Best Time For Applying?

[kankaroo]

When is the best & worst times in the next few weeks /months to apply for teaching jobs in Bangkok?

THanks

[kenkannif]

May ready for the end of May/early June IME!

Some peachy jobs around then!

[Bluffer]

Depends what you are looking for.

But roughly

The BEST international schools are already looking for teachers - in fact they have a different school year than "normal " schools.

Some of the better schools are advertising now for May starts.

Language schools hire all the time.

It also depends if you are here or not. If a school says the interviews are in March and you aint here til May - its a bad time. If you are here, its a good time.

[PeaceBlondie]

The best interviews should be held in late Feb. or early March, but many interviews aren't held until the last minute (my last one was the Thursday before school started). Last minute interviews are a good hint that the school doesn't plan ahead or is already having personnel problems. Either way, a sign to stay away.

But if you wait until late May, you're getting places where people have already walked away, a more ominous sign. By June, it's too late.

[jerry921]

I'm behind the curve here, I've got to wrap things up here, get there, and take a TEFL course. So it will be June or later before I can start looking for a job. But since I have no (or nearly no) teaching experience, is this really that disastrous for me? Is there another good period for hiring before a year from now (say six months)? My thinking is that the first job won't be great regardless, paying dues blah blah blah and I could have something experience and be able to get something better at the next window of opportunity.

I guess I'm generalizing the question somewhat from OP's question. But the answers in this thread are different than the answers elsewhere (which said no time was a bad time except for April and one other month IIRC). I guess theres best, ok, and worst. So when are the best months (out of the 12)?

[kenkannif]

But if you wait until late May, you're getting places where people have already walked away, a more ominous sign.  By June, it's too late.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well I might be wrong but going by my previous experiences there are still jobs around for May and June (I though the new term didn't even start until the end of May early June?). I know Raph held out for a while and got a better job 'cos of it!

[PeaceBlondie]

I'm just writing based mainly on my own experience. I got hired nine days after my TEFL course that finished in July, at a place that had just lost both their farang ajarns over communication and paperwork problems. The place has been a revolving door for farang for over a decade, apparently. So yes, July isn't too late, and if Jerry's willing to pay his dues in a difficult place, that'll work.

I believe our govt. school's first classes were on May 17th. Some schools don't know until the last minute what any specific date of their academic calendar is. But mid to late May is a good guess.

[kenkannif]

Thanks mate. I'll pay closer attention this year!

[Ijustwannateach]

Most schools trying to follow the public system start in early to mid-May, more or less, even if they're private. One advantage of getting in at the last minute is that there are many (MANY) schools who don't plan ahead and wind up desperate hiring anybody they can. That can temporarily inflate one's credentials enough to get a job that would normally be out of one's league (hint, hint).

"Steven"

[otherstuff1957]

I'd tend to agree with the others here - many schools and companies will be scrambling for teachers in May, so that would be the best time to negotiate favorable terms or slide into a job with less than perfect credentials. Of course, the schools that are scrambling to get teachers in May are the ones that don't plan ahead, so you can expect to work for a disorganized school that won't think ahead or communicate with you well. Unfortunately, the majority of employers here seem to fit that description.