You are desperate. Two teachers have disappeared suddenly. Another is coming to the end of his contract and studying maps of the world. None of your job ads has produced any response. The school owner will not increase the salaries and the mayor will not bulldoze the city and rebuild it in a more attractive way. You are already having to teach 30 hours a week yourself.

Then through the door walks Fernando. He is from the United States, he claims, though he is a bit vague about his passport and birth certificate. He has a shaven head and an interesting collection of earrings, nose studs and tattoos. He has never taught before. He was surfing in Thailand or meditating in Vietnam or learning the sitar in India, but now his money has run out. He sits in your office in his cut-off denim shorts and car-tyre sandals and rolls himself a joint.

Obviously you would like to start him that afternoon on Tiny Learners, Business English 3 and TOEFL. But the Ghost of DOSes Past is standing at your elbow hissing:

Recruit in haste and repent at leisure!

The problem with teachers is, once you have hired them, you are stuck with them. At the beginning of their first contract you have to pay enormous fees and bribes to the immigration department, the ministry of labour and the police. The teacher may have to make expensive trips outside the country, in order to re-enter with the correct visa. The owner will not be happy if you then decide you do not want the teacher and have to hand over all that money again for a new one (if you can find one). Likewise, if the new teacher does a bunk.

At least with Fernando, you can have a good look at him and get him to do a demo lesson. But what about all those plausible applications over the Internet?

Most DOSes work on the principle that half a loaf is better than no bread. Let us be honest, all the good teachers get jobs in the more desirable countries and schools. If you are the DOS of (say) an EF school in China, you will take anyone with the right passport.

Some DOSes have preferences, such as hiring older people, or women, or Australians, or non-Australians, or people who have worked for certain schools... whatever. But none of these criteria can guarantee a teacher will not turn out to be a disaster.

In the end, it is your call. Here are a few rules of thumb:

1. Ignore all non-ELT qualifications, including those in other branches of education.
2. A bird in the hand is worth several in the bush, ie the dodgy-looking geezer in your office is at least right there on the spot, not thousands of miles and several changes of mind away.
3. Anyone who applies from a Western country and asks too many questions about the weather, food, accommodation, security and mosquitoes will probably not be able to hack it.
4. The most unpromising applicants sometimes turn out OK.

And remember: twelve months can pass in a flash, but it can also seem a long, long time.