Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

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indogal
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 3:33 pm

Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by indogal »

I am looking to move on from my current school and plan to recruit next school year for the 2020-2021 academic year. I will be registering with Search (again- sigh) and am wondering which job fair to attend.

I am looking for a Tier 1 school with American curriculum. I have taught internationally for several years, but mostly in middle school, and have never been IB/MYP trained. So I am hoping for a large American school in Southeast Asia or the Middle East.

My thoughts are:
East Asia in October - I know this is a new fair. I feel its awfully early & recruiters will be picky. However, for some schools who like to finish recruiting as early as possible, this may be a great opportunity to hire early & get it done. Possibly a chance to get a jump on the competition? Anyone have any idea which schools attended last year?

Latin America in November - I think this might just be for those who want South America. Seems awfully small...

Dubai in November - Again, quite early & I think mostly middle east schools attend, not many from Southeast Asia, although I could be wrong...

Toronto in December- I have no information on this one at all. Anyone know anything about it?

Then there's the big three:
Bangkok - Always a stressful madhouse, but with some great schools in attendance, but I feel they are sometimes reluctant to offer jobs on the spot, sometimes saying - we have to go to London/Cambridge before we can offer anything (or maybe that's just a polite brush off)

London- Again, rather a stressful madhouse- seems to geared more to British International schools and people with IB/MYP/PYP experience

Cambridge - A lot of great school attend, but a bit late in the game. I feel like by now, a lot of the good jobs are gone & the top tier schools only go to fill positions like IB physics, etc. The flip side is that a lot of less experienced teachers attend this fair, so maybe someone with more international experience might stand a better chance?

Obviously, the dream is to be hired over Skype prior to Winter Break and not have to attend any job fair, but if I could only afford to attend one, which is my best bet for a top tier school? I imagine it may be one of these three: The early one in Asia (Singapore in October), Bangkok in January or Cambridge in February.

Can anyone who has recently been hired by a top tier school (or knows someone who has) shed any light on which fair they attended?

Any ideas or insight is appreciated! Thanks!
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by Heliotrope »

Can you tell us some more about yourself (basically a summary of your CV)? It would make it easier to comment on which fair would be best for you.
What subjects and grades can you teach? Do you have a Masters? Leadership experience? How much experience do you have, at how many (domestic and international) schools, what caliber school are at now? What more do you bring to the table? (MUN, coaching sports, etc.)
That sort of stuff.

And what grades do you want to teach? Most tier 1 schools have the IB DP for their last two years of high school, so you'd be at a disadvantage there, but for Middle School you'd be fine without IB experience.

I was hired by a tier 1 school (or 'what most would consider tier 1', as there's no official list) at the London Fair, but I had lots of IB experience. Bangkok might be your best bet, if your CV makes you competitive enough.
And are you based in Asia right now? Are Singapore and Bangkok short and cheap flights from where you are?
If so, why not do both Singapore and Bangkok? Not sure what caliber schools attend the Singapore fair, but there might be a few interesting ones.
PsyGuy
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

The rule is you go to the most competitive fair you can get an invite too.

The East Asia fair is at the end of the AY in SG, which has an English speaking population of DTs. Its a regional dump fair. ISs on the circuit arent recruiting that early, they dont even know who is returning and who isnt. Its not how early recruiting works.

LCSA fair is a regional dump fair. Anyone thats anyone is going to be at BKK for the leadership fair.

Dubai is a ME regional dump fair.

Toronto is the CAN recruiting fair, its a regional fair, but its heavily attended by CAN DTs its basically the equivalent of BOS, but CAN ISs are a niche in IE.

BKK is two things; First, the meet and greet for those that were/are being early recruited and first night recruiting. Second, for those ho are top pick candidates. Yes, more and more ISs are holding off on offers, but it doesnt matter. There ill be offers made and accepted and once their gone it doesnt matter hat you do or ho you are. This is the best opportunity to get face time with those top tier recruiters and leadership. Even those ISs that do hold off, often eventually make an offer to one of their early interviews candidates. Getting a first day early interview slot at BKK is a very strong position to be in. This is the super fair run back with the ISS fair.

