Red flags or paranoia?

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iTeach124
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:53 am

Red flags or paranoia?

Post by iTeach124 »

Hello everyone,

I had a interview with a high Tier 2/Tier 1 European school and I walked away feeling really weary of it.

The Director was more interested in hearing about my k-12 education than about the rest of my experience, he made sure to tell me that 5 years of experience make me an "inexperienced candidate" (admittedly, I don't have IB experience yet, but I fail to see how 5 years in 2 school would be considered undesirable vs, say, 5 years in 4 schools... wouldn't it show continuity and the ability to plan across years?). He also made sure to tell me that he has 20 or so candidates he was interviewing for a position for September 2018.

And finally, when I asked what the day to day routine was at the school he asked me if I had gone on the school's website (and yes, of course I did, but how can you tell? He had just told me that they have no notebook and no homework and are looking to eliminate classrooms altogether from the school). When I asked how many contact hours I would have in each grade, he told me he didn't know (yet he's looking for me to start in mid-August). When I asked what his ideal teacher/employee would be like, he said he wasn't looking for a teacher but for someone who's extraordinary.

I was also told that, should they like me, I would need to talk to the Principal who is "on vacation somewhere in the world".

Now, to me, this has red flags all over it, but the school is very well known and I have only worked/interviewed in DS. Is it common of IB Directors/Coordinators to not be privy to the kind of information I was requesting?
shadylane
Posts: 133
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:11 am
Location: SE Asia

Re: Red flags or paranoia?

Post by shadylane »

Sounds like an idiot, but at this stage . . .

That said, try to chat to someone else on staff, and sign up and read the reviews on this site. Not just of the school, but of the director if he has any from previous schools. Also, the principal might be more normal, and you'd be working with them more directly anyway.
iTeach124
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:53 am

Re: Red flags or paranoia?

Post by iTeach124 »

shadylane wrote:
> Sounds like an idiot, but at this stage . . .

Ok, thanks. I will see if they do get back to me. I did read his reviews, they are old and not from this school, but they validate my experience with him.
purpletreefrog
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:35 am

Re: Red flags or paranoia?

Post by purpletreefrog »

5 years in 2 schools certainly doesn't sound undesirable but it doesn't make you highly experienced either. Especially if that's your total teaching experience rather than international experience (I don't know what DS means so I wasn't sure where you'd been working).

I'm a bit confused by who you talked to. Was it the director or the IB coordinator? Or are they the same person? I'd certainly be wary of a school that mixed those two roles. Either way if it's a big school I wouldn't be shocked if the director didn't know the details of your teaching specifics (contact hours per grade) but I'd find it odd that you were interviewing with the director before the principal so the whole set up seems a little strange (most directors let their principals do the initial weeding out of candidates in my experience).

It's possible the these are red flags but it's also possible that things are being done in a bit of a strange order due to it being the summer break and people being hard to contact etc.

The line about "looking for someone who's extraordinary" is a bit on the pretentious side!
shopaholic
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 11:42 pm

Re: Red flags or paranoia?

Post by shopaholic »

Is this school in a city that begins with a D, by any chance?
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