Bangkok Job Fair

heyteach · Post by **heyteach** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 9:12 pm

Although I'm not job hunting this year, I've been on pins and needles reading about your adventures at the fair. It's been a vicarious thrill and I would like to add my congratulations.

inman · Post by **inman** » Fri Jan 11, 2013 9:39 pm

Fantastic news Shadowjack. Really happy for you. After all the effort you've put into the updates that is the happy ending I was hoping to read about. The tension sounds painful though.

Thanks again for your hard work and good luck to you.

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 12:03 am

Well done shadow jack!

I have to say the story ain't complete without the where and with whom, but I understand your privacy.

I had a very similar experience at UNI that landed me my current job--phone call on the last day. I have really enjoyed it.

sangster2 · Post by **sangster2** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:46 am

I am so happy you got a job. I was nervous too when you called up the hotel room and had a tear in my eye when you signed contracts.

I will be going to London in a few weeks and needed the happy ending to boost my morale.

DCgirl · Post by **DCgirl** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:26 am

The Bangkok fair was one of the most stressful experiences in my life. I got down to the end of the process with a school that was high on my list only to lose out to a couple. I had many interviews. I thought a lot of them went very well and was surprised when I got the rejection slips in my box. I talked to so many people in the same boat. One that I thought wasn't particularly brilliant seemed to be the one with the most potential at the end. I think it's still mine if I want it. Lots of people accepted jobs-singles and couples but almost everyone went thru some level of grief. This is not a one interview fair. You can expect 2 or 3 interviews, maybe a Skype, and some hard questions.

Almost every person who attends this fair is an experienced international educator. Competition is intense!! For everyone. Organization was brilliant. The social was also very nice. There was lots of networking. I think I would have been better off going to a later fair, but I think I made valuable connections here. There was hiring but the recruiters are also willing to walk away from you and take a gamble that they'll find something in the upcoming fairs.

cdn · Post by **cdn** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:36 am

DC Girl (or anyone else) - Are you able to provide examples of some of the questions they asked? I've seen another list posted on here before, but I'm curious about ones that were recently asked...and what made them particularly difficult.

durianfan · Post by **durianfan** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:40 am

Some of the questions were difficult but nothing really threw me. One recruiter just asked me what he would see if he popped into my class one day: "Students come in, they sit down....what happens?" Another asked me to explain my resume since I had a few stints where I only stayed a year of two. Another asked me some very specific questions about curriculum building and how I teach MYP and how my teaching methodologies align with the school's philosophy. If you do your research on the school you'll be fine, but if you're interviewing with 7-8 schools it's really hard to keep track of them all.

Simply put, you need to be experienced and know your stuff to do well in this fair. But I saw many grim faces in the candidate lounge on that last day. "I'm waiting on 2 schools that I had second interviews with"..."It's between me and two other candidates"..."I received 4 rejection slips this morning" --- these were typical conversations.

I met a guy during the social who had worked for 3 years in Kuwait, 6 years in Shanghai, and during this fair he said that the big schools finally looked at him. You definitely need to put your time in (or get lucky) if you want those top tier schools.

sangster2 · Post by **sangster2** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:55 am

Luck I think really. We got into one a few years ago, just because it seemed we were the perfect match in terms of subjects and one of our references said something that made us stand out to the director. We hadn't even applied to the school, they asked us for an interview. I know we were just lucky at the time.

Most of the teachers just move from one top tier school to another, it's just like the schools exchange teachers each year. If you say you are moving to Bangkok, they just think ISB? It's like there are no other schools.

Some of the teachers I work with aren't anything special either but they know how to sell themselves.

wrldtrvlr123 · Post by **wrldtrvlr123** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:42 am

[quote="DCgirl"]The Bangkok fair was one of the most stressful experiences in my life. I got down to the end of the process with a school that was high on my list only to lose out to a couple. I had many interviews. I thought a lot of them went very well and was surprised when I got the rejection slips in my box. I talked to so many people in the same boat. One that I thought wasn't particularly brilliant seemed to be the one with the most potential at the end. I think it's still mine if I want it. Lots of people accepted jobs-singles and couples but almost everyone went thru some level of grief. This is not a one interview fair. You can expect 2 or 3 interviews, maybe a Skype, and some hard questions.

Almost every person who attends this fair is an experienced international educator. Competition is intense!! For everyone. Organization was brilliant. The social was also very nice. There was lots of networking. I think I would have been better off going to a later fair, but I think I made valuable connections here. There was hiring but the recruiters are also willing to walk away from you and take a gamble that they'll find something in the upcoming fairs.[/quote]
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Congrats to those who found positions. I've been on both sides of the equation when leaving fairs. BKK in particular has not been kind to us. Always lots of interviews, then leaving the fair with no job in hand but contacts made and at least the hint of further consideration by a few schools.

Hang in there, keep pursuing any relevant leads and something good will work out for you. As we say in our family, it always works out, just not how you might have envisioned it.

calciodirigore · Post by **calciodirigore** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 11:18 am

I also congratulate you shadowjack. Best of luck and thanks for the postings.

I would like to mention one thing about bangkok to get your opinion...

Everyone says that it's incredibly stressful and this and that, that even great candidates struggle - which I completely agree with. However, the two weakest candidates that i know, great people but universally considered the worst teachers at my school, landed jobs at a near/close/almost/regarded by some to be a top tier school on the first day of the fair. No dp or myp experience either. I was very happy for them, but seriously?

Did any one hear of these types of silly hires?

Might sound like I'm being overly skeptical, but makes you wonder.

durianfan · Post by **durianfan** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 1:32 pm

^They either teach very in-demand subjects or multiple subjects, or the school isn't top tier. Which school (if you dare to name it)?

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:58 pm

They might have interviewed really well. They might have friends already at the school. There are so many variables that it is hard to say. Be happy for them. When you go to a top school you are working your a$$ off - and if you have weaknesses, they get magnified quickly, which is why they want dynamic, proactive teachers in their classrooms.

PsyGuy · Post by **PsyGuy** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:46 pm

@calciodirigore

You dont really get asked to demo or prove your teaching ability at a fair. They assume if you got in the door that your a great teacher. The fair interviews, are about the recruiters determining fit and to see if they like you. Which is why i advise when going to a fair the most important thing for you to do is to be really likable.

Bangkok Job Fair

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