Also, we will be traveling with our 18 month old at the time. Our contract says travel for myself and two dependents (husband too), is it crazy to think they might pay for a seat for my baby even though he is technically still young enough to be a lap infant? Thanks.

How does it work at your school? Is there some way the school measures/proves what was the cheapest flight at the time? Do you have to run your flight by them first? Do they take into account discount sites or just the airlines themselves?

TIA

I've spent my recent teaching career in solid mid-upper 2nd tier schools, which generally suits me just fine since I really value work/life balance over just about anything else. In my schools, and my region, I've seen how frequently personal recommendations from teachers help others get jobs. I'm just curious if in the top schools it works the same.

For instance, if a valued teacher (not admin) recommends another teacher, is that candidate more likely to be considered than others from the applicant pool? Or do top schools put more due process into hiring? I know I'm making a lot of generalizations here, and that so many schools are different. But what's been your experience?

@shopaholic did you do the fingerprinting yourself? Any tips?

That would be horrifying! You only have a few administrators in your life, imagine how much damage a reckless/unprofessional/unhinged one could do. But we don't have any of those in international education, do we?

Ok, so I've figured out how to do it online, but I need to submit the fingerprint card. Anyone have tips for this whole process?

Hello all,

I'm sure I can't be the first one having to deal with this. The Thai government needs a police clearance from my country of residence and my home country (USA) to process my work visa for next year. In talking with my future school, they have told me that I need to get a FBI identity clearance summary. Current processing time by mail is 14-16 weeks, according to the FBI website. Can this be correct?? Can anyone confirm that they went through this process recently, and that this is indeed a common thing, or am I jumping through unnecessary hoops?

Thanks!

CV

My opinion tends to start at the same place for all of these kinds of posts - why not look? Instead of wondering how marketable you are right now, put yourself out there and see. To do that though, you will also have to convince yourself that you are marketable and be able to tell recruiters why. Then, when and if you get some interesting offers, you can make your decision. It sounds like you are eager to get into IE, so I say start the process, with a pretty clear idea in mind of what you are looking for and what you will/won't accept in a position.

Good luck!

Anyone there care to comment on their experience? I was signed up to go but found a position beforehand. Would love to hear stories of the vibe, how it's going, and if anyone has been successful.

I think you've understood the inverse - no school in Europe can touch what top schools in Asia have to offer. There's usually no housing allowance, and rarely do you have a salary that allows you to save much due to the high costs of living.

I think it's really hard to say. Anecdotally (and what does that count for, really) this year I was hired in October at one of the first places I interviewed - a high 2nd tier school in Thailand. I have a trailing spouse and one school aged dependent. The school didn't seem to think twice. I'm not really anything special - a classroom teacher with a decade of international experience and a recently gotten M.Ed.

I say look for places that interest you and go for it. I really think that all schools are different.