ITP - 030: Inside the International School Community Recruiting Platform

ITP - 030
Spotlight on the Recruiting Tool – International School Community (Spain, China, Denmark & Beyond)

Greg: Welcome to our new episode. This is Greg, the single guy and Matt's not here right now. He's probably out on the golf course or studying and I think you're going to really enjoy this episode because we have Ron from the International School Community website on with us today and we're going to talk all about this website, great tool. So welcome Ron to our episode.

Ron: Thank you. Nice to be here.

Greg: So Hey Ron, before we talk about your website and tell our listeners about it, can you tell me a little bit? You're coming from Copenhagen right now? Where are you originally from?

Ron: I am originally from Minnesota. Fellow Midwesterner, just like that.

Greg: And what part of Minnesota?

Ron: Minnesota, right. And you're not from Minnesota Green Bay, but you know, we grew up between you and Chicago. And yeah, I mean, we have purple blood in the family too.

Greg: Well there's that recruitment fair next to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. So I think that's right. Tell us a little bit about your travels and what got you into the international scene and give us an elevator version.

Ron: I got my teaching degree in the year 2000, but for some reason or another I had to stay in Minnesota and I taught there for six years. During that time some of my friends were already going abroad. One went to Colombia, one went to Russia. I knew it was something I was interested in, just not the right time yet.

Ron: After six years the timing was right and I went to a recruitment fair in Iowa. Those were the glory days of job searching. I had domestic experience but no international experience and I was getting many job offers.

Ron: My top choice said yes, although they didn’t actually hire me at the fair. The director of the school had a connection—his wife was from Minnesota—and he asked if he could come visit my school.

Ron: He observed me teach, and then decided to hire me. I signed the contract at the school I was leaving.

Greg: That is wild. I’ve never heard a story like that in 20 years of recruiting fairs.

Ron: It was unusual, but the stars aligned. He even knew my principal, so they walked the halls together. I think I was very lucky.

Greg: Was it nerve-wracking having him observe you teach?

Ron: Not really. It felt natural.

Greg: This was around 2005–2006?

Ron: Yes.

Greg: Back then you even had to pay to access fair information.

Ron: Exactly. You didn’t know anything until you paid for the database.

Greg: I remember that. That’s why I wrote my book—there was nothing out there.

Ron: It was very different.

Greg: So after that, did you go to Copenhagen?

Ron: I worked at the American School in Barcelona for three years. In hindsight I wish I would have stayed because Barcelona is such an amazing city to live in. But in my mind I was thinking I only have so many years to experience living in different countries.

Ron: After three years I got a job in Shanghai. I worked there and was planning to stay three years, but at the end of the second year I had a chance to get a job in Copenhagen helping open an international school. It was a rare opportunity, so I left Shanghai after two years.

Greg: That’s a big move.

Ron: Yes. I felt it was too unique to pass up.

Greg: Let’s get into the website then. International School Community—that’s the platform right?

Ron: Yes.

Greg: And I want to hear about it from your point of view. When you moved from Shanghai into this, what was the inspiration?

Ron: Shanghai has a lot of expats. Many are entrepreneurs. They were building things, doing creative work. That environment inspired me to build my own company, and that became this website.

Greg: So you’re the founder?

Ron: Yes. I worked with designers and also set up the company in Hong Kong. That’s where it’s based.

Greg: It’s a really well-designed site. Our listeners should actually go look at it while listening. It’s very professional.

Greg: That photo on the landing page—did you take that?

Ron: Yes. It’s one of my favorite places in Denmark. It’s a circular rainbow walkway on top of a museum. As you walk, the colors change around you.

Greg: That’s incredible.

Greg: The site itself isn’t really about you, it’s about information.

Ron: Yes. It didn’t start like this. We went through many versions. The goal is speed—help people find information quickly.

Ron: It’s not only schools. It’s also connecting people working at those schools.

Greg: So users can message people at schools?

Ron: Yes. You can view current or past members at a school and message them directly.

Ron: We also have job vacancies posted by schools and members. Some are free. Premium members can post jobs. We also keep expired listings so people can track history.

Greg: I paid immediately when I saw it.

Ron: Thank you.

Greg: What are the membership levels?

Ron: $20 for six months, $30 per year, $50 for two years. But there are also ways to earn free membership.

Ron: If you are active as a “mayor,” you get unlimited access by updating school information regularly.

Ron: You can also write blog articles for a year of free membership. New users also get two free days automatically. You can also earn time by commenting.

Greg: I saw 185 countries listed, thousands of cities, and over 2,000 schools.

Ron: Those are schools in the database. The number with comments is different and smaller when filtered.

Greg: The search function is powerful.

Ron: Yes. You can also search across 40,000+ comments using keywords.

Greg: That’s something I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Ron: For example, you can search “teaching couples” and see all related comments.

Greg: That’s extremely useful.

Ron: You can also see topics like pets, housing, commute, salaries per school.

Greg: That’s huge for decision-making.

Ron: Yes.

Greg: Tell me about the compare schools feature.

Ron: You can compare schools side-by-side based on categories like salary, benefits, savings, and more. It’s based on member feedback.

Greg: That’s very useful.

Ron: We also verify ratings sometimes with school contacts.

Greg: That authenticity matters.

Ron: Yes. It’s not about ranking schools, it’s about perspective.

Greg: What’s the hardest part of running the site?

Ron: Keeping links updated and maintaining job postings. Schools change their links often.

Ron: The other challenge is awareness. Not enough people know about it yet.

Greg: How many people work on it?

Ron: Just me.

Greg: That’s insane.

Ron: I’ve had help over time.

Greg: This is a huge system for one person.

Ron: Yes.

Greg: I think more teachers need to use this.

Ron: Thank you.

Greg: I used to look for something like this years ago.

Ron: That’s why I built it.

Greg: Exactly.

Ron: I also want schools and teachers to collaborate more on it.

Greg: That makes sense.

Ron: Thank you for having me.

Greg: Thank you for building it.

Greg: Before we wrap, I’ll share a quick story from my own international experience…

Greg: (discussion about international teaching experience and school realities continues)

Greg: And that’s why tools like this matter.

Ron: Yes.

Greg: Alright, that’s it for today’s episode of the International Teacher Podcast.