The International Schools Review Forum

Don't forget to split up the times for each day, too, so that you do not cross-schedule interviews. Best of luck landing that perfect job!

Thank you for the advice... I did not think about that. It would not be good to schedule an appointment with two different schools at the same time. I beleive this is were a cell phone will come in handy.

From my experience and from what I have heard from others, schools are not hiring at the earliers fairs. I attended the AASSA fair this year and many people left disappointed. Many jobs that were posted on their website were actually not available the day of the fair and many candidates left being told that recruiters still had many other fairs to attend and that they would get back to them.

That's another reason I like UNI: Many of the schools attending have been to other job fairs. They have lost out on some of their top recruits at the early fairs and are starting to be concerned about filling their positions.

I attended the Bangkok Search fair and after getting a job, blew off the Hong Kong fair I had registered for "just in case". Really wouldn't have been worth it anyway as virtually all the schools I was interested in were in Bangkok.

Just wanted to say that the preference for couples was definitely evident, and I was turned away from sign up tables many times with a "sorry, only hiring couples at this time". It made me wonder whether going to a fair that was a little later in the season would have been more productive? Definitely an issue for me as my teaching area is over-supplied.

Still, I got 4 interviews and 2 offers. The portfolio I prepared was VERY useful, though no one looked at all of it, it came in handy several times - especially in demonstrating my organization skills and showing student projects, photos of my classroom activities, coaching, etc. All those hours preparing it were not wasted!

It's sad to hear single teachers are off the list just because they are single, and couples are hired just because they are couples. Who can guarantee a good teacher's spouse is also a good teacher?

Personally, I disrespect schools who can openly say, "sorry, only hiring couples at this time" because to me, they are openly saying, 'the economy is more important than the quality to us.'

The scariest aspect of this insistence on hiring couples over singles is that I hear from more and more people that even the "best" schools are trying to interview couples exclusively. As the last post notes, this is not best practice if the school truly intends to hire the best teachers, as so many of the schools claim. This is merely lowering their own standards to improve their bottom line. Too bad for their students, and for those of us who are not married, yet who are probably the best choice as a teacher for those students :D .

johnwest, I hope you mean "might be the best teachers for those students!"

Yep. Sorry it's so convoluted. Like usual, I am trying to do ten things at once!