u/funbasket_depend124

Let’s be honest here.
How many of you have accepted an early offer as insurance, but kept applying/interviewing in case something significantly better came along?
And what’s the most offers you’ve technically accepted during a single recruiting season before finally settling on one?
Schools obviously hate candidates backing out after accepting, but international schools don’t exactly have a spotless record either when it comes to honoring contracts—offers get withdrawn, positions disappear, packages change, visas fall through, and sometimes the actual job isn’t what was advertised.
And do some schools bring this on themselves? If you’re recruiting internationally but offering an uncompetitive salary, weak benefits, partial tuition, poor housing, or a package well below comparable schools, can you really be shocked when a teacher accepts as a safety net and jumps when a substantially better offer appears?
So where do you draw the line?
At what point is it unethical—and at what point is it simply candidates protecting themselves in a market where schools are protecting themselves too?

Teacher Horizons — does anyone else find the extra filtering frustrating?
One frustration I have with Teacher Horizons is that it adds another layer between the teacher and the school.
I recently applied for a position and received a message explaining that, despite a lot of interest, Teacher Horizons would typically shortlist only 2–3 candidates to send to the school’s recruitment team.
That means you can potentially be filtered out before the school even sees your application.
I’ve decided that if I see a job on Teacher Horizons that I’m genuinely interested in, I’m not going to rely on that application alone. I’ll apply through TH, but I’ll also look for the vacancy on the school’s own website, contact the school directly when appropriate, and check other recruitment platforms.
I understand why recruiters shortlist candidates—that’s part of their job—but as an applicant, I want the school to have the opportunity to decide whether my experience is a good fit.
My takeaway: don’t put all your eggs in one recruitment platform. If you really want a position, use every legitimate route available to make sure your CV actually reaches the school.
Has anyone else found that applying directly to schools gets better results than going through Teacher Horizons or other recruitment platforms?

Just curious how many are still in the job market searching.