Best Job Fair to Land a Tier 1 School

[Tyshine]

My wife and I landed a tier 1 school at the GRC fair. The schools we interviewed with, all tier 1, said they wanted to finish hiring before Christmas break. Maybe our experience was unique, but for the record we do not teach hard to fill positions or have a ton of experience.

[PsyGuy]

@Heliotrope

No there isnt a lot of variation. We disagree.

[Heliotrope]

Ask a HOS if there can be a lot of difference in quality between teachers on Search, or ask a teacher about his colleagues. I've seen a lot of variation over the course of my career.
I guess you haven't seen this, but that doesn't mean there isn't, as I've seen many examples.

[Nexttrip]

Tyshine wrote:
> My wife and I landed a tier 1 school at the GRC fair. The schools we
> interviewed with, all tier 1, said they wanted to finish hiring before
> Christmas break. Maybe our experience was unique, but for the record we do
> not teach hard to fill positions or have a ton of experience.

I've been an international school educator for nearly 20 years and have worked in Tier 1s all around the world. I tend to enjoy job fairs and face to face interviews to get a sense of the leadership with whom I will potentially work. Here's my experience at my first GRC Fair in Dubai for what it's worth.

I was very impressed with the schools in attendance and the amount of quality positions available, even though it was very early in the recruiting cycle. I was contacted by (what I consider) 7 Tier 1 schools and 1 Tier 2 school for interviews via email before the fair started. I decided to interview with 3 of them based on my personal desired criteria (1 by Skype a few days before the fair) and all 3 at the fair. After the initial face-to-face interview, two of the schools also asked me to interview by Skype with admin back in their countries. I pulled out of one school (my #3 choice), as I knew I would get at least one of the other 2, so didn't want to bother with unnecessary interviews. For the last 2 schools, one position was "tentative" (my #1 choice) as they were waiting for the guy to decide if he would come back or not, however, they told me I had the job if he leaves (and they would know later that night). The other school (my #2) offered me the position and gave me 48 hours to decide. Choice #1 finally got back to me and told me the guy decided to stay and so I accepted my #2 choice. I'm very thrilled as it is a great school in an interesting country.

I'm not sure that I will even bother with ISS or Search in the future as this experience proved to me that schools aren't using those platforms as much (at least this early in the recruitment cycle). It doesn't make sense for schools to use them this early when they can sign quality educators at GRC without the fees that ISS and Search charge. And that's not even talking about the Skype only option that some schools are totally fine with. It was nice that I was able to get a sense of salaries and packages through the platforms, though. If the GRC ever started publishing that information, I would be a full convert.

[Heliotrope]

@Nexttrip

Thanks!
So you happen to have a list of the schools that attended the fair?
I can't seem to find it on their website.

Almost all my dream schools (besides the one I'm at currently) are on the list of GRC schools, so I'm wondering which ones actually attended this fair.

[indogal]

I agree with Nexttrip. I think GRC is definitely worth pursuing. I went to the GRC fair in Dubai last month. I thought they had a great selection of schools available. But, my experience was a bit more challenging.

I had a couple of schools contact me before the fair asking me to set up interviews with them on Saturday. So I was feeling somewhat confident- until I arrived and saw several interviews already happening in the lobby on Friday. I started to freak out a bit then. Even more so when many of the jobs I was hoping to interview for over the weekend had disappeared by Saturday morning before the initial sign up session. However, I went to interview signs ups and got interviews with most of the schools I was interested in. I had several interviews over the next two days and walked away with two offers, and still talking to a few schools. I was offered a couple jobs after the fair as well. In the end, the job I accepted was as a result of the GRC fair. I am thrilled with my new position. The school has been wonderful thus far, which I take as a really good sign.

If you are looking for jobs in Japan or Singapore or Thailand, you may not be happy with the GRC fair, but there are a lot of really good schools in what some would consider "less desirable locations" like the Middle East, Sub-saharan Africa, India etc. in addition to what I would consider to be the premiere schools for their region.

One thing to keep in mind is that competition for the jobs there can be FIERCE. I talked to several people who were feeling dejected about the lack of interviews or offers. But since this fair is only open to people who have already worked at pretty reputable schools, many people have a lot of connections and everybody seemed to be bringing their A- game. I would do another GRC fair, but next time, I would have a better idea what to expect. In my opinion, even more competitive than Search Bangkok.

[Thames Pirate]

I don't know if there is a clear answer. It varies based on year and subject area. While we can all agree that some fairs are better than others (Search Bangkok generally tops Search Dubai in April, for example), there are some years where early fairs are the big winners and other years where schools wait until later in the season. Sometimes schools are quick to snap up art teachers and other years there are pretty much no Tier 1 art jobs available regardless of the fair.

Ultimately fair choice comes down to a judgment call based on timing, schools of interest, resume, recruiting agency preferences, and often travel.

[Thames Pirate]

Maybe because not everyone wants what I do. I don't need to sink to the level you just did and make it about me.

I do love Europe, and for people who something similar to what I do, it's valuable to hear from someone with a like voice--one that is somewhat missing on this forum. But it isn't relevant to this post, and you know it. But hey, if personal attacks are your thing, that's your business.

[reisgio]

Thames, please don't take offense to my post. I just thought it odd that you playing against type with your latest response. I frankly missed hearing about your Eurolife.

[Thames Pirate]

Frankly, it's impossible not to take offence at your prior post. It was directly aimed at me and did nothing to further the thread. If you want to hear about my life in Europe, reread posts or start a thread asking. I am happy to share my experience if it helps, so ask away if you really miss it.

[Nexttrip]

Heliotrope wrote:
> @Nexttrip
>
> Thanks!
> So you happen to have a list of the schools that attended the fair?
> I can't seem to find it on their website.
>
> Almost all my dream schools (besides the one I'm at currently) are on the
> list of GRC schools, so I'm wondering which ones actually attended this
> fair.

I can reliably say there were dozens of Tier 1s and Tier 2s there. But I also noticed that some of the schools who didn't attend contacted candidates via the GRC platform for Skype interviews before, during, or after the fair. I.E., 2 great schools who didn't show for the fair still contacted me for Skype interviews.

[PsyGuy]

What I see GRC as doing i pushing the issue of recruiting outside of SA doent involve paying SAs invoicing and GRC may give ISs more leverage to push back and draw that line in the sand.