Looking Ahead: Rate the Fairs

[joanveronica]

I am looking ahead and deciding which job fair to shoot for. We are a teaching couple and will most likely be registered with Search. We have no IE experience (although my husband's school is registered with ISS-not sure that will count) The fairs/dates are:

Toronto December 11-13, 2015
Melbourne, Australia Jan 3-6, 2016
Bangkok, Jan 8-10, 2016
Hong Kong, Jan 15-17, 2016
Boston, Jan 28-Feb 1, 2016
San Francisco, Feb 12-15, 2016-This would be the cheapest for us to attend-but I hate to wait so late.

Any info/experience with the fairs? I have read bit and pieces of info on this forum, but thought a one stop fair review would be helpful for many of us.

Thanks!

[shadowjack]

Welcome to the exciting and agonizing world of international job searches! I see you have given a bunch of dates. I am assuming this is for ISS fairs, not Search fairs? It helps to clarify.

If you decide to go with ISS (I think the majority of us on here are with Search, with some going with both), keep in mind they also run e-fairs. So you can get a chance to recruit from your kitchen/living room/bedroom.

If ISS follows the Search pattern, the big three, so to speak, are Bangkok, London and then Boston at the end. All the others are to service a local market (i.e. the Hong Kong fair is predominantly Hong Kong, Chinese, or Asian schools, the Melbourne fair is to see if there are viable first time candidates from Australia) or to provide opportunities for those from different areas to make it to a fair (without the fair having the full range of schools found at BKK, London, or Boston).

You might also consider UNI, which is in Iowa and which runs in early February or late January.

If you have the money and are in higher demand areas or are recruiting for admin positions, I might consider going to London. Others opinions might vary.

Good luck!

shad

[Basmad6]

I attended the SF ISS to check it out (had a contract via Skype) and noticed it was mostly high school positions (I'm primary) and quite a few schools either cancelled presentations or attendance altogether. Quite a few Middle East schools were there. I got the feeling I would have walked away empty handed or offers with schools I wasn't really interested in working at unless I was just desperate to go abroad.

I worried about it being the "last stop" on the recruitment tour so I focused quite a bit in contacting my desired schools directly as soon as jobs were posted and even contacted schools who had not posted.

I considered the UNI as I thought it had the most variety of schools attending and Boston as well as I've heard it is well attended by schools but travel/time off would have been way out of budget. Absolutely glad I didn't do Boston because I probably would have gotten stuck with their weather issues.

Perhaps you'll lock in interviews before and won't need to worry about a conference!

[joanveronica]

Thanks the the responses. Shad, the dates are for Search Associates-we will be signing up with them. Basmad6, thanks for sharing--I was suspecting that may be an issue. I like your strategy and will likely go with that. The Bangkok dates work best for us but I read that it is a huge fair and only experienced IEs are invited.

[shadowjack]

Joanveronica,

BKK is a highly competitive fair. I wrote a fair diary on it from recruiting in January 2013. However, if you are considered experienced and in high demand area (HS mathematics with ability to teach calculus, HS science with specialization in one of the three areas) you just might be surprised. If you don't ask, you will never know - and first time international recruits have been invited to Bangkok in the past, so don't rule it out.

There are really only 2 golden tickets for recruiting:

physics chemistry with IB HL/SL experience will get you snapped up by a school really really quickly - or AP experience as a substitute. IB is preferred, but there are schools that will hire and train you. The really top schools want you trained and experienced before, unless you are exceptional :-)

HS Math (not middle school, not grade 9 or 10, but grade 11/12). Experience teaching IB HL/SL or AP is preferred. A good math teacher is really really valuable.

Everything else is variable. Remember - some years very few teachers in an area leave their schools so the number of jobs available is limited. Yet the next year that can change drastically as people move around/return home/retire or new schools open or enrolment goes up.

Good luck and a hint - if you and your spouse are in the same area, it is harder to find positions.

shad

[PsyGuy]

The rule is you go to the best (and earliest)super fair you can get an invite too. Those are in order of most to least competitive:

Bangkok (BKK)
London (LON)
Cambridge (BOS)

The BKK fair is a super fair with SA and ISS, LON is SA and COIS, BOS is SA and ISS. The other fairs are all dump fairs:
Toronto is before the holidays and admins arent really ready.
Melbourne is pretty much for the Australian teachers since their school year starts in March, that and its in Melbourne and not somewhere cool like Sydney (at least its not in Perth).
Hong Kong is just a swap meet with other HK teachers doing the shuffle and some teachers hoping to move over from the mainland.
Boston marks the end of peak recruiting its basically just the mop up, leftovers for those American teachers who didnt get into anything better. Its mostly low tier schools and hardship locations.

UNI (University of Iowa Overseas Teacher Job fair) is mostly S.A. (South America) and Asian schools. UNI doesnt give you the access to the SA or ISS jobs database and has very little utility outside the actual fair. Its also in Iowa in the winter a miserable place to fly into. The fee is pretty low value being valid for one recruiting season.

