International Recruitment Time
It has been a couple months since I posted here. There just are not enough hours in the day to do it all. We rolled out 100 laptops to teachers at my school, along with opening up a new high school that included an LCD projector and SmartBoard in every room. On top of that, we installed another 30 projectors in the middle school and elementary school. No matter how well you plan, there are always bumps along the way. Nevertheless, we must have done something right because looking at the budget for next year, we have a number of teachers requesting laptops and SmartBoards for their rooms.
I have also been taking time to reflect on my personal and professional life, putting things into perspective and trying to find the right balance in life between work and play. I have resigned from my current job at the end of this school year and am in the process of figuring out what is next for me professionally.
I have spent a good bit of time on my blog lately talking about hiring practices. It is recruiting season here in the international world of education. What does that mean? Basically you go to one of about 10 job recruiting fairs and in about 36 hours you interview, research, interview again, talk, research, interview, and make a decision that will affect where you live and work for at least the next two years of your life (most international schools require a two year contract). It is 36 hours filled with highs and lows, stress and excitement. I have only had the privilege of going to one job fair where my wife and I were offered positions at different schools, some of which we did not even know existed. For those who are not recruiting, it is also a time of excitement as you know friends who are recruiting and in the small world of international education, six degrees of separation become about three.
Technology is changing these recruiting practices though. I have had conversations with three different administrators who have hired teachers via Skype. One administrator even said to me “You know that program Skype? It’s amazing!” The ability to be in one country and interview a teacher in another country half a world away is truly remarkable. One head of school told me he hired 17 of 20 positions via Skype before the recruiting fair season even began.
Technology changes not only the way we work and play, but also the way we are hired. With sites like LinkedIn created to make connections between people and job openings, and the popularity of sites like Craigslist, we will continue to see hiring practices around the globe change.
In the near future, I believe you will not go to a recruiting fair to be hired but instead will get a job without even needing to leave your own classroom. As an administrator, think of the possibility of video Skyping into a teacher’s class, watching a lesson being taught, debriefing with both the students and the teacher, and even talking to the teacher’s current principal….all from within the comfort of your own office. Not only is technology making the hiring process cheaper (think international airfare and hotels) it is also allowing the process to be more complete; more in-depth than an hour interview in a hotel room in Bangkok or New York.
Education is changing on many levels and it excites me to be able to be a part of it all as both a spectator and a participant.
Comments
Great post Jeff because it brings back the memories for me...
My wife and I took a chance and went to the University of Northern Iowa international job fair in 2001 and took a job offer from a school in South Korea.
The fair worked well for us because we lived 3 1/2 hours away and the drive was very doable. Skype wasn't necessary at that point, but it actually made all the difference with our experience abroad.
After two fantastic years of teaching in South Korea, my wife cajoled me into finding jobs in Latin America as she is a certified Spanish teacher. The nightmare of living abroad and attending a job fair was looming for us. The cost seemed very prohibitive to fly back. Your salary abroad is totally dependent on what you negotiate with your school. Generally you can create a nice nest egg and still travel, but it is always dependent on your ability to save. Our ability wasn't very good to be honest...
Well, to make a long story longer... We were able to find jobs in Honduras in positions we both wanted and it was through Skype. 2003, Skype was already making a big impact on our lives. Its amazing that I find people still who have not heard of Skype!
When we first moved overseas, everyone thought we were basically moving out of their lives for at least 2 years. This wasn't true of course because we talked several of our closest friends and family into using Skype. I am not sure we could have lasted overseas without it. The most important of our relationships were possibly even strengthened because we used our friends back home as safety nets for our sanity when culture shock would be hitting a little too hard at the moment.
As far as living overseas and teaching internationally, I highly recommend the experience as long as you begin with using one of the major recruiting fairs. Don't try and get international teaching positions on your own unless you have good contacts at the school that you are very confident in their opinion.
There are so many amazing international schools, but there are a lot of very poorly run "factory schools". The problem with a Skype interview is that you might not get the sense of what that school is really about. The job fairs are very stressful because you have to make a huge decision with little information many times. There is a fair amount of trust that you go on and meeting the people who are hiring you face to face can be invaluable, especially the first time you make the leap into international teaching. You need to be very careful with your contracts as I have had several friends who have had some big disagreements and differences arise with their employers.
Finally, for those that don't know... International schools are not schools to learn English. They are fully accredited schools generally with American curricular standards or the European IB standards.
Posted by: Scott Meech | January 29, 2008 4:23 AM
Scott, your comment is spot on. My wife and I found $1000 to register and fly to Iowa for the fair in 2002. 6 years later we can't believe where we've been what we've seen, and where we're going. Travel the world on a teachers salary? Sounds like a dream and some days I still pinch myself to make sure it isn't.
Posted by: Jeff Utecht | January 29, 2008 9:36 AM
I'm currently on a crusade of looking at all these I.T. blogs I have just discovered. Great site(s)! (I have found other sites that you contribute to Jeff).
Felt I had to comment on this as I have just experienced The Search Associates Job Fair in Bangkok.
Having flown all the way from Germany to attend myself and my fiance were under pressure to get a couple of jobs. Thankfully we did in a Hong Kong school.
One thing we noticed was the amount of "preening" being done in the social rooms. Lot's of interview tallying and "Well, I have 6 interviews blah blah".
Quite infuriating when all you want to do is mind your own business and concentrate on researching etc.
We ended up finding out of the way areas to do our research and talk over our options.
I must say the Search staff were excellent and personable.
Good luck for your job fair experiences.
Colin.
Posted by: Colin Gallagher | January 30, 2008 12:43 PM