EDDI XXIV - Interview
October 2020 (International School Recruitment)
Dear subscribers
Is now the time to be looking for a new job? Where should I be looking? Am I too old? What skills are schools now looking for?
This week’s EDDi answers those questions, and many others. You will find below an ‘In Conversation’ special with Diane Jacoutot, founder of the recruitment consultancy Edvectus.
At the start of 2020, international schools were looking down the barrel of a teacher shortage, with schools hiring earlier and earlier and paying more and more. The demand for teachers in certain regions was almost insatiable.
Today, all that has disappeared. The rules of international school recruitment have changed.
In this informative interview, Diane discusses:
• the new teacher recruitment marketplace;
• the ways in which international schools are responding to the Covid-19 crisis;
• how new and experienced teachers can best protect their career journey;
• what international schools are now looking for when hiring teachers;
• and how the international school landscape looks to be shaping up for 2021.
The interview is in written form below or, if video is your thing, you can watch a recording of an EDDi webinar with Diane here (it’s an hour long but well worth your time).
Finally, if you are new to EDDi, joining us via the Webinar, then welcome. You can subscribe to receive EDDi direct to your Inbox every fortnight.
Happy reading
EDDi
IN CONVERSATION WITH…
The International School Matchmaker: helping people ‘date up’
Interview by Dr Stephen M. Whitehead
My days of dating are long past, though I remember them fondly: not so much swiping right on Tinder, more answering ‘lonely-hearts’ adverts in the evening newspaper. And as for ‘matchmakers’, back then we had the ‘marriage bureau’. Does anyone still use a marriage bureau today? I doubt it.
But I do know a matchmaker and she certainly understands a lot about pairing people up.
Her name is Diane Jacoutot.
If you work in the world of international schooling then you’ll have likely come across, if not used, her company, Edvectus; one of the profession’s foremost teacher recruitment agencies.
Diane has been a strong presence in the growing international school community since she formed her first international teacher recruitment company in 2005. Back then there were about 3,000 international schools. Now there are over 11,000, and a good many of them have Diane to thank for the fact they have the right ‘partners’ - the ‘best fit’ teachers for their school.
Edvectus is her current company, founded in 2013.
But the similarities between international school teacher recruitment and matchmaking don’t end there. As Diane puts it, everyone, school and teacher, is always looking to ‘date up’.
“Schools are constantly on the look-out for the best teachers, while teachers are always looking to move up the career ladder; better schools, salaries, conditions, opportunities. I call this ‘dating up’ and in many ways it drives the recruitment business. Our job is to match and introduce carefully vetted teachers to vetted international schools. The school contracts directly with the teacher but we act as a ‘matchmake’ to do it more efficiently and save wasted time at both ends. The company is made up almost entirely of internationally experienced ex-teachers, and we take things like honesty to clients, child protection and duty-of-care to teachers very seriously. Transparency is our ‘thing’ – that way each side, school and teacher, know exactly what they are agreeing to.”
As with traditional matchmaking, ensuring the school and teacher are the right fit is a skill in its own right.
“We have A, B, C, and D list schools and we have A, B, C, and D list teachers. This is not a reflection of their quality but of their professional attractiveness to each other. Our job at Edvectus is to know the schools and know what type of teacher will best suit them – match them up. And this is especially important once you realise that schools want teachers who want to teach at their school, not only for the money but because of what their school is.”
Again, just like the dating game don’t hitch up (or sign a contract) simply because of the money. That won’t be enough to drive or trigger true love.
Unfortunately, as Diane can attest, being a good teacher is no guarantee of a successful career in international schooling. It is all about selecting the right partner.
“I’ve seen really good teachers make a bad choice (when choosing a school) and it honestly breaks my heart! I know it’s not going to work out but teachers, like lovers, can be unrealistic. They see only what they want to see, they don’t look beyond the surface. If a teacher takes our advice as to which school is best for them, then they’ll be fine. That’s our job, to get this matchmaking right. Schools pay us and the only reason they do so is because we only introduce teachers who are appropriate to their needs.”
