Looking Ahead: Rate the Fairs

[Vernacular]

The original post specifically asks for advice on the fairs:

"I am looking ahead and deciding which job fair to shoot for...Any info/experience with the fairs?" etc.

Presumably anyone with half an ounce of intelligence and/or initiative would be exploring all the other avenues for finding jobs, including direct applications, TES, TIE, ad infinitum. Search Assoc actively caution people that the Bkk fair is really only for candidates with previous I.B. experience.

[joanveronica]

Thanks vernacular. I know the fairs are only part of the job search. For some they are a big part, some a small part, and some no part. I am hoping we can get jobs without going to a fair, yet realistic that a fair may help us.

Shadowjack, I tried looking for your 2013 BKK fair diary. Is there a way I can find that thread?

[shadowjack]

Hi Joanveronica,

here is the link: http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... shadowjack

It was my first job fair, although we have been overseas awhile.

To update, Mrs. Shadowjack is now happily teaching at our school and loving it. We are staying for year 3 and I suspect longer. We really like the students overall and the location is decent, plus package is good :-)

Hope this helps,

shad

[joanveronica]

Thanks Shad! That was very very detailed and exciting!!

[shadowjack]

You are welcome. The school hired Mrs. Shadowjack after her certification and we are staying put. We really like the school and where we are. We've also been around long enough to know that greener grass is often a myth.

[PsyGuy]

Its only a myth if you dont find it.

[shadowjack]

But so many people move on from a school with little annoyances to a school in their "dream location" or their "dream school" only to find out the reality is very different from their dream. Sometimes you can go back - other times you can't.

[PsyGuy]

The greater error is the regret of not pursuing your dreams. I would rather find the truth and discover the reality whatever it may be than regret not discovering what could be. The risk of disappointment isnt going to scare me away from wanting the destination, and some, a few, really do get the storybook ending, forever ever after.

<Que Disney movie theme music>

[shadowjack]

My point is that sometimes what pushes people on is the lure of greener horizons that whisper "better", but never deliver. I've been around long enough to know that sometimes that bird in the hand is better than you might think, and the one in the bush is really a crow. Also seen that happen to friends who sought greener pastures not because they were unhappy, but because they fixated on something else that turned out to be a shiny glass bauble rather than a diamond.

Just my 2 halalas and everybody's experience varies.

[PsyGuy]

I dont disagree, some times the "better" turns out to be nothing more than wishes on the wind, a mirage of the heart, and pixie dust, but some times is not all the time, some times the fairytale "better" is real.

~What if all of your dreams were not possible, but true.~

[jbiersteker]

We found Toronto to be mostly ME schools.

[shadowjack]

jbiersteker! Are you staying put for year 3? Happy in your choice? I suspect we are where we are for a few more - quite enjoying it overall.

[mamava]

My husband had been an MS humanities teacher before doing admin (dean, principal, communications) before wanting to return to the classroom. The first feelers we put out were positive, but there was a pretty consistent concern about his time out of the classroom. Bangkok was the closest fair for us at that time, so we registered. Then friends told us about Melbourne--it really wasn't that much more to tack that onto the Bangkok fair so we decided to do both since they're back to back. Melbourne was great for our first fair--lots and lots of experienced teachers, but not many with international experience. Coming from a big tier 1 school we stood out very positively. The negative was that once they found out we would be at Bangkok many school wanted to wait before offering things. Because we had heard a consistent of needing classroom experience again message, we decided not to be too picky and ended up in Saudi--great money and we knew we'd only be here for a short time. Worked out for us--we were here 2 years and are moving onward and upward.

When we got to Bangkok I was astonished at how "game-on" it was. Everyone in suits, everyone very focused, very intense. We had interviews from Melbourne going into Bangkok as well, but I was glad that BKK wasn't my first job fair. I would have been really stressed.

Melbourne is not really near anywhere, but there were a lot of top tier schools as well as a variety of others. The asset for us was that our experience overseas with a good school made us stand out. That was a huge factor for our confidence and comfort. If you can find a fair with that feel, go for it--but don't shy away from the big fairs, either, if Search accepts you. I worked with 4-5 teachers that had 3-5 years of US only experience (elementary, learning support, MS humanities, and music) and were hired at our tier 1 school.

[mamava]

Also, in all cases, we applied to all schools directly as well before the fair season. Our goal is always to catch a job before the fairs! We had 2 interviews at different schools before taking the job this year (before the job fair) and all of them were schools that we had interviewed at 2 years before and were told "not current classroom experience" so that felt great, too--we had made a positive impression and were remembered. I would always recommend targeting schools and working (and it is HARD work) to make contact and get hired before the fairs, but also knowing that you may well end up at one anyway.

[PsyGuy]

@mamava

You went to Melbourne and you ended up in the Kingdom (and it wasnt a first tier school), thats not a success story, you can get those results with direct application and a virtual interview.