Returning home after teaching abroad

[Cecilia]

My question is about finding a job in the United States after having taught abroad. While most international administrators are comfortable hiring someone they speak to solely on Skype, my guess is that administrators in the U.S. are not really accustomed to hiring people they haven't met in person. I have applied for some jobs I'm really excited about, and I'm afraid that if I just speak with them via Skype, they will most likely not hire me if there is an equally talented candidate whom they have met in person. Is it worth it to take some days off to fly to the U.S. for an interview? Or should I just let potential employers know I'm overseas and have to do an interview through Skype or not at all? Thanks for any light you can shed on this question!

[wrldtrvlr123]

Good questions. The logistics can always be tricky in transitioning back to your home country. Yes, some principals may not be comfortable hiring someone that has not had a traditional interview, just as some principals may not be very impressed by your int'l school experiences. On the upside, the ones that might be intrigued by your int'l school experience would also likely be the ones that would contemplate hiring you via Skype.

In the past we have put things like, "would prefer to interview via Skype but could possibly be available to interview in person if our candidacies were being given serious consideration".

Ultimately you need a job and if a trip back home seals the deal then it would be worth it. Of course you would have to judge how badly you want the job and how many other likely irons you had in the fire at that point in the process.

Good luck!

[Cecilia]

Thank you so much for your response! I have been going over and over the pros and cons for weeks, and your answer provides me with much-needed clarity! Thanks for helping me out. :-)

[eion_padraig]

Depending on what type of school you want to teach at when you head back home, there are organizations that help US independent schools find teachers similar to Search Associates and ISS.

Carney Sandoe is the big one that does works nationally (and some international schools too) with US independent schools. There are also regional ones like CalWest or Southern Teachers Agency if you're interested in a particular region or state. I know Carney Sandoe and Southern Teachers Agency has job fairs not unlike SA and ISS. It may be feasible for you to attend a job fair even it means taking some unpaid leave. I attended a job fair in Chicago years ago put on by Carney Sandoe

Good luck.

Eion

[shadowjack]

As well, any good school has recruitment leave in the contract. That means you get five or more days to 'recruit'. If flying back to the US covers that, then that's recruitment leave for you if it is in your contract.

[PsyGuy]

There are a number of issues why most DSs require an in person interview. 1) They want to make sure you are serious that your actually going to report to work which is much more realistic when your local and on site. otherwise it just seems very speculative. 2) They have nepotism policies that require a F2F interview. 3) Is visa issues, leadership has gotten burned in the past with OSHs who at the last minute revealed they did not have a valid work visa or were citizens or PRs eligible to work in the US. 4) Is licensing and credentialing issues, their are over 50 different state credentials and until you have that states credential in hand for the subject area they are hiring for nothing is a sure thing. In most instances you wont be able to even complete the online application since unless you can mark certified in that state you have to mark "non-certified" which means your application will get ignored.

I wouldnt spend the coin for travel to attend an interview with a DS unless I could do several (at least 5 interviews) in the same area/region. Id push for the Skype online interview since their willingness to talk to you that way shows that they have some degree of genuine interest.

I would endorse Carney Sando as well, but they are aimed at the upper tier private/independent DSs/ISs in the US.