In many respects, the job of recruitment agencies such as Edvectus is to educate the teachers about career development. Which means they have to teach the teachers everything from CV presentation to handling social media.
“A teacher’s CV is vital. That has to look good on paper. If it doesn’t, then the teacher won’t even get close to an interview. And the CV has to match the needs and expectations of the school. Again, this is the matchmaking element at work.”
But what about social media? Surely, with so many professionals profiled on sites such as LinkedIn, having a paper CV matters a lot less nowadays?
“Not at all! Social media can actually be risky for teachers and becoming increasingly so. If you are applying to work in some countries, NOT having a social media presence is a good thing. If your posts are viewed as insensitive, controversial or crass in a foreign country, and you won’t know that you are violating their norms, it might cost you a job offer. In fact, we are getting increasing evidence of this. Each country has its own political and cultural sensitivities. At Edvectus we’ve had instances of schools in China for example, saying they don’t want any teachers who have shown ‘political activism’ on social media. Political activism is not something that is encouraged in every country, and teachers might put themselves at risk unknowingly .”
So, if you are a Western teacher who has been posting critical stuff on Facebook about China’s relationship to Nepal, Tibet or even Taiwan, don’t expect a warm welcome in the ‘Land of the Willow Pattern’.
In fact, if you are an ambitious teacher, keen to develop a career in international schools, think carefully before posting anything in a public forum.
About twenty minutes into my interview with Diane I’d begun to realise I was talking to someone with not just international educational knowledge, but a woman who was also politically savvy, combined with sociological, anthropological and psychological intelligences. In which case, she’s no doubt graduated from an American liberal arts college?
Wrong again!
“There is a saying in recruitment that nobody grows up wanting to be a recruiter as a career. For me, it’s my second career that came after working for 13 years as a Materials Engineer and Engineering Manager. It seems an odd transition, but my mother was a 1st grade teacher in America 30 years ago, so I guess this industry (education) feels like home. I can still remember the hot dusty smell of the classroom after a long summer break, as I helped her get ready for the new school year.”
But there is a link between recruitment and engineering, albeit not one which is immediately obvious to any outsider.
“Recruitment appeals to me because I like solving puzzles. As with engineering there is a core problem to solve and in recruitment that core problem is that everyone (school and teacher) wants to ‘date up’. Schools want the best teachers they can find for the lowest possible salary – especially in fee paying schools that have profits to make – and teachers want the highest paying school in the best location. Therein lies the rub. Both teacher and school cannot ‘date up’ at the same time!”
International teacher recruitment appeals to me because I like teachers – they are usually hard-working, kind-hearted people, and the international aspect makes an even more complicated problem because of all the visa and teacher licensing regulations that sit on top.”
In short, this is why Diane started Edvectus – to solve this puzzle of ‘dating up’: matchmaking the best possible partners in education, and educating both partners to the realities.
“Teachers looking for their first job abroad don’t know what they don’t know. How can I educate them so they can make better choices? How can I set expectations correctly on both sides in order to make the best matches? To be fully effective in our role we have to provide a wide range of services to both our teachers and our client schools covering everything from regional and market information to interview prep materials.”
Given that the international school market is now so broad and extensive, covering everything from local bilingual schools in rural Thailand to multi-million-dollar operations in mega cities, how does Edvectus target its market?
“Our target schools are international or state schools that hire foreign teachers and pay salaries of at least £1000 per month. Most of them pay much more than this. Our target teachers are either Western trained and experienced, and have Qualified Teacher Status, or EAL teachers who wish to work in the Far East. The main countries that we recruit from are the UK (35%) and the USA (35%) with the remainder coming from Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Approximately 75% of our teacher placements are experienced international school teachers.”
What have been the biggest changes in the international school world since you started Edvectus over 15 years ago?