LON its the IB and the EU recruiting fair, and super fair run back with the CIS fair.

BOS late for tier 1, but if your a match for an IS that is recruiting you can be the big fish.

BKK is the choice. Youre better off attending the regional HK fair in January then you are the SG fair in October.
indogal
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 3:33 pm

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by indogal »

Thanks for the responses.

To answer your questions: I am a middle school teacher with over 20 years experience. Half in my home country, half internationally. I teach maths & science, mainly in middle school, but have done a couple high school classes (pre IB)

I do have a masters and have held leadership positions (head of department, team leader, etc). I've worked at top tier school before, but took a second their school to teach in Europe, and now I'd like to be back at a really strong school again.

I was thinking Bangkok might be the way to go, but it is SO competitive and I'm only a middle school teacher. I feel this is when they're really looking for the power teaching couples; I'm single with a trailing spouse (and I'm not even sure I would qualify, must ask my Search person)
I was also thinking Cambridge because its late int he recruiting season and I would only have to go if I hadn't found anything by then
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by sid »

Push the middle school thing. Some of the good schools are smart enough to actively look for middle school teachers who prefer those squirrelly, oddball, special middle school kids. If you love that age and are good at teaching them, there’s no “only” about it.
And don’t write off IB schools just because you haven’t done it yet. If you’ve done your research and have a similar mindset, it’s never too late.
interteach
Posts: 210
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:25 pm

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by interteach »

It's not a Search fair, but you might want to consider the GRC fair in the autumn. Some top schools have earlier dates for current teachers to indicate if they are returning or not, and this can be a popular fair for schools to get earlier recruiting done. This can be especially true of larger top schools who will often have a larger number of positions to fill and like to finish recruiting as early as they can.
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by Heliotrope »

An invite for the SA Bangkok fair shouldn't be a problem, and given that you're aiming for a tier 1 Asian school, it would be your best bet. You could have the Cambridge fair as a backup, and you might land a job before either of those.
IE_sciteacher
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:05 pm

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by IE_sciteacher »

Im in a similar situation, recruiting next year and trying to figure out the plan. I have the same question of what fair to attend and also how competitive are we (teaching couple) to the top tier of schools. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Background
- teaching couple both with 6 years of teaching experience at two different IB schools (3 years at each school)
- PYP PE teacher with a masters, Grade Level Leader experience and IB curric development work
- Secondary Science with a masters, DP Bio and Chem, MYP 2-5 Gen Sci and HOD
- both of us coach various sports
- Looking for Europe ideally

I know we have pieces of valuable experience but are unsure if it would be enough to get an interview. Also, how often do those schools sign before the fairs or do most of them want to have a face to face interview for whatever reason.
PsyGuy
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@indogal

There is nothing wrong with being a really strong middle/junior school IT. MYP is less difficult to adapt to than PYP, its more prescribed than it was but its not something thats difficult to figure out your first year.

I wouldnt consider GRC, but it has grown from its inception. The problem though is cost if you can only afford (coin and time) only one either the BKK or the GRC than hands down, dont even have to think about it, go to BKK.

You wont have an issue getting an invite to BKK,

@IE_sciteacher

If its the EU or boost you ill ant to go to the LON fair (CIS and SA) if its 1st tier or bust than you will want to go to the BKK (ISS and SA) fair. You wont have a problem getting invites for either.

Early recruiting is about 60/40, about 40% want to do a meet and greet for first night recruiting at a fair. If your willing to do that you have better utility than if it has to be a done deal without fair attendance. It an IS has two candidates, the first place candidate isnt going to a fair and the second place candidate is willing to meet and greet at a fair an IS is more likely to wait to meet with the second candidate before making a decision and the second place candidate is more likely to get the actual offer.
indogal
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 3:33 pm

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by indogal »

@Psyguy

Earlier in this thread you said about the Search Fair in Singapore in October:

"The East Asia fair is at the end of the AY in SG, which has an English speaking population of DTs. Its a regional dump fair. ISs on the circuit arent recruiting that early, they dont even know who is returning and who isnt. Its not how early recruiting works."

