The International Schools Review Forum

https://i.imgur.com/sYa2sr4.jpg

I have collected data over the past year at TIE Online: recording in Excel, each day, the total number of jobs being advertised, as reported on the front page of the website, over the course of one year. I then created a simple chart to show the trend in available jobs.

It's not the most scientific survey -- the main weaknesses are that I didn't manage to get data for every single day, and in any given day the number of jobs listed was variable.

Nevertheless, the overall picture is quite clear... though nothing too surprising for veterans of the international school circuit. I think the main takeaway is that you should START EARLY when looking for jobs -- you can see the precipitous incline starting in August, and then equally precipitously collapsing (on Xmas Day) as the job fairs come and go.

I would suggest that jobseekers follow this schedule:
-June to August: gather (and submit) documents (letters of rec, certificates, resume, etc.)
-September: Get registered and active with a recruiting org (or have your personal website ready)
-October to November: make initial contact with as many schools as possible. Most, as you know, will not respond to your emails -- but, obviously, the more you contact, the more responses you will receive.
-December to February: Crunch time! Follow-up with schools, attend fairs, be relentless, get hired.

Thats a pretty accurate graphical display.

There isnt much to do early. Recruiting happens within different bands of IT classes. One of the issues is your source (TIE) which appeals to a less invested and lower class of IT, and in doing so shapes the population of ISs that use TIE as a recruiting tool. Thier isa great deal of recruiting in NOV/DEC its just not focused on the market of ITs that predominately use TIE. Master class ITs are recruited early and before the super fairs start. and then drops significantly after BKK.

Thanks for putting this together and sharing it! I really like seeing the data laid out this way.

I agree! Thank you, stirdaddy! What is also interesting is that there seem to be more posted openings in April of this year than in April of last year. There can be many different reasons for this - more new international schools opening, a coinciding of ends of contracts, mass departures at certain schools or countries, etc. No one can really know. Gathering this data is a lot of work, more than I would do, but it sure would be interesting to see this over a period of several years, especially with the scarcity of good teaching jobs in some places, and an increased willingness to go overseas...

@twimih

Its not that significant a difference, if its significant at all. It looks like 550 vs. 600.

Wait isn't that almost a ten percent increase? Seems like a significant increase but it could just mean more schools are using Tie online this year.

@nathan61

Extrapolating the curve the trend in 2015 is still falling, whereas the trend in 2015 is flattening a few days (a w eek or so) and it will likely be equivalent. Looking at the mean for April 2014 and the mean of April 2015 would be more informative.