Nine Things I Learned about International School Recruiting this Summer. (And how schools can apply those lessons)

For various reasons that school I worked at last year become untenable, and I, along with a dozen other staff was suddenly looking for work in the month of June. This is late in the recruitment cycle for international schools when jobs are being advertised and filled from October the previous year. Actually for a leader, it was super late, too late! All the big schools advertise with the big three agencies, ISS, CIS and Search Associates, usually around 18 months out. 

I had to make a choice, do I take a year off? Do some supply teaching? Do I go back home and teach for 6 or 12 months until I can get back into the recruitment cycle? Perhaps I can get a classroom teaching job?

I discovered that there are plenty of jobs out there, for various reasons schools do not fill them all in time, or suddenly become vacant for health reasons, or family reasons, or sheer cold feet of the applicant. 

Lesson 1. Not all jobs are advertised openly

I applied for one job as a Diploma Coordinator only to receive a reply back that the position had been filled, but based on my resume would I be interested in working as a Deputy Head of School? I did, passed the interview and had a possible position in Vietnam! That position did not work out, but later the school advertised and asked me to interview for the Head of School position. 

Another position I had been told was available in Indonesia, was not really my preferred destination (as I have already worked 12 years in Indonesia) and the particular school was not really the best fit for me, but I sent my resume to the recruiter as a backup. The next thing I knew he had contacted me back with an interesting opportunity in Malaysia, but could I sign an NDA first? (This is relatively common in some international schools that have a leader leaving, but do not want to panic the community until the have a replacement in place, and therefore hire an executive recruiter instead. As it turns out this was the job that I accepted in the end. 

A friend of mine was also made redundant at roughly the same time as I was, he ended up with a plum job in Bali that I did not know was available! (#Jealous) He had been given the information that they were looking after speaking to an Associate at Search. 

While the big three did not have much in the way of last minute jobs, it pays to contact all of the smaller recruitment agencies also, I found LeopardFish and Teacherhorizons useful, but there is plenty more out there also!

Lesson 2. Timeliness of the recruitment process. 

I applied for a position and heard nothing for a few weeks, another gave me an interview, then no feedback or reply for 2 months, and then I received a message on Skype was I available for an interview with their Board of Directors for a job? 

For another position, I know the owners received my resume on May 30, they did not contact me or reply to two checks to see if they had received my documents. (which is fine, that’s their right to pursue other candidates deemed more qualified or a better fit).

Then I was contacted by their recruiting company for a screening telephone interview almost a month later. I told them that I was about to get an offer from Malaysia so they would need to be quick. He replied that one week was too quick to process, a week later I was informed that they had another candidate that was going to sign, so if I had another job take it. 

Two weeks later they contacted me again, their other candidate had not passed the country’s requirements and would I be interested in an interview now? (Of course, I was, but by this stage my candidacy with Malaysia was almost complete, and I would have to sign off in one week. Of course, the process of interview, host country checks on my resume and an educational authority interview meant I was not authorized in time for them. 

They were awfully upset and wanted me to break my contract I had just sign, but I could not break my word, or my integrity. Besides, one of my references was a friend of my new boss, so I could not burn that reference for the future either. Had they completed this process in either the first or second instance I could have been signed up with them by end of June because Malaysia had been delaying also. 

Lesson 3. Have your documents in order

Can you send me an updated resume? Do you have a scan of your passport? Teaching licence? Children’s passports? Police checks?

I have scans of everything, in multiple locations, in a single folder saved in pdf versions, jpeg versions, or and Apple and Microsoft file versions. With Dropbox and google drive apps on my phone I was able to email whatever was needed on the go. And during the Summer we were moving around, visiting family and so on it was not always easy to find a computer with WiFi and send documents. 

But the opposite can also occur, one school gave me three interviews, and two occasions at short notice, one with less than 6 hours notice! Now, given that they had 6 board members present, in the school at 11.00pm their time surely they must have been able to give me a day or two warning for an interview. They were telling me that the school was very laid back and had a good work life balance, but I did not see that from their actions. 

Lesson 4. Use your networks 

My networks were amazing, from what I thought was a hopeless task, I found myself inundated with a variety of job opportunities, Turkey, Dubai, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Malaysia! And many of these relate to lesson 1 also, many of these jobs were not advertised, or were advertised in obscure locations, so word of mouth works! 