However, I have just checked the schools attending and there are some top tier schools on the list. I think that as schools begin recruiting earlier and earlier, this may be a chance for both educators and schools to get some early recruiting done. Rather than being a "dump fair" I think it may now be the start of the recruiting season
expatscot
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:26 am

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by expatscot »

Just a thought on BKK - Search advertise this as being the fair for admin positions and teaching couples. Is that still the case?
Spedguy
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Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 6:59 am

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by Spedguy »

BKK has two fairs. One occurs in November and is coined the "Leadership Fair" (This is on the SEARCH website). The teacher BKK fair occurs in January and is a trifecta of "super" fairs. You can research until your eyes pop out of your head about everyone's opinion on these fairs. Ultimately, I and several fellow (not Psyguy) teachers here say it is about 2 things: 1. How close are you to BKK-LON-BOS and 2. How many of the school/area you wish to work/live at are at the fair.

The thing is unless you blow a recruiter out of the water, they probably are hesitant at hiring at BKK since LON/BOS happen after and they know they have a pool of candidates they will be interviewing there as well. BKK/LON are probably the most competitive and those "Tier 1" schools will probably be at both BKK/LON. The difference is the Tier 2s vary so if you want a better shot at working in Asia BKK is probably a good choice while LON attracts smaller Tier 2 schools due to proximity.

If I were you, hit up the website and see the schools attending. No use in going to a fair with 3 schools you wish to work at rather than perhaps 10 at another.
interteach
Posts: 210
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:25 pm

Re: Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

Post by interteach »

Expatscot: The January fair can also be for single teachers if Search decides that you're a competitive candidate. Asking never hurts.

Completely agree with everything Spedguy said. Select the fair that has the schools that interest you the most. Would also add that on the whole a larger fair (Bangkok, London, Cambridge) can work to your advantage as you may find other schools that you weren't previously considering become worth your time.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@indogal

Its not, ISs attending is not the same as ISs hiring, its a dump fair.
Yes, ISs are recruiting earlier, but its not that early yet. western ISs are still just starting their AYs they may be collecting notices of intent but they havent formulated that into a recruiting needs list of vacancies.

@expatscot

Depends on what you mean by leadership. SA has a leadership fair in November thats in BKK for senior and executive leadership. Thats the fair to go to if you are defining leadership as reports, resources managed, and peer deliverables. The BKK fair in January is more the leadership fair if your defining it as HODs, coordinators, etc. Its the first and the start of the peak recruiting season and is a super fair.

The problem with @Spedguys position is you have to get invites and plans for attending those fairs well before there is a meaningful or accurate list of what ISs will be their actually recruiting and hat vacancies will still be open by the time the fair starts. The only real certainty is that as fair season progresses, appointments are made and vacancies close, thus the sooner you can get in front of those vacancies, when those vacancies are fixed and determined the better. If you go to LON and X vacancies have been filled you cant go back to BKK when they were available.
I disagree in part with @Spedguy, ISs do make appointments at BKK and early fairs, because there are ITs that blow the recruiter out of the after, and their appointments made as part of early and first night recruiting and you might only have one chance to get in front of that recruiter or leadership in a given year, and there are elite tier ISs that can go a year or to and not have to recruit anyone.
I do agree with @Spedguy that tier 2 differences in ISs is a significant factor between fairs.

The BKK fair (January) is for whoever is marketable and competitive enough given the ISs and the candidate demographics. Single, couples, couples with families, single ITs with trailing spouses and dependents, if your value and utility is high enough you can get an invite.
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: Reply

Post by Heliotrope »

PsyGuy wrote:
> Its not, ISs attending is not the same as ISs hiring, its a dump fair.

Well, it sort of is.
ISs don't attend fairs if they already know they don't intend to hire someone, as there are costs involved.


> Yes, ISs are recruiting earlier, but its not that early yet.

There are some upper tier 1 schools that were already advertising multiple vacancies for 2020-2021 a month ago.
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