“The type of international school has changed. When I started most of the schools were serving expatriate children. Now, the vast majority of schools serve a host national population. This has affected many things – what kinds of teachers are hired, what the pay and benefits packages look like, and the fast expansion of the market has caused many countries to set standards in terms of education, experience and vetting of international teachers that didn’t exist before.”
What types of teachers are attracted to working abroad?
“The kinds of teachers we get are more varied than in the past. When I started, international teaching was a really niche market. Something few people knew about and even fewer did. So those entering the market had done their research and were adventurous and open minded. Now it’s a choice that many teacher training institutions are actively promoting and many more people know someone who is or has been teaching abroad. This means that some of the teachers thinking about going abroad might not have really thought it through fully because it’s a more mainstream choice…A lot of Western teachers are attracted to international schooling as a means to pay off their student loans.”
So massive and profound changes in global education over the past decade, especially in international schooling. And probably everyone reading this article will have been affected by these changes in some way. But then, a few months ago, something very unforeseen happened, causing us all to rethink the future, and quickly adapt to a very strange and unwelcome reality.
The Impact of Covid-19
2020 has seen global society totally disrupted with economies crashing, international travel completely halted, and for millions of students their education reduced to intermittent online classrooms and not much more.
What has been the impact on teacher recruitment?
“Before the pandemic we were looking down the barrel of a huge teacher shortage. Schools were hiring earlier and earlier, and were rewarded for being proactive, fast and creative in their hiring approach. The demand for school places in certain regions was almost insatiable. We could not fill the jobs fast enough. And this looked like being the situation for the foreseeable future. In 2016, the data was predicting an 88% increase in the number of teachers needed for international schools for the next decade, but only an 8% increase in teacher supply. Covid has changed the world and has affected our industry. It will continue to do so for a number of years.”
Now there is a huge amount of uncertainty. It’s unclear how and when teachers can deploy, when visas will be processed, how they will teach - online or in person. If online teaching then you need fewer teachers. Therefore, schools are cutting back on their staffing, especially in subject areas that don’t mesh well with online teaching such as Kindergarten and Early Years, Music, Drama, PE and middle leadership. Right now, most schools are asking us for teachers already in the host country to avoid delays and risk with travel and visa. But there are only so many of them, so who knows what the future will bring, but we are certain to see a culling of international schools over the next year or more.
“What we are seeing right now is a 50% drop in job opportunities compared to this time last year.”
Many international schools are now putting expansion plans on hold. As profit-driven enterprises they are becoming risk averse, tightening their belts, and as we’ve discussed in previous editions of EDDi, whether or not an international school will survive this pandemic depends a lot on the strength and resilience of its core market and its ability to maintain quality teaching and learning in the face of major pressures on teacher recruitment.
Are there, then, any glimmers of hope and if so, where?
“The biggest change in recent years has been China. With its huge population, growing personal wealth and cultural reverence for education, combined with a loosening of regulations on letting Chinese children attend bilingual schools, the market has exploded. There are now more international schools in China than in any other country in the world. China now has the most opportunities and some of the best teaching packages of any country with which we work. Their economic engine is still strong, even post-Covid, so I don’t see it changing.”
Yes, there has been a decline in teacher demand in China, but only to more reasonable levels. It is still very buoyant.”
The importance, if not centrality, of China to the international and independent school market has been explored in previous editions of EDDi. Diane only confirms the claim that what happens next with regards to international education depends a lot on what happens in China.
Diane’s job is not only matchmaking teachers with schools, she also needs to keep a close eye on political events around the world, as these inevitably impact international schooling and teacher recruitment.
“The two primary drivers of international education, especially international schooling, are political and economic stability. Countries which have both will see their middle classes grow in number and this will be followed by a growing demand for international schooling. This is what makes China now the strongest market. Where you have stable government, you get strong international school growth.”
