The International Schools Review Forum

With all the different new platforms available (TES, GRC, ISS-SCHROLE, ETC) is Search Associates still worth the price?
I used to believe they had the best fairs at the best time, but now I am in doubt.
Seems like lots of people got hired at the GRC fairs and Search is not used as much.

Any opinions on this?
Is it still worth going to a Search Fair?

I think Search is worth it. I've always gotten good jobs with them and I've never even had to attend a fair. I just rely on their data base.

Lots of people, compared to the number who went, did NOT get hired at GRC. It is a cherry picking fair for schools, but many candidates will go with SEARCH, whose database is still the best.

As someone currently looking for a job and with an active account with multiple platforms:

ISS-Schrole: It's inexpensive ($75 for full access, free if you go directly to a specific's school profile to apply), and there are some good schools there. That being said, I've been active since September, and I see WAY more posts on Search than on Schrole. Also, there's some overlap (many Schrole schools are also posting on Search).

TIE Online: I used to like it, but this time around, I see many "dodgy" schools, and everything I've seen in decent schools has also been posted in other platforms. IT is cheap, though ($39)

TES: Absolutely free. Mostly British schools.

Teacher Horizons: I'm liking this one a lot. It's free to use, and I've seen a good amount of decent schools posting here (some Tier 1s even). Mostly it's links that go directly to the school's vacancies website (and you apply directly by yourself). If you have a full profile with references, there are some schools that pay for their services, and for which you can apply, and someone from Teacher Horizons "recommends" you directly to the principal of that school. My old school actually used this service and it seemed to work. I've seen here many postings that are also on Search and/or Schrole.

Search Associates: Search has the best database. And by this I mean not the amount of (mostly "decent" or "semi-decent") schools, but also the fact that you get some useful figures on a school's profile (number of students, teachers, percentage of host students, number of nationalities, salary information with estimated savings, etc). I know that some of these things may not be 100% accurate all the time because schools self-report, but the truth is that most of the times the information is accurate enough. The cost is very high: $225
..............
My own conclusion:

It depends. Both me and my partner are teachers. We had to cough up $450 for Search, as they require both parts of a teaching couple to register. That is, I believe, more than what Search is worth (given there are many alternatives). Search's database is the best, no question about that. However, I don't think I will pay that again, ever...

As a teaching couple, we probably would have been fine if we had just paid $75 for Schrole (only one part of the couple needs to have the full account) and supplemented it with TES, Teacher Horizons or maybe even GRC (I haven't really looked into this, but from what I can tell it is also free).

If I were single: maybe I would pay for Search, and I would probably not bother with any other platform (simply because they have enough schools and jobs that there would not really be a need).

One more note: I don't like that Search is also very picky (depending on the associate). Some associates will pretty much force you to ask a specific line manager within your school to be your reference or not allow you to register or reactivate your account (happened to a colleague of mine). They also close your account as soon as you get a job. I know that the reasoning is that you are no longer looking for a job, but still... As long as you don't breach a signed contract I don't see why they have to lock you out as soon as you get a job. If you have been with them for a while, and you have many references, they actually choose which of your references are actually visible to recruiters. So if you have 15 references, they might only choose 5, and you don't get to choose. They will say that they will choose the ones that they believe best represent your work or whatever, but I personally feel this is just... I don't know, I can't help but feel it sounds very subjective. I understand that lately they also try to charge schools placement fees if you are a Search candidate, independently of whether you applied or were hired through Search. I.e. if a school uses Search and Schrole, and you saw the ad and applied through Schrole, they will still charge the school because you are a Search candidate.

All in all, I simply am not entirely comfortable with the way they do things and do feel that their only "plus" is having a better database that has more info than just vacancies. Is it worth $225? Maybe for a single person, and that's "maybe". For a teaching couple, I would not consider it simply because it's too much money.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

If you're in the UK, Search is completely free (because of the UK law on recruitment agencies not being able to charge candidates.) So for British based teachers, this probably means they should register with Search anyway on the basis that there's nothing to lose for doing so.

