THREE THINGS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS LOOK FOR ON YOUR CV OR RESUME .
BY DIANE JACOUTOT
Sharing Good Practice
Every month recruitment consultants in my company speak to hundreds of teachers who seek new international school jobs , and they often tell us “ I ’ ve been applying to schools but I never hear back ”. Are you one of them ?
It may surprise you to know that international schools , particularly those in popular locations such as the Middle East , routinely get hundreds if not thousands of CVs for their advertised jobs . Many of the applicants don ’ t meet even the most basic advertised requirements for the jobs , and schools with their small HR teams , must wade through them all to pick out the most relevant CVs . They simply don ’ t have time to write back to everyone .
How can you improve your chances of making it to interview ? By knowing what an international school wants to see and giving it to them quickly and concisely . Here are the three top questions an international school hiring team needs you to answer :
Can they hire you ?
International schools can only hire you if they can obtain a visa for you , and you can be approved to teach by the local authorities . This is why your nationality , date of birth , marital status , tertiary education details , teaching qualifications and details of recent , relevant post-qualification teaching experience , should all be on the first page of your CV . It doesn ’ t matter how talented you are or what potential you have if a school cannot legally employ you , so don ’ t make them dig for it . They don ’ t have time .
Do you have the experience they want ?
Let ’ s face it : International schools would prefer to hire teachers who have experience of teaching their curriculum . There ’ s less training and support required , less risk because you know what is expected , and you can provide proof , through referencing . Therefore , if you have experience teaching the curriculum of the school to which you are applying , make sure this is very clear on your CV . Indicate what subjects and levels you have taught and for how long .
If an international school can ’ t find someone who has exactly the curriculum experience they want , they will look at other types . You as the applicant need to put yourself in the shoes of a foreign principal and give them the information they need . For example , a Scottish teacher who taught grade P1 should explain the age ranges P1 covers . A South African teacher should not expect an American Principal to know what SACE or FET stands for , which is why you should always spell out acronyms in the first use . It ’ s still important to explain what academic results you achieved , but do it in a way that a foreign HR person or Principal can easily grasp . Avoid terminology that is specific to your country .
Are you the best candidate available right now ?
Now that a school has determined that they can legally hire you and that you have sufficient experience , they must prioritise who to contact first . And this is where it gets subjective .
Below are some of the reasons your CV might get pushed to the bottom of the pile :
• Plenty of candidates with more relevant experience have already applied
• Your application or cover letter was not tailored
• You have a family and dependents so you will be a costlier hire
• You have a spouse who must find work , which might cause you to leave the post early if it doesn ’ t happen
• You had frequent job changes , indicating a lack of personal and / or professional resilience
• Your age range is at the upper end of the limit for which they can hire , so they might not be able to renew your contract
• Your CV has been received from many agencies so you appear desperate
• CV , email or cover letter was sloppy , poorly written or had spelling or grammatical errors .
Having realistic expectations about the kind of job you are likely to get is important to correctly target your applications , and understanding the top three considerations used by hiring teams can help make an application more successful .
Diane Jacoutot , BSc , MBA , REC , is the founder and Managing Director of Edvectus , which specialises in knowledge-based strategies for the recruitment of western trained teachers to international schools . She has over 15 years of experience in international education recruitment experience . Mrs Jacoutot ’ s articles on recruitment and retention have been published in BIS Magazine , Canadian Teacher Magazine , The Australian Teacher and Sec Ed .
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