhere in the world pretty much. Every state recognizes it. It would be some work, and money but compared to college classes, once its done your done.

Maybe the poster simply expected "more" posts given the popularity of QSI?

So when you log onto Search and you find a position, and you click on that "email/contact this employer" and you get the blank email, windown and you copy and paste your cover page into it, and then click send. That email goes to the schools email address listed with search. Its the same address that you can copy and paste from the schools profile, but when you fill out the Search online email, it comes from their server, and Searches email address. Most schools have a filter setup for that email address that "dump" or direct those emails into a specific folder like "Search" for instance. The advantage is that instead of having a person who has to sort those emails by subject lines, with a bunch of other general inquiry emails, which for hundreds or thousands of emails a day can be tedious. Since all these search emails come from the same address they are automatically sorted into one place and the head or principal can just click though them at their leisure. It really does increase the likelihood of your resume and application being seen by the right person in time. For instance if the deadline for a position is a friday and you email your materials yourself to the school on a thursday, it might be in the schools general "inbox" for days or longer, and meantime the school has already moved forward with a pool of candidates.

There are Pros and Cons to both.
If you send the email directly you can include attachments, such as your formatted resume, and cover letter, which gives a recruiter immediate info about you, and often they have the material they need to at least screen your application. The disadvantage is your email might get lost in the sea of emails a school gets. With the search email It may very likely get routed faster and more reliably. The disadvantage is that a head has to log on to search, type you name, sort through the matches and bring up your profile before they can print it. Thats a lot of work for a head to do as well, and usually the message you send through search doesnt have enough info to seriously consider you.

My advice is to do both. I copy and paste a "mini summary" or highlights of my resume and credentials, into the Search email, and indicate that a complete application package was emailed directly to them as well.

I was really surprised by the number of people who don't know how to apply for a job.

Its a myth, there is no such thing as a "blacklist". Heads change, Pete move, and while it's a small circle many heads and principals don't want to get involved in the word of mouth game, unless it's to say something positive. Of course if you do something horrible, like criminal, that can follow you to the far corners of the globe, but there is no secret blacklist.

In my experience, most ISs provide plenty of PD, the difficulty is getting the presenter, trainer, admin to provide you some sort of certificate or record. Most iSs record PD internally for IB, Accreditation, or Government requirements. The second issue is sometimes getting your home authority to accept the PD.

Uhm, I don't want to offend you but you can't really apply as a teaching couple. Teaching coupies means married teaching couples. A recruiter or head wouldn't consider you as anything other then individuals, it would be unprofessional for a head to consider you as a couple. Visa issues aside, the recruiter is placed in an awkward position and may be "stuck" with a less then desirable candidate if you break up. I'm sorry.

That said as an admin in my experience the general agreement is that you write one cover letter, and lead with the stronger candidate or direct it toward the more in demand position. You would be more competitive and marketable then your boyfriend, who with two years experience, barely and a low demand field, no advance degree, would have an unlikely chance of attracting the same kinds of schools you would.

Its pretty inexpensive too. You can find the fee schedule here:

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/cl659.pdf

Its basically $55.

Heres are the links for the removal of PD requirements:

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/FAQ/f ... rowth.html

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/FAQ/f ... nated.html

Ill take your word for it in Italy and Denmark they are called "Action Plans" didnt know that until i got here.

Im really excited that SPED is growing in some areas, and regions.

I dont own a home but I put everything worth keeping in storage.

Most schools dont give enough of a moving allowance to move a household on that scale.

I have no pets (well a cactus), I use to say it was horrible moving a pet overseas, but lately ive heard positive feedback from this forum, so its not all that bad really. Depends on the country and the animal.

I doubt i could teach in a public school back in the states, i just havent kept up on the rules, regulations, guidelines, policies, assessment, etc. I could do a private school, but a public school, id be a newbie, but ive been an international teacher for 8 years.

As far as retirement, in the netherlands if you contribute social security contributions you will be entitled to a pretty nice government pension when you hit retirement age, and free health care (no medicare). Most people who move around a lot or teach in countries without a retirement system, usually get an end of the year bonus equal to 1/2 to 1 months salary, that they can invest as they see fit. You cant do IRA's, or 401/403 accounts but their are some excellent banks that have programs that cater to expats usually out of london for europe, and hong kong for asia. I have a simple date to retirement account with a conservative risk portfolio. They are not hard to find and set up, your school may even do a payroll deduction for you.