Page 11 - FIS_World_May_2015

FIS’s Assistant Head of School, Devin Pratt, meets a potential candidate in London.
Recruiting is a two-way street, and in this increasingly competitive market, schools need to distin-
guish themselves from the competition. Deborah Cannon and Robert Holmyard, both teachers in the Upper School, reflected on their recent recruiting experiences and shared some of the reasons they chose to join FIS.
Ms. Cannon: I find the biggest change from 12 years ago, when I was last job hunting, is there are so many more international schools. They are mushrooming. You have to be really careful and do your due diligence. How old is this school? How many other international schools are in the city? You have to dig around and find out how good they are. I’d heard of FIS before, and knew it had a good reputation. I did have other job offers, but this one had more benefits. What really grabbed me was the mission statement – our aim is to be the top family-oriented international school. Having applied to many schools, I’ve
read many mission statements, but I’d never seen a single school mention being family friendly. It really stood out and grabbed me. That was a big draw and I think FIS lives up to it.
Ms. Deborah Cannon, FIS Humanities Teacher
Mr. Holmyard: I was looking for a school in Europe after living in Asia for five years. I knew of FIS by reputation from colleges my wife and I had worked with, and a friend of ours had interviewed for a job here and spoke very highly of Paul Fochtman. One
thing that made FIS stand out during the interview process was the speedy response to my application and to any question that I had. There are
Mr. Robert Holmyard, FIS Science Teacher
many schools that take a long time to reply. It is understandable that schools are busy, but searching for jobs is a stressful time, especially when you have a family to consider, so the fast response to questions was very reassuring.
February 2016 FIS World 9