Finally, Advice to Teachers and Schools
What do schools and teachers need to do in order to present themselves and compete in the currently highly disrupted professional environment?
“For teachers, we find that those who get more job offers have a number of common attributes. Firstly, they need to be able to get a visa to teach in their target country. Just because you are qualified to teach in your home country does not mean another country will allow you to teach in theirs. From a teaching skills standpoint, schools want to see evidence of having made a difference academically to the students, in a consistent way. These are fee paying schools so parents are looking for good results. Having experience with English Language Learners is a key skill, and if a teacher has this, they should highlight it on their CV because most schools serve a host national population where English is not the first language. From a personality standpoint, being open minded, informed, personally and professionally flexible, resilient and adaptable are key. Schools want to see teachers completing contracts and staying in one school for at least 2-3 years at a time. If a teacher is moving about too much then schools get nervous about employing them.”
Schools don’t want teachers who are only in it for the money. They want teachers who want to teach at their school. So, the teacher needs to tailor applications to each school and address what’s unique about that school. They need to research any school they apply to.”
In a recession, or when there is economic uncertainty, schools will look to hire teachers with lower on-costs. This means teachers with children, partners who cannot easily find work and those near the top end of the salary scale will be disadvantaged. They will want teachers who are likely to renew their contracts, to avoid further recruitment and visa costs.
“Teachers need to be more realistic about what they can expect, the sort of packages on offer. 30% - 40% pay cuts are now the norm with housing allowances cut and other benefits reduced.”
“It is hard to plan for anything so be flexible and patient. More than ever, professional and personal resilience is required.”
“Some countries (e.g. China) will go back to full classroom teaching, some will be wholly online, while a lot will be hybrid - mixing the two. Teachers considering moving need to do their research.”
“From a school perspective, a school’s reputation with international teachers is important. Schools that change contracts/pay/benefits after arrival, hire underqualified and untalented school leaders, or pay well below market rates for teachers will find it harder and harder to hire qualified teachers. What I say to my school clients is that if a teacher is going to be literally putting their lives, personally and professionally, in your hands, your trustworthiness and reliability matters.”
My final question to Diane is one I’ve long pondered, well ever since I first met her at a FOBISSEA Leadership Conference in Penang, back in 2013. And the question is:
Where does the name Edvectus come from?
“I didn’t want a three-letter acronym so I came up with my own word! It comes from the Latin word ‘educo’ meaning to educate, and ‘advectus’ to travel towards. Edvectus; to travel and educate, or if you prefer, to proceed on a journey of education.”
I like to think of myself as something of a romantic, especially when it comes to education. After all, if we, the educationalists, are not hopeful for the future, not inspired and motivated to help others in their own life journey, then why are we doing the job? And I see that same inspired romanticism in Diane, combined with a very healthy realism and awareness as to what makes the world of education go round. Sure, money is a lubricant, perhaps even the essential element, but it cannot be the single driver nor only objective. And money certainly does not automatically equate to professionalism. That comes across very clearly in the Edvectus story and in Diane’s narrative; the message being that to be successful for both parties, teacher recruitment matchmaking requires more than a simple instrumental attitude. The role of Edvectus is, therefore, in helping create a crucial synergy between school and teacher.
And as we all know, if a relationship is going to work there has to be synergy.
I guess the fundamental lesson both schools and teachers need to learn is don’t rely on ‘swiping right’, get yourself a professional matchmaker.
If you are interested in the services offered by Edvectus, you can visit their website here: edvectus.com
A reminder that the full EDDi webinar with Diane can be viewed here (well worth your time we promise).
Opening Photo by Sam McGhee on Unsplash
FREE BOOK CHAPTER
If you are interested in international schoolteacher recruitment, a free introduction chapter from International Schooling: The Teacher’s Guide is available here.
If you sign-up to access the chapter we will put you on our advance purchase list (you’ll get early access and a discounted price). We hope to launch the book within the next week or so.
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