Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions:
- Why register with Search Associates?
- With which specific associate should I register?
- What if I have no wish to attend any recruitment fair?
- Does Search Associates help Language-School Teachers? University/FE?
- What qualifications are necessary?
- Does Search Associates help non-teachers?
- Someone has asked me to complete a Search Associates confidential Reference / Evaluation Form about them - where can I find this form?
PDF Format Files FAQ:
If your question is not answered in these FAQs, or elsewhere on this website, please e-mail your question to Gez Hayden.
Answers
Why register with Search Associates?
Because:
- we care about each candidate
- we know something about every country and almost every international school
- we try to answer all your questions
- schools usually know us and trust us
- our databases are extremely helpful in the job-hunting process
- we believe that Search Associates recruitment fairs are a particularly effective way of matching good teachers with good schools.
To learn more about Search Associates, the Gez Hayden branch, the Harry Deelman branch, the services we offer candidates and/or the services we offer recruiters, please read the relevant pages on this website.
With which specific associate should I register?
Every senior associate works with the full range of good international schools worldwide. If you've never been registered with Search Associates before, your choice of associate should be based on where you are from &/or your preference as regards which job-fair to attend &/or your school curriculum-system preference. If you have been registered with Search Associates in the past, you must re-register with the same senior associate as before, or seek that associate's permission to switch if you are convinced that a switch is appropriate. Please read the Choosing Your Senior Associate page of this website for more details.
What if I have no wish to attend any recruitment fair?
Not a problem, although most past candidates will tell you that fair attendance helps greatly. It is entirely a candidate's own choice as to whether to apply to attend any particular fair or no fair at all, and every year many candidates benefit from Search Associates advice and help without attending any job-fair. We help and advise even if your job-application/s might be through sources nothing to do with Search, and almost every Search-registered candidate also finds access to the interactive Search Associates databases invaluable.
Does Search Associates help Language-School Teachers? University/FE?
In general, No. Search Associates works only with 'mainstream' international schools which have English as their main working language, i.e. those schools serving children somewhere in the age-range 3-19 and teaching those students the usual range of subjects. Most of the international schools do have some ESL/EFL specialist teachers but candidates for these positions normally have prior teaching experience in similar 'mainstream' schools, whether home-country or international. If any candidate has only Language School or only University/FE teaching experience (let alone no prior teaching experience at all) then he or she will need to make a very persuasive and convincing case as regards their personal enthusiasm and suitability for 'mainstream'.
What qualifications are necessary?
International schools vary in their requirements, and the country in which a school is located might have specific requirements to establish eligibility for a work-visa and approval by the relevant government ministry of your employment at the school. It is practically essential for a candidate to have earned at least a BA or B.Sc or B.Ed (etc) and it helps a candidate's chances considerably if he or she has a teaching credential from a major English-speaking country, such as a UK PGCE or USA certification. Those qualifications, plus at least two years (some schools require five) of full-time teaching in a suitable 'mainstream' school, are often quoted as minimal needs. A Masters degree usually helps, and is particularly valued amongst American candidates and amongst all who are candidates for administrative posts (Head, Deputy, Principal, etc); mainly at Headship level, some international schools look very favourably on candidates with a relevant Doctorate. Intern candidates normally have none of the foregoing qualifications except that they are usually about to earn a Bachelor degree before starting their internship.
Does Search Associates help non-teachers?
In general, No, except of course that we help Heads and candidates for headships, principalships, etc, as well as other non-teaching members of a school's academic staff, such as Librarians and Counselors. From time to time we are able to help a (school-experienced) Business Manager find a new international-school position, and spouses of our registered candidates have been helped into positions such as Laboratory Technician, Teacher Assistant, or school Secretary/P.A. Only qualified school teachers and administrators (and young graduate Interns seeking support roles which often include much teaching) can register as Search Associates candidates.
Someone has asked me to complete a Search Associates confidential Reference / Evaluation Form about them - where can I find this form?
Search Associates requires that every candidate who wishes to register with them ask each of their chosen referees to complete the appropriate CONFIDENTIAL Search Associates Evaluation Form for them. These evaluation forms are to be completed online, on the Search Associates US website, by following the personalised link in the automated evaluation request e-mail sent out to the referee when a candidate adds a referee's details to their Search Associates profile.
If you have received an e-mail request from Search Associates, on behalf of a candidate, to complete an evaluation of them, please open the link in the e-mail and complete the evaluation form it leads you to. If you have misplaced the e-mail containing your personalised link to the evaluation form, please notify the candidate and ask them to resend the e-mail request to you. Whatever information you provide in the evaluation form will be kept confidential by Search Associates, to be shared only with authorised Search-registered recruiters who are considering hiring the candidate in question; the information you provide is NOT shared with the candidate.