The International Schools Review Forum

Ok, I think they go to the fair because they're not ruling out hiring someone there.
You think they are sure they won't hire but want to socialize and shop.

Maybe members who actually recruit can share their insight on the matter.

@Heliotrope

Which is it they go to hire ITs or they go and they might hire ITs while there?

To clarify mine, hiring does happen at the SG fair, its not a zero hire fair, but the number of hires made at that fair is extremely small. Recruiters leadership go to the SG fair for other reasons, but a very small amount of hiring does happen.
Its still a dump fair.

I thought it was very clear.
This was my first reply concerning this:

> ISs don't attend fairs if they already know they don't intend to hire someone, as
> there are costs involved.

Then in my next reply I said:

> And paying the $500 fee is still cheaper than the cost of attending the fair if you're not open to the possibility of hiring."

You kept repeating and repeating your "ISs attending is not the same as ISs hiring".

If they were sure they wouldn't be hiring anyone, they wouldn't attend.

Ah, Heliotrope, but according to PG and others, admin are just on the gravy train of fairs to have nice holidays and a chance to get away (leaving aside that being away, just as if you are a teacher, is MORE work than not being away).

So he posits that admin goes to fairs to go to fairs, not necessarily to hire.

shadowjack wrote:
> Ah, Heliotrope, but according to PG and others, admin are just on the gravy
> train of fairs to have nice holidays and a chance to get away (leaving
> aside that being away, just as if you are a teacher, is MORE work than not
> being away).
>
> So he posits that admin goes to fairs to go to fairs, not necessarily to
> hire.

Exactly. Which makes his logic-twisting defenses of Search all the more puzzling. He even just jumped on a comment of mine describing Search as "controversial" by suggesting that there is no smoke there.

So which is it? Is the recruitment status quo some gravy train for admin travel and broker bottom lines, or is there a consensus in IE that this is the way we should do business?

And I'll save you the precious keystrokes by acknowledging that I've posed a false dichotomy. I just hope you recognize the whiplash-inducing way you bounce from extreme to extreme on this (and other) issues. A little nuance, friend.

In my years of recruiting I have never met a school administrator who is at a recruiting fair to do anything but recruit. There may be some who have done so but I doubt there are many.

A recruiting fair is not a good place to find out "what's going on" because the all or the great majority of administrators are there to recruit. It isn't a good time to catch up. There are much better places to get caught up such as regional conferences and administrative PD.

Recruiters I know don't like going to Fairs so I imagine they will only go to the ones where they will hire.

Cambridge or UNI if you want ME or Asia.

Especially at this fair (SG), which consists of a trivial number of offers and appointments being made. Since there is such a minimal amount of hiring, yet the attendance level at what it is, what do you expect leadership and recruiters to say, they came on the trip not to talk to you the IT but they just came to have some fun and network. Of course this fair is a beneficial location to do that, no ones really hiring. Some fairs recruiting and hiring is exactly the focus of why recruiters are there and its their priority tasking, this isnt one of those fairs.

Because you say so?
The recruiters I know are busy enough to go to a Fair just to catch up with other leadership. They see those at tons of other events and really would not go to a Fair just for that or to go shopping.

"Especially at this fair (SG), which consists of a trivial number of offers and appointments being made. Since there is such a minimal amount of hiring, yet the attendance level at what it is, what do you expect leadership and recruiters to say, they came on the trip not to talk to you the IT but they just came to have some fun and network. Of course this fair is a beneficial location to do that, no ones really hiring."

Dave, you're such a nincompoop. You just blurt and blurt and blurt. SEARCH Singapore is a new fair and only in its second year. As recruitment moves earlier and earlier into the academic calendar, so Fairs like this have the chance to grab more of the hiring action, and later fairs - like ISS in February - will become less and less relevant. The GRC Fair in Dubai in November has grown to the point where it is now offering a Bangkok Fair - also in November. As I remember, you scoffed at the idea of a GRC Fair ever attracting high calibre schools and, consequently, high calibre candidates. But then again, when was your opinion about recruitment ever sensible or relevant?

@Illiane_Blues

No, because its true, the data shows that only a few offers are made.
What do you expect these leaders to say, they attend these REs on their ISs coin so that they can network and socialize, or they go for fun?

@Walter

SG was a dump fair its first year and is a dump fair this year. Yes, GRC know has a Nov fair, and its a dump fair. They arent capturing any significant amount of hiring or contracts. That may change, but it hasnt yet.

I did scoff at GRC because thats what they were when I did so, and as Ive recently posted they have grown and been successful, they are still a dump fair. That was then and this is now. Things change and GRC changed for the better, it could have become nothing as well.

What data, and what source for the data?

Leadership has lots of opportunities to network and socialize at other events. They don't need the Singapore fair to do so. Haven't ever spoken to leadership that actually enjoys going to fairs anyway.

@Illiane_Blues

SA, they do keep track of these things not least for which invoicing, but its also really useful for planning.

No they dont.
No recruiter or leadership "needs" fairs at all. If the leadership and recruiters didnt want fairs, they would poof and disappear.
I still remember the leader who came to the fair to shop, and hired the first 6 ITs she interviewed and accepted.

Ah, please provide a link so I can check.

But fairs do exist so apparently there is a need felt by schools to hire teachers through face-to-face interviews.

All the leadership I know go to conferences and such where they also network and socialize.
One leader coming to shop is anecdotal at best, and that is assuming you're telling the truth.