Job Hunting

Blah. Just...blah. Have I mentioned lately (okay, yeah, probably not) how totally, absolutely, completely I loathe the whole job hunting process? I saw this movie the other night - Reading, Writing & Romance with Eric Mabius who, incidentally, I'm really loving in Signed, Sealed, Delivered, probably because he reminds me of The Middleman. But I digress. My point was in Reading, Writing & Romance, Mabius plays this out-of-work actor who agrees to be a substitute English teacher at his old high school while awaiting his big break. He landed the gig because his old high school teacher had become principal and had kept in touch with his parents since his graduation. Needless to say that by the end of the movie he's realized his true passion is teaching, not acting, has been offered (and of course accepted) a permanent position with the school, has thoroughly inspired his students who will all no doubt go on to great success, and, of course, has won the girl and is all set for his happily ever after. He didn't even WANT to be a teacher, for crying out loud!

So, clearly, I'm at that stage where the ease of career success for FICTIONAL CHARACTERS offends me. I'm sure that will bode well.

I've had a couple of interviews. A school board in Alberta interviewed me twice, but ultimately decided to go with another candidate. I signed up for an agency - Seek Teachers - that's basically headhunters for international teaching positions. The process was fairly straight forward:

• STAGE 1: Submit your CV, build your online profile, submit necessary documents
  This is beyond easy since the website is set up lead you through the step-by-step process, one document at a time
• STAGE 2: Have interview with assigned consultant
  A little tougher for obvious reasons - it was done literally the day before I flew home via Skype. Basically it was your general interview (What has your experience been like? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your classroom management skills like? etc.) with a getting-to-know-you slant. My consultant, Winney, was friendly, engaging, understanding, informative, honest - everything you could hope for, given the intention. It went very well.
• STAGE 3: Documents are vetted by the Compliance Team
  Quote: "Your documents have now been sent to our Compliance Team who will ensure you meet our vetting standards.  If there are any documents or information that is still required the Compliance Team or your consultant may be in touch"
• STAGE 4: Interviews

I had an interview not long afterwards with Eton House Shanghai but...I just don't think they're for me. They were very keen on specific teaching methods and philosophies and, honestly, I could barely keep track of which is which and who is who, let alone all the what and why, while I was in teacher's college, let alone two years down the road.

I have another interview tomorrow night with a school in Beijing. After that, I'll be spending the weekend at Auntie Eileen and Uncle Peter's because, yup, that's right...COMIC CON! *happy dance*