Reverse International Recruiting

Social networking is changing our lives

You are part of a social network, if you are reading this post on my blog because you subscribe via RSS  or are a regular visitor or someone has forwarded you this post as a “must read”.

I am about to test out, if social networking has changed the way we live, work and “do business” enough to not only change our virtual lives…but also help in our face-to face-world.

My husband and I are working with several recruiting firms (Search Associates, ISS (International Schools Services) and AASSA  (Association of American Schools in South America) in order to find a position at an International School starting the school year 2012/2013. This is the first time for us going through the process of applying to become a candidate at each one of the firms, then applying to attend their individual recruiting fairs hosted between December 2011 and March 2012.

It is quite a process, as we are filling out endless questionnaires and writing our philosophy of education and personal statements. We are requesting our supervisors and administrators to write and submit confidential reference letters. We are uploading our resumes, transcripts and certificates.

Once accepted as a candidate, we gain access to a database listing the international schools who work with the recruiting companies to hire their teachers and administrators. My husband is looking to be hired as a Physical Education teacher/coach, but my position is not as clear cut. My 21st century learning and literacy specialist/coach job title does not fit neatly into a category that is listed in these databases. I am as much of a Curriculum Coordinator, Information & Media Specialist, Technology Integration Facilitator as I am a Literacy Coach, Learning Manager and Professional Development provider for a school.

Finding the right position that will allow me to grow in my work is our top priority as we embark on this recruiting adventure.

That is when the idea of REVERSE RECRUITING came in.

“Recruiting” is defined as:

The process of identifying and hiring the best-qualified candidate for a job vacancy.

So what is “Reverse Recruiting”?

The process of identifying the best job vacancy for a candidate.

I am on the lookout for the right school for me, where I can contribute my expertise and  continue to grow as a professional.

Which school has already a position like mine? Or what school is ready to move into changing the culture of 21st century learning and teaching at their school by hiring someone like me? Which school needs someone to support, observe, mentor, model, co-teach, coach and plan with their faculty as they upgrade their curriculum content to prepare students for the 21st century?

In comes the experiment of social networking in the recruiting process. Is my network diverse and powerful enough to reach the right international school? Are the members of my social network able to disseminate (via blogs, Twitter, Skype, Facebook or e-mail forwarding to personal connections) this quest around the world.  Has my participation over the last 5 years in social networking built a reputation in my area of expertize that creates value for recruiting in the physical (not virtual) world?

Can my social network help me find the right position at an international school?

If you are teaching or are an administrator at an International School, take a look at the online hub my husband and I have established to get to know us a little bit better. Pass the information along to your administrator in charge of hiring or creating new positions at your school . If interested, they can contact us via the website or take a closer look at our profiles at the recruiting firms.

We are very excited to find out how this social networking experiment will turn out. We wonder if the world of international schools is ready for a new recruiting process and the transparency that it brings or if we will need to go via the traditional route of attending recruiting fairs or a combination of both worlds.

Stay tuned… and yes…. please blog, tweet, forward and talk about our quest.

Third Culture Kids

When I first learned about the term “Third Culture Kids”, I was relieved since I finally could put a name to “the way I have felt most of my life”.
On the US Department of Statesite, you can read the following definition of the term “Third Culture Kids”

Third-culture kids are those who have spent some of their growing up years in a foreign country and experience a sense of not belonging to their passport country when they return to it. In adapting to life in a ‘foreign’ country they have also missed learning ways of their homeland and feel most at home in the ‘third-culture’ which they have created. Little understood by American schools, where they are often considered an oddity, what third culture kids want most is to be accepted as the individuals they are.

I read the book Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, Revised Edition by Ruth Van Reken and David C. Pollock many years ago and had checked their website TCKWorld out too.
They define a TCK as:

a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents’ culture.” -

In 2009 Kim Cofino asked me to contribute to her keynote presentation a short video clip about growing up as a TCK (Third Culture Kid).

Today I ran across a movie trailer announcing the soon to be released movie of Third Culture Kids. Especially the poem in the introduction of the trailer moved me…

My life is tethered to a rolling stone
My dreams are anchored in the wind
I come from here, I come from there
In truth I come from everywhere
My tongue does not have a mother
My language is an open mind
Before I learned how to walk, I already knew how to fly
Comfort for me is a constant motion
Continent to Continent, Ocean to Ocean

Are you a Third Culture Kid? Do you know of someone in your life who is a TCK?

Leaving a Legacy…

My grandmother was a gifted gardener. She spent many hours outdoors taking care of her yard, trees, fruits, bushes and flowers.
It has been almost 22 years since she passed away. Her house is located in Germany in a small village called Waldkatzenbach (Creek of the Forest Cats), at the foot of the highest elevation in the Odenwald called the Katzenbuckel (the Hunchback of the Cat).
Her garden continues to grow the seeds she planted. My aunt, who still lives in Germany, just sent us a few pictures of my grandmother’s roses…still… blooming…in the winter…