There is really only one golden ticket and thats demonstrable success in exit level qualification course in the big curriculum (IB/AP/IGCSE/A levels) the subject doesnt really matter.
I do agree with SJ that your teaching expertise for secondary is most marketable when its upper secondary.

[Nomads]

What do you both teach and how many children will be accompanying you? These questions affect how successful you may be at each of the fairs.

[PIEGUY]

'joanveronica':

All the job fairs are ghastly.
Dry clean your suits and slip into your chirpiest service personalities.
Which one to go to? It's like asking which lottery to buy tickets for. Recruiting 'fairs' (a misnomer if ever there was one) are stark examples of raw supply and demand, played out in front of your eyes.
As I said, they're all dreadful, so you may as well bear that in mind as you choose the one that's geographically the most convenient and/or cost effective for you. Some recruiters combine the job fairs with a few days' holiday in their favorite city - and you should follow their professional example.

[heyteach]

My Search associate's response when I asked him which fair to go to was, "The one that has the most positions you are qualified for." Of course he was right; there's no point traveling to an expensive destination if there's only a couple of positions for me.

UNI was my first fair, and there were schools from all over, not just South America or Asia. I had a number of interviews, a good handful of offers, and my first overseas contract. It seemed the recruiters were hiring, rather than scanning the field for future reference. It was a very well-organized fair and they do have a database and a forum for candidates.

[joanveronica]

Thanks for the excellent information. We do not have any "golden tickets". I am K-6 and my husband is K-12 Art and Counseling. He will most likely be the more marketable one. He also has experiential education certification (ropes, challenge courses) and experience building peer counseling and guidance curriculum/programs. He is awesome :) We both have master's degrees and US teaching experience. One dependent.

I will see if we can get an invite to BKK.

[sciteach]

BKK is probably the fair that you should not go too. The only reason I state this is because almost all teachers that attend are either single or teaching couples without kids.

This fair is marketed as a fair that benefits the teachers mentioned below - but I'd still speak to your associate in relation to this. The same might not be applicable for the ISS Bangkok fair that runs one week before the Search Fair.

On a personal note - I liked the Melbourne Fair which has a good range of schools mainly from the asian region. Many of the teachers do not have international experience which gives those with it an advantage. There were some people from other countries (even the US) who came to this fair this year who have not taught internationally. It's a good fair for newbies but if your not in the Asian region I'd go to another fair as the job is not worth the cost of going there.

Also - Melbourne is probably more happening than Sydney. Sydney has a harbour. Melbourne is the sporting, cultural, gastronomic and financial capital of the country (referring to comment above).....

[PsyGuy]

Its true you should go to the fair with the most vacancies but thats still the same plan as going to the earliest (best/most competitive) fair you can get an invite too. Vacancies are filled and when they are gone, they just arent available anymore. If their are 20 art positions available by BKK and 4 get filled at BKK there is only a pool of 16 left. In addition its a place where if you can get an interview even if not hired youve still gotten face time with an admin/recruiter who may be in a position to hire you or help you later, that kind of networking is not something you can get anytime. Many top tier ISs hire out of and from the BKK fair, they dont attend other fairs or they drop their presentations and close recruiting. if you want to pitch too those recruiters you have to go where they are available.

UNI has a sprinkling of other schools from Europe etc, but its mostly a S.A., Asia and ME fair. They do have a database but its ONLY their repped ISs, its nothing compared to the SA or ISS database. The cost is high for one fair with a very limited database for one year.

BKK may be disappointing for you, get the invite and apply to schools and see who will give you an interview before the fair, not just a "stop by our table, wed love to talk with you" but who will commit to a slot if not a time. Then decide if its worth going, if not, dont worry your invite will be snapped up in a matter of hours.

[PIEGUY]

"I am K-6 and my husband is K-12 Art and Counseling."
Move Bangkok to the bottom of your list then, if it's on there.
Feature the counseling prominently, especially if it's college counseling.
Teaching couple in different areas of the school: a plus.
Anything could happen, because there are so many variables at play, but consider the fact that you could easily find yourself walking away with nothing.
Search Associates are quite good at giving measured opinions of your chances.

[Schmedz]

OP have you considered applying directly to schools you like rather than relying on a fair?
I have signed up for several email notifications from schools that I like, and have the top favourites on my favourites list so I can keep an eye on vacancies.
This is how I found a post for August and it's always handy to keep an eye on what posts your 'dream school' is advertising in case there is a chance something suitable will come up when it's time to renew or resign!
Good luck!

[PsyGuy]

I find SA is overly positive in their advise. They tend to say something will be fine or its great, and then when unsuccessful, they just shrug and say it wasnt your time, and then quote the agreement that they can never guarantee you or promise you anything.

Your best option is still too attend the the earliest super fair you can, you can walk away from BOS just as easily as you can from BKK. You will not however have had the opportunity to interview with many of those recruiters, and throughout the month of prime recruiting season your resume is still going to be under consideration.

I agree with Schmedz , you really have to do a lot of the work yourself if you want to do an exhaustive position search. This means identifying schools and regions and checking their employment pages on a regular basis.