hi there,
Thought I'd give a bit of insight to the Cambridge fair. It won't come close to Shadowjack's!

Friday Night:

I arrived on Friday and staying at the hotel where the fair is. So glad I did this as when having downtime or needed a break, it's nice to be so close. That being said, it's a bit overwhelming being surrounded by both recruiters and candidates. They are next to you in the hotel room or all of us in the elevator together. Everyone has been very nice and it's been lovely chatting with others.

I did put handwritten notes, plus my ïchiro and my CV in the mailboxes of the recruiters I wanted to see the next day. In my mailbox, I found a pen from a school and chocolate from a school that was not on my radar but intrigued me a bit. So, I wrote back to her with my documents saying I would like to meet her at the sign-up session.


Saturday:

The next morning at 8:00 am I went down and I thought it would be chaos trying to get in. It really wasn't that bad and you have loads of time to move around the room. There were 2 sign up sessions so it was nice to not feel too rushed. Some of the schools had long lines, but at the most, it was 25 min. Honestly, the room cleared out after 30 minutes so I think one could have waited. However, one school I was interested in politely told me they had no more interview slots left so maybe I waited too long. They did have my note that I put in their mailbox out on the table and they remembered who I was.

Men are in a suite and tie and women are either in dresses or pants and a jacket. I opted for this with a white blouse. Some women seem a bit underdressed, but maybe that's my perception.

There were 3 schools that had my note out on the table that I had put in their box from the night before. They remembered who I was and thanked me for the note. Even if it didn't go anywhere, I do think handwritten notes attached to your CV make a difference. A few of my schools already had their positions filled, but I went to the table anyway to introduce myself as one never knows if something will come up.

One school in China was very happy I put the note in the box. I had written off the school, but the HOS was interested. I went to the school presentation and I was hoping for an email from them about an interview, but as of right now, nothing.

I went to 5 presentations and had 2 interviews that were schools not on my radar. One had sent me an email and I thought why not. The second one was a result of the chocolate in my box.

It's been a good experience thus far and learning alot. I looked around the room and wished I was only 25 and single as I would have so many options to go wherever in the world. Those folks are lucky!

I went very briefly to the cocktail hour as we opted to go for some good seafood while in Beantown. Will write more tomorrow.Good night from Beantown!!

Thank you very much. All great advice!! Ok too if I end up with no interviews either - I know will be a bit disappointing but I am ok with that. I will try to give a little report from Beantown.

@shadowjack

I will. Right now, I only have 10 schools for the moment that I am interested in, but if I break it down, I am really interested in only 5 of them. My odds aren't great, but I will give it my all. And they are spread out from Asia to Europe.... so we shall see.

Ideally, how many schools should one have to try and get an initial interview at least?

@sid
Thank you, will do!!

I actually got my first IT job on my own in France. It wasn't the greatest, but we were a family of 4 and it came with housing. It got me to France. Subsequently, I substituted and was able to get a job at an IS in Paris as a first-grade teacher that is not on the lists here. Hey, that's ok, it was a great experience, loved the students and for the most part the school. I had it a bit easier as I have an EU passport. This time, I am using Search and will attend the fair next week so will see how it goes. I do think using a company is easier for keeping all your documents in one place as you do not have to request references each time. However, sometimes you go out of the realm and do some searching on your own as well.

Good luck.

Sorry, For Boston Fair next week - a question on dropping off a couple CVs the night before. I decided I will do the Ichiro - can't hurt and it's a short summary - I'm going for it! Should I attach a small note to the CV/Ichiro introducing myself and expressing interest in what position I am interested in or do I keep it neutral and just state would like to have an interview for a primary position....... Should the small note be a note card of sorts???

Thank you in advance.

@falloutmike

congrats!! and great summary of fair. Appreciate you taking the time to write it.

Will do. Not sure if I can come close to your play by play, but will give it a go.

This is all a very interesting read.
@sid I was wondering if you could elaborate on the personality issue. What do you look for in balancing out a team?


Someone also wrote about the IT being really really likable in the interview. How does that look exactly to a Head or recruiter? What about the person who is shy? Sometimes their interview skills don't come off as outgoing, but they have a lot of knowledge and skills to offer.Thank you

Wow!Shadowjack! you have some impressive skills. I certainly can't beat that. I am hoping to find a lower primary position and hope my tech skills are at least beneficial and helpful to others and students. It seems IT schools regard highly a variety of skill sets for a technology job which I don't think I am quite there yet. Thanks for the input - much appreciated.

Hi there. I am a Tech. Integration Teacher and I run into the issue all the time that teachers think I am also IT. I know a bit about hardware, but not enough to warrant troubleshooting most issues. We have a technical dept. for that. That being said, I don't feel an IT person can also effectively teach tech. integration to teachers and students. We are responsible for teaching students ways to effectively show content knowledge using a variety of applications, not merely putting them on games. We also help teachers with ways to integrate tech. into their lessons. I learned a lot from Twitter, listen to podcasts and teach myself new things, but I also went back to school to get my Specialist Degree in Media and Instructional Technology so I could move into more of a Coach role.

I started by following many people on Twitter and started using many different Google Tools and iPad applications and the integration just took off from there. It also helps to know basic Coding. I enjoy lessons a lot more with technology integration. Good Luck with your Search!

Thank you! I am just going to see how it goes. Looking forward to at least how it all plays out.

Thank you. This was helpful for someone who will go to the Boston Fair for the first time. I am not looking forward to the frivolity and dog and pony show, but I hope to at least learn some things of how these fairs actually work.

@shadowjack
I apologize for not answering -
I have 7 yrs. experience in international schools in France - jobs I got on my own, this is first Search Fair for me in Boston, I have 3 yrs IB, 17 yrs total. I have a trailing spouse who is retired and has own income and a 17 yr old (1 yr. left of HS) I am mid-50s as well. I am wide open to most places. I am worried the Cambridge Fair will completely throw me for a loop, but excited to have a go at it.

Thank you very much for the details. I will go to the Boston one and keep telling myself, just try and relax, but I am sure it is stressful.