My best network was a WhatsApp group with my international cohort of colleagues studying educational leadership at Wilkes University - with 20 possible leads, and even sending my resume on to schools who then contacted me!  But Linkedin also has teacher groups, FaceBook has several educational leadership groups were all actively advertising and sharing last minute jobs. 

Lesson 5 - Start Dates can be negotiable. 

Do not be put off applying for a job if the start date does not suit you, they can be negotiated. One position was for Dec 2019, but I told them I wanted Aug 2019, it turned out that their incumbent wanted to leave asap but was fulfilling the terms of his contract, so it was a win win for both of us. Others maybe can wait a little, depending on your availability. 

Lesson 5. Be prepared to apply for a lot of jobs. 

I read somewhere that teachers need to apply for around 50 jobs, to receive 10 interviews, and perhaps 2 contracts. So be prepared for a lot of work. Keep a spreadsheet of your jobs, applications, interviews, a tally of conversations, or emails. Who you spoke with. 

And importantly, do not lose heart! 

Lesson 6. Do your homework 

You need to do your homework, research the school, read the documentation. Browse their website, at interview you need to be knowledgeable, you also want to know if you are wasting your time with a particular application that you will never take. I have a job interview in Jakarta. (approximately a 2 hour drive from where I was staying) for headship at a group of schools I was vaguely aware of. In my checking, I discovered that this school had been bought by a private equity group and that saving money was their hedgehog concept. I knew right away that this was not a good fit for me and canceled the interview immediately. Why waste their time and mine? They appreciated this as much as I did. 

One position that was interesting had one interview, and then I made it to the second, and possibly final interview. But I blew it. I had been doing interviews every day that week, another position had looked more likely and more interesting and I had been focusing on that. When it came time for the interview I was not really prepared well, and stumbled on answers, answered awkwardly, and did not make a very good impression. The final nail in the coffin was when they asked me had I read the documents that they sent my after the last interview? I could not lie. I did not even remember seeing that email or the attachments. (I had received them, just had not opened them!) Needless to say I did not receive a call back from them! 

I now schedule an hour prior to every interview for final preparation, checking I have read all emails, browsing the website, reviewing my notes and crafting my questions. 

Lesson 7 Never burn any bridges. 

Not references, not interviewers, not schools. You do not know who knows who, nor do you know where this particular person may move to in the future. All I know is that the international school circuit is smaller than you may think! 

I have seen staff leaving a school burning everything on their way out with the mantra “I’m never coming back here again!” Not understanding that teachers, board members and admin also move from school to school. 

I have even seen teachers venting on FaceBook or LinkedIn. Not only are they risking libel laws in countries they may not have a good grasp of the law, but they are damaging their references, and perhaps even future employers will see such a rant online. 

Lesson 8. The process can be cumbersome. 

Be prepared for a cumbersome process, one school had me complete a 5 page employee form prior to interviews, including the names and birth dates of my parents. I refused. Another had multiple interviews with each manager up the chain. (5 in total) I almost ignored that one. Another wanted me to answer in writing why I wanted to move to Vietnam, why I was leaving the school I was at, and what was my preferred start date and salary, which really appeared to be better done in interview than prior. (again, I just ignored them) 

Although my number and Skype name were at the top of my resume, it appears that no one ever reads that ! 

The number of times someone in HR would ask for a copy of my resume and I was thinking didn’t you receive my resume from the interviewer or agency?

Lesson 9. Previous Salary 

The professionals suggest answering with your expected salary rather than previous, on several occasions I did this, one school insisted that I had to tell them my previous salary as it was a government requirement. (no, it wasn’t). Another negotiated the salary with the usual claims that their country had a low cost of living, (yes, but so did the last two countries I worked in) and my University fees and retirement fund are in USD. 

At least two places cancelled my candidacy after I mentioned by expectations, but I guess I would not have been happy in those places either. I am not mercenary, but I want to be paid what I am worth. 

And the two or three places that asked about expected salary before even interviewing me, or discovering my worth said more about them than me! 

As a recruiter myself I have found that anyone who leads with salary expectations from the start is never going to be a good fit or take the job, and the same rang true of the schools that lead with this too early in the process. 

Conclusion

International recruitment for schools is an intensive and costly exercise. Keep the process simple, do not waste the applicants time, be honest, be organised, and mostly treat the applicants like humans and you will more than likely find the same level of respect give back. Recruitment is a two way process, as the applicants are interviewing schools too! Even though schools and applicants should have several possible applications processing at once, keep each other informed, build the human relationships, try to reduce the unnecessary, cut the redundant and most of all do not waste each other’s time!