I think the obvious answer is it depends. I was all in on this job search and signed up with Search, ISS, and GRC. I signed up with Search because a few schools I was interested in use Search as their primary way of applying, and if we struck out in the early recruiting time period we would have gone to the Search Bangkok fair. There are some good jobs that are not listed on search that I found on ISS and GRC. If you are not planning on going to a Search fair and don't want those few specific schools that only use Search than I wouldn't bother. The database is nice, but not worth the price tag imo.

A lot of schools are hiring early which is why we love the GRC. However, we talked to other candidates at the GRC who were not successful (couple with non-teaching spouse). If I had to do it again I would have waited to sign up with Search after the GRC fair.

You have to remember that Search still has the best database, meaning they have a lot of postings that only appear on Search. Or on Search and some but not all other agencies. If you don't sign up for Search, there are postings that you will not know about.
Yes, it's true that some postings won't appear on Search. But if we all agree Search has the best database, it's the one you lose out on the most if you don't access it.
I'd hate to lose out on my dream job because I never knew it was open.

It sure would be interesting for someone with access to Search, Schrole and maybe GRC or Teacher Horizons to actually harvest the data and then make a direct comparison to see how many posts really are ONLY on Search. I can say that for my specific field, I would estimate that they don't really account for more than 15, maybe 20%. If I have time later I might do the math just as an educational exercise...

It's not the 15 or 20% that matters. It's the one job that would have been yours, but you never had the chance to apply.

Thank you so much for the replies. These have been very useful.

chemteacher101 wrote:
> As someone currently looking for a job and with an active account with multiple platforms:
>
> ISS-Schrole: It's inexpensive ($75 for full access, free if you go directly to a
> specific's school profile to apply), and there are some good schools there. That
> being said, I've been active since September, and I see WAY more posts on Search
> than on Schrole. Also, there's some overlap (many Schrole schools are also posting
> on Search).
>
> TIE Online: I used to like it, but this time around, I see many "dodgy" schools,
> and everything I've seen in decent schools has also been posted in other platforms.
> IT is cheap, though ($39)
>
> TES: Absolutely free. Mostly British schools.
>
> Teacher Horizons: I'm liking this one a lot. It's free to use, and I've seen a good
> amount of decent schools posting here (some Tier 1s even). Mostly it's links that
> go directly to the school's vacancies website (and you apply directly by yourself).
> If you have a full profile with references, there are some schools that pay for
> their services, and for which you can apply, and someone from Teacher Horizons "recommends"
> you directly to the principal of that school. My old school actually used this service
> and it seemed to work. I've seen here many postings that are also on Search and/or
> Schrole.
>
> Search Associates: Search has the best database. And by this I mean not the amount
> of (mostly "decent" or "semi-decent") schools, but also the fact that you get some
> useful figures on a school's profile (number of students, teachers, percentage of
> host students, number of nationalities, salary information with estimated savings,
> etc). I know that some of these things may not be 100% accurate all the time because
> schools self-report, but the truth is that most of the times the information is
> accurate enough. The cost is very high: $225
> ..............
> My own conclusion:
>
> It depends. Both me and my partner are teachers. We had to cough up $450 for Search,
> as they require both parts of a teaching couple to register. That is, I believe,
> more than what Search is worth (given there are many alternatives). Search's database
> is the best, no question about that. However, I don't think I will pay that again,
> ever...
>
> As a teaching couple, we probably would have been fine if we had just paid $75 for
> Schrole (only one part of the couple needs to have the full account) and supplemented
> it with TES, Teacher Horizons or maybe even GRC (I haven't really looked into this,
> but from what I can tell it is also free).
>
> If I were single: maybe I would pay for Search, and I would probably not bother with
> any other platform (simply because they have enough schools and jobs that there
> would not really be a need).
>
> One more note: I don't like that Search is also very picky (depending on the associate).
> Some associates will pretty much force you to ask a specific line manager within
> your school to be your reference or not allow you to register or reactivate your
> account (happened to a colleague of mine). They also close your account as soon
> as you get a job. I know that the reasoning is that you are no longer looking for
> a job, but still... As long as you don't breach a signed contract I don't see why
> they have to lock you out as soon as you get a job. If you have been with them for
> a while, and you have many references, they actually choose which of your references
> are actually visible to recruiters. So if you have 15 references, they might only
> choose 5, and you don't get to choose. They will say that they will choose the ones
> that they believe best represent your work or whatever, but I personally feel this
> is just... I don't know, I can't help but feel it sounds very subjective. I understand
> that lately they also try to charge schools placement fees if you are a Search candidate,
> independently of whether you applied or were hired through Search. I.e. if a school
> uses Search and Schrole, and you saw the ad and applied through Schrole, they will
> still charge the school because you are a Search candidate.
>
> All in all, I simply am not entirely comfortable with the way they do things and
> do feel that their only "plus" is having a better database that has more info than
> just vacancies. Is it worth $225? Maybe for a single person, and that's "maybe".
> For a teaching couple, I would not consider it simply because it's too much money.
>
> Anyway, that's my two cents.


