• Job Vacancies: At the time of writing this Tip, there were 77 jobs available, posted in just the last month. An interesting feature is that they don’t delete their job advertisements once they expire. In fact there are 334 pages of job ads all the way back to 5 years ago. Website creator, Ron, explained in one of his interviews that one reason for this is so that you can see how often a job might be posted over the years. For example, seeing a certain job popping up each year might be a red flag and an indication of high teacher-turnover.

   

• A Review Section with 2300+ Schools: In this section, you can search schools by region (part of a continent), country, city, kinds of students (local, international), city population, age of school, curriculum, school nature (profit, non-profit), and number of students. There are 68 comment topics divided into 4 categories (School Information, Benefits Information, City Information, and Travel information), so finding the topic you want to learn about is ultra-organized. You can also just use the Comment Search feature which allows you to search all 48000+ comments by keyword. For example, you can search the keyword "teaching couple" and you will find that it was mentioned in 342 comments for 287 international schools.
  
  What I found extraordinary is that in addition to information on each school, you can see which ISC members are presently working there or those who have worked there in the past, allowing you the chance to reach out to them with specific questions. A true community helping each other!

• Compare Two Schools: With over 190 overseas schools listed here, you can compare two schools in salary, savings, housing, retirement, PD, health, workload, and morale, to see which school comes out on top. I liked that there was a contact link at the bottom, if you’d like to request that your school be added, or if you’d like to correct any information. Playing around with this feature by choosing some well-known schools, I could see the benefit in comparing two potential schools and what they each have to offer.
   

• Compare School Salaries: Here, they have 831 schools listed with over 1600 salary comments. One of the best parts is you can see what date the comment was made so it gives you an idea of how recent the information is. 

• Scrolling down further on the homepage, you can also see Recently Updated Schools, the latest Blog articles, and the Latest Wall Discussions - a veritable fount of information for new and veteran teachers alike.
   

• You might also be wondering what a Premium Membership gets you. According to their website, you can:

  • View and Submit reviews and comments on the school profile pages

  • Initiate private messages with all members

  • View the Compare School Salaries page

  • View the Job Vacancies page

  • Check out the unique Compare Schools feature

  • Use the Comment Search Feature and more.

• You can even earn a Premium membership rather than pay for it by: 

  • Becoming a Mayor of a school, which entails keeping school links up-to-date and submitting 3 comments per month, or

  • Submitting 10 comments per month as a regular member. The idea behind this is to keep school information up-to-date and recently reviewed. 

  • An added bonus is the fact that if you’re a Mayor or if you’ve submitted any comments, this is all completely anonymous. Your name isn’t attached to them at all.

  • You can also refer a school that is not yet on ISC and earn one free month of Premium membership. Having worked at a number of schools not yet listed, I fully plan on using this feature to earn a few months free for myself!

   

• Should you prefer to be a more passive member, you have the option to pay for a 6-month, 1-year or 2-year membership from $20-50 USD.

Conclusion: I’m thoroughly impressed with the number of features that the ISC website has. Having been a member of International Schools Review for the past 20+ years (see Tip #4 for more information on ISR), I’m now glad to have another resource of information on international schools and their benefits to help me keep my clients informed.

Speaking of clients, Recruitment season for Summer 2024 has started and I’m ready to work with you! If you’re thinking of moving on to another school next summer, why don’t you have me recreate your CV and cover letter with a fresh and professional look at an international standard? I will have your documents edited for both language and format in just a few days, ready to meet with you in a video-call to discuss your next steps in your job search. I will also email you job leads that I find through my network and research, including ISC’s website! I can also help you with interview skills and advise you on how to choose between multiple offers, looking over their contracts and sending you questions for HR. I work directly with you to find the strengths of your candidacy. Check out how I can help you with finding your next international position: https://www.jpmintconsulting.com/book-online