Expert: Debba Robinson - 11/11/2006

Question
My Wife and I are interested in Teaching at an International School.  She has a Bachelors degree and three years of teaching experience.  I have a Bachelors degree and no experience.  We both attended International schools overseas growing up.  We are interesting in finding out how to go about applying for jobs and what are the normal requirements for a position.

Answer
Dear Paul,

I'm curious - what schools did you attend overseas?  

There are several routes you can go.  You don't mention where you are living so I will just jump in and you can ask for more info if you require it.

First of all, I strongly urge you to subscribe to TIE (The International Educator).  You can sign up online.  They list openings all over the world.

Next, you can go through various job fairs run by a variety of organizations.  International Schools Services (ISS) out of New Jersey has several BIG conferences beginning in February or March and others up through July for last minute openings.

The University of Northern Iowa, Queens University in Canada, Ohio State University in Columbus, OH all hold job fairs for international schools, although I can't tell you the number of people who attend any of these.  UNI used to have a pretty big one when I first began teaching overseas in 1981, and they didn't charge placement fees.  

Another organization that may or may not be a resource at this time is Search Associates.  When they began, they were only for teachers with overseas experience.  But, something tells me that they don't hold to that anymore.

I urge you to contact one or more of the organizations I have listed for you and go from there.  If you need more information from me, don't hesitate to let me know.  You should be able to find them all by searching with any standard search engine.

Good luck!

Debba