International School Community Blog

New Survey: How Many Years Have You Been At Your Current Placement?

A new survey has arrived!

Topic:  How Many Years Have You Been At Your Current Placement?

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The (acceptable) minimum number of years to stay at an international school is typically two years; maybe because most initial contracts are for two years.

If you leave though after two years, sometimes you don’t get to fully enjoy your life in your host country. The reasoning is that you spend your first year getting used to everything. If you are already planning on leaving after you second year, then you spend most of your time (in your second year) getting prepared and ready to move away (thus not allowing you maybe to fully enjoy your life there).

If things are going well in your new school and new country, why not stay a bit longer than two years? It is nice to stay around and enjoy your school and surroundings, especially if there is also financial incentive to do so.  There are other reasons to stay longer as well. To see these reasons, check out this article on our blog:

Top 10 reasons to stay longer than four years at an international school

But there are also downsides to staying longer than four years at an international school. One example of a downside is that some international schools consider you similar to a local hire after five years.  Once you change from a foreign hire to a local hire, you are likely to lose some of your benefits (the benefits that initial attracted you to the position). Not a good feeling!

But if you find a partner who is local and doesn’t plan on moving any time soon, you might find yourself in for the long haul at a school. At some international schools in Europe, it is not uncommon to find teachers that have stayed 30+ years at on international school!

So, how many years have you been at your current school?  Please take a moment and submit your vote!

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We have a comment topic related to this survey. It is called: “In general, why are people staying at or leaving this school?

Here are a few sample comments from this comment topic:

“People stay because the standard of living is good, school is fine, pay is good, students are great and there’s a good work/life balance. Some people don’t get on with China, some (like us) loved it but it’s time to go somewhere a little easier to live, some because of issues with the school.” – Wellington College International Tianjin (Tianjin, China)47 Comments

“There seem to be a lot of people leaving as a result of the uncertainty about the direction in which the school is moving. Staff is told repeatedly that things will be changing, but the details of such changes are kept under wraps. The lack of transparency is resulting in a lot of insecurity.” – American School of Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland)64 Comments

“People are staying for salary and tuition benefits, and an enjoyment of an easy lifestyle with help at home, access to the beach and desert camping and year-round warm/hot weather. Some people have nice accommodations as well. People are leaving due to workload, three superintendents in three years and the lack of focus and cultural upheaval that accompanies that, general low morale.” – American British Academy (Muscat, Oman)33 Comments