This was great. Thank you for taking the time.

sid wrote:
> It's not the 15 or 20% that matters. It's the one job that would have been
> yours, but you never had the chance to apply.

I've followed ISR for a while and generally agree with stuff you post sid.

However, I think that if we follow your reasoning here, then we should all pay for Search AND Schrole AND TIE online AND every other service because maybe that "one job that would have been yours" is only posted in one of these services and not the others...

I do think it's about the numbers, because we don't have an unlimited budget to simply sign up for every paid recruitment service out there. Particularly if you are a teaching couple... I was simply pointing out that it would be interesting to see the actual numbers of the overlap between the different agencies, simply to know how likely it is for someone to get 80 or 90% of the exposure they would get with Search at only a fraction of the cost.

I do agree with you that Search has the best database. And if you don't mind paying their fee, or the fact that they will choose which of your confidential references will actually be displayed, then go for it!

Search has a great data base for sure but its more than that; the IS recruiters seem to trust Search candidates more than Schrolle candidates for example.

Being registered on Search is definitely worth the money but I'm not so sure about the fairs. I went to a UNI fair once and hated it and that was it for me and fairs.

Fair points all.
My strategy personally is to pay for Search and also sign up for multiple free agencies. The best solution for me with the least risk of missing out.
UNI is the worst of all fairs. Or at least it always used to be. I haven’t tried the newer fairs so I’m not sure how they compare. But true, if UNI is your only measuring stick, fairs look awful.

sid wrote:
> Fair points all.
> My strategy personally is to pay for Search and also sign up for multiple free agencies.
> The best solution for me with the least risk of missing out.
> UNI is the worst of all fairs.

One person's opinion

mysharona wrote:
> sid wrote:
> > Fair points all.
> > My strategy personally is to pay for Search and also sign up for multiple free
> agencies.
> > The best solution for me with the least risk of missing out.
> > UNI is the worst of all fairs.
>
> One person's opinion

When I describe "my strategy personally," that is factual statement, not an opinion.

My claim that this is "the best solution for me" is more of an opinion, true, but I posit I am the most relevant person to have an opinion on "the best solution for me", especially since I am experienced and knowledgeable about recruiting in the international school world. Others are welcome to have opinions about whether my best solution is indeed my best solution, of course, but perhaps they would be better off having opinions about their own best solution.

The statement about UNI is definitely opinion, and since I am a single person, and not even (to my knowledge) suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder, it is correct to say that it is one person's opinion.

Anyway, in case it is unclear, I found it odd that someone found it important to call out my post as "one person's opinion", with no further comment. Did I offend? Did I in some way suggest that I was representing multiple people? Or pretending that my opinion was something other than an opinion?

What exactly was the issue?