The International Schools Review Forum

I'm new to the job search process. If I get an interview offer from a school that I don't want to go to, how do I politely say no?

"Thank you for your invitation, regrettably at this time I am deeply involved in pursuing other opportunities."

OR

"Thank you, but I am not available for an interview at this time."

OR

"Thanks, not interested."

OR

You can just ignore the invitation and hit the delete button.

Dear .....,

I'd like to thank you for the invitation to interview.
However, after careful consideration I decided not to pursue a position at your school.

Sincerely,

.....

Since you are new to international school teaching let me tell you: accept all interviews and sign all contracts. Its the ABCs of international school teaching: Always Be signing Contracts.

Be as polite and forthcoming with them as you hope schools will be when you contact them. Not every school nor every candidate lives up to this ideal, and you have the choice which group to side with.
Dear Ms Recruiter,
I am honored that you feel my candidacy is worth exploring. At this time, however, I am focusing on positions in.... (insert your choice of regions, curricula, niche philosophies, niche positions, whatever).
You can phrase it in such a way that the door can be opened again if it gets late in the season and your focus widens.
Never slam a door in this tiny world of international education. You never know which school will become of interest, or which recruiter will move someplace more interesting to you.
I don’t know what it means to accept all interviews and sign all contacts. I would certainly encourage you to be openminded and not turn down too many interview offers. It’s great practice anyway and sometimes you discover an unsuspected gem. As for signing contracts, just the one you plan to honor, please.

Seriously - do the interview, especially if its all new to you; it will give you experience with the skype interview process and you will definitely hear questions you did not anticipate.

I really appreciate all of the advice from experienced international teachers. This is very helpful. Thank you!

Or you can do what some teachers who are fairly clueless about international education do. Hold out for that one dream job at that one dream school that never seems to materialize, while other jobs pass you by... sad but true.

I dont agree with @Sid, not every leader, recruiter, or IS is an honor to interview for. IE isnt that small actually, but it really costs you nothing to be courteous and civil, and unlike DE there is a lot more movement of leadership in IE, so the dumpy bottom barrel toilet poo of an IS that thinks its special today may still be that way in X years, however its leadership is likely to have moved on to better ISs that you may be interested in interviewing at. If you would not sign for any IS but your dream IS than there is little gained by interviewing with ISs that arent your dream IS.
There is nothing gained outside of practice and experience with interviewing compared to the time spent interviewing with ISs you would not accept an offer at. It is good practice, and its valuable practice, but there is no limit to the number of interviews that would reduce an ITs marketability.
There arent really any unsuspected gems of ISs, this is a myth portrayed by leadership that low tier ISs can be secret high tier ISs, there isnt such a thing. What there is are low tier ISs that you may be happier at and working int hir environment than the typical IT, being happy at a low tier IS doesnt make it a better IS, it just fits better for you.

You should consider the value of signing multiple contracts (ABC):
1) Your word is your bond is not a suicide pact.
2) ISs dont keep their word all the time.
3) No one in IE will look after or protect your interests more than you. You need to look out for number one (youre number one).
4) This is business, when a competitor offers you a better deal, smart people change their position. In no other profession would professionals be considered unethical or unprofessional by staying with a bad deal when confronted by a better one. You dont see an engineer for Acme Global Products being punished by going to work for Apple/Google/MS when they come knocking because of some piece of paper, because leaving would be the good smart thing to do. Other engineers would roll their eyes and laugh if you stayed at Acme because some CEO or recruiter said your word was your bond.

To respond to 4 - nowadays you do because employees have non-compete clauses in their contracts. So once you sign, you're signed.

Personally, if I were you, I'd go for the interview if you're new to this. First, the process can be different from a face-to-face interview, if it's done over Skype - if nothing else, it feels different - so it might be worth it for that experience alone. Second, interview experience is interview experience!

@SJ

No its not, weve gotten to the point that non-compete causes are more bark than bite for noobs. They are generally unenforceable and in the cases where they are its almost entirely in research, which in edu is mostly curriculum and assessment design. Even if a non-compete cause as enforceable, that judgement would be valid and enforceable only in the country it was litigated.

@ Doctor and @ PsyGuy

So, you recommend signing multiple contracts (at a fair, or as the recruiting season progresses) and picking the best of those, right? How do you approach the people who’s contracts you signed and now want to break them? What do you tell them? Do you feel like you’d be stained by the industry if those people spread the word that you’re contract breaker :-) ?

LOL if you are signing multiple contracts at a fair, you are going about it the wrong way. It's a good way to not get any job in the long run.

Yeah, of course. Just trying to get an idea of what "Always Be signing Contracts" means.