On The Road Again

Losing Momentum?

 December 16

 I have applied for a few more jobs. The director of the school in Malawi has sent me another nice email, just 'checking in.' The job there is tentative until January. A Christian school in Korea has contacted me. I let them down gently, explaining that as a confused/atheist/Buddhist, I probably wouldn't be a good fit. 

I have bought my ticket to London in January for the big job fair. Exciting/scary. 

I suspect that the next few weeks will be fairly quiet on the job front. Most international schools close down for two or three weeks at this time of year. Schools empty, and airports fill up as faculty scatter, literally, to every corner of the earth. 

December 17

I just heard from Morocco. I didn't get the job. My first rejection. 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The First Interview

Sunday: I finally have an interview scheduled with the Rabat Amerian School. I am irrationally excited about this interview. I have told my friends and family. I feel as if I have won the lottery! I have read and re-read the school's website. I have written down questions to ask the principal. And next I'm going to do a practice run of questions I might be asked. I am still dithering about what earrings I am going to wear. 

Monday: 24 hours before the interview I have come down with a terrible case of laryngitis. 

Tuesday: (I-day) I have NO voice. It is a national holiday, so I am visiting the home of an Uzbek colleague for lunch. I eat silently with her family, and sip hot green tea with lemon. I am getting a headache. I go home, take ibuprofen and close my eyes for an hour. I have a HOT bath and drink hot tea with honey. At about 6PM, I have a low but audible voice. At 7PM the interview starts. I can't see the principal who is interviewing me well, but hopefully she can see me and hear my husky mumble. By the time the interview is over, the strain of talking has given me an incredible headache. I'm also weirdly depressed. Why am I leaving this job that I love? Why am I packing up a houseful of artwork and THREE CATS and moving again? How am I going to  move THREE CATS????

The job sounds exciting (I would be their first full-time Art teacher),  I have heard really good things about the school and the city. I think I would be perfect for the job. They are still selecting their 'shortlist' for second interviews with the director. I have never had any luck at gauging how well or badly an interview has gone, so I have no idea if I will make the shortlist or not. But I'm already debating the merits of a house near the beach (I would have to buy a car, but really, the beach?), or a place in town (near the school and coffee shops). 

On The Road Again

Jumping off the employment cliff

After months of hand-wringing and drawing for/against columns and decision trees, I have decided to leave my current position at Tashkent International School. I sat outside the director’s office this morning, with a letter in each hand. One was a letter of resignation, one was a letter saying I would return next year. I left the letter of resignation on his desk. I love the job, I am financially stable, and growing professionally. But I am a nomad (albeit a nomad with a lot of luggage), and my soul is hungry for a new adventure.

Telling my friends and colleagues here has been sad. My colleague Nigora, with whom I work closely in the Art department, was very upset. My other Uzbek friends are sad. It must be hard for the local staff at international schools, because they make friends and then they move on to different countries. And with a place as difficult to get to as Uz, it is not likely that I will be 'passing through' in the future. This is the nature of the international teacher life; continual hellos and goodbyes. 

So I thought I would share the true nature of the job search for the international teacher. I am registered with ‘Search,’ an organization that connects teachers looking for positions, and schools looking for teachers. The beauty of Search is that you enter your cv, your references, your bio, and your professional philosophy once, and you’re done with that chore. I have noticed this year that schools, even those that advertise on Search, want the references sent AGAIN, through their own application engine.

I am being pretty picky right now about schools I apply to. There are areas of the world where I don’t want to work (anywhere where I am going to be heartbroken or angry most of the time). I want to make as much or more money than I am earning now. I want to go to a small school, so that I can have the same relative autonomy I have now. I definitely will never work at a for-profit school again. I’m a pretty choosy nomad.

I have applied to a few jobs. Many schools don’t even bother to respond with a perfunctory ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ I think that this is very rude. I have had three very positive responses, but no interviews yet.  I was about to have an interview with a school in Angola, but the principal told me I couldn't bring my cats (school-owned housing). That was a deal-breaker. 

With every email that I send, I mentally move myself to that country. Within the months of the job search, I will live on every continent. I applied for a position in Buenos Aires, and started researching Antarctic cruises. I applied to a school in Morocco, (the elementary principal there sent me a positive response), and I have already started looking at houses on the beach, and checking into the price of Rosetta Stone’s Arabic course (not as expensive as you would think). I have checked out the cost of flights to and from Toronto and Buenos Aires, Warsaw, Rabat, and Seoul. This is the fun part of the job search process.

The bad part of the job search process – your self-esteem takes a battering (why doesn’t anyone want me?), and anxiety (will I be living under a bridge with my three cats?)

Job search progress as of December 7:

Emails sent expressing interest in positions: 15

Automated responses from schools: 3

Positive responses from schools: 3

Interviews scheduled: 1 (Morocco!)