Sorry! Forgot to add that crucial bit of info! It was the London Search fair 16-20 January.

agree about the interview sign up process. So crowded. Luckily I only had 2 schools in the Angola- Japan section and the rest were downstairs, which I found slightly less crowded.

Where are you guys headed?

USA. East coast.

I am also writing my experiences here, since in previous posts, people said it was quite helpful and I remember reading reviews beforehand and those made the fair a lot less stressful for me.

I came from one hour away by train so arrived around 8. In my opinion, arriving that early wasn't necessary. I wish I'd slept more!
I had an interesting time at the fair because I had already had a first interview with a school in the US via the search website a day earlier and they wanted to interview me again before the fair or during the first day/ evening of the fair, in case I found other positions. So in this sense the fair's timing worked really well for me! ( By the way, this ends well: I accepted the post at the school 'out of fair' in the end after a second interview on Friday night).
So back to Friday morning. Arrived, cloakroom, registration, candidate mail room to check messages. None but I had had a queue jumping slip sent to my email a few days before from a school in China.
As a teacher from a state school in the UK I was immediately struck by how friendly people were, how they talked to anyone who was next to them and engaged in very positive and supportive conversations about schools. People really were from all over, from other state school teachers like me with no IB experience to experienced teaching couples (a trend I noticed: the wife was doing all the planning, the husband was catching up on some sleep!), accompanying partners, etc.
As someone with international school experience as a child, I felt I had landed. It was another world from the pressures of my school and the negativity that plagues many state schools in England at the moment. I felt anything could happen.
Went to look at vacancies in the big candidate lounge. Obviously I was hoping for the school from Skype to make me an offer that evening but still sent messages to about 7 schools.
Then a long period of waiting for interview sign up. Again, I wish I'd arrived later. Wifi was very temperamental with that amount of people but I was OK with it for most of the time. Hotel was a fantastic venue, I thought. Very spacious. Loved the urgent email about the guy who had been taking CVs and messages out of a school's file and how we should watch out for these people.
Interview sign up session: make a clear list of where the schools are, ie. upper room, lower room, so you can complete the process quickly. You do not want to be in there too long! I saw one person trying to get in without a badge. They told her to go. I went to the schools I had sent messages to. Most had added 'IB required' on their posters so I knew I wouldn't be successful. They mostly said , sorry, IB required, or you need a degree in the subject you teach etc. China school gave me an interview early on Sunday. Another school in the ME said they would send me on IB training and it seemed like a great place to be with a really friendly Head but was worried about opportunities for my non teaching partner. Still had a good feeling about it in case the Skype interview didn't work out so signed up for interview slot on Saturday.
I was done with the sign up session fairly quickly so went to stay with a friend and prepared for my Skype interview, which happened in the evening and went very well. They made an offer and I accepted the next morning.
I then emailed the two schools I was due to interview with. The one from the ME sent me a really nice reply saying too bad as they were looking forward to speaking to me. The other one didn't acknowledge, but it was quite a large school so probably a lot of interviews that day.
After a relaxed morning updating search profile to Hired as instructed by Gez and the associate, I went back to the fair to file the paperwork about accepted offers/ fair evaluation and return my badge. I also visited my associate for the fair in their room and thanked them for the advice and for providing such a great service. They congratulated me and told me to keep in touch and to let them know when I wanted my file re-activated. Saturday seemed a lot more chilled out at the fair, people mostly in elevators going up and down for interviews, asking questions or just wanting to know how your fair went, recruiters too, which I thought was nice. Candidate lounge was fairly quiet so some were having skype interviews there and others were just working. I spent an hour or so there, before leaving to have dinner with friends and then went home.
I thoroughly recommend the fair because I could have possibly gotten a second offer on that Saturday and even though i did not have IB experience, some schools were willing to train you. Mostly I felt it was an extremely positive and uplifting experience and that the people attending were educators as opposed to parts in a big wheel, which is the way you can feel in a big state school with government pressures beyond your control. I felt from hearing parts of a skype interview a couple was having next to me that recruiters were talking about family a lot and getting to know the person and not just the skill. I therefore felt a lot more positive about entering this job market and I don't think I'll look back. This might seem obvious to someone who is already on the IS scene but for me, it was a breath of fresh air.I love the students at my current school but the pressure on teachers at the moment is a nightmare. Two friends teaching in Germany told me they were going to the fair next year as a married couple and I said they would probably be very successful. Although I technically didn't get a job through the fair, I felt I could have, and this was very different from how I felt in the weeks preceding the fair. I was set on staying in my current school after a string of unsuccessful applications and no acknowledgements but as a colleague at my current school said, 'it only takes one school'.

Congrats Blue Jay!

I am also writing my experiences here, since in previous posts, people said it was quite helpful and I remember reading reviews beforehand and those made the fair a lot less stressful for me.

I came from one hour away by train so arrived around 8. In my opinion, arriving that early wasn't necessary. I wish I'd slept more!
I had an interesting time at the fair because I had already had a first interview with a school in the US via the search website a day earlier and they wanted to interview me again before the fair or during the first day/ evening of the fair, in case I found other positions. So in this sense the fair's timing worked really well for me! ( By the way, this ends well: I accepted the post at the school 'out of fair' in the end after a second interview on Friday night).
So back to Friday morning. Arrived, cloakroom, registration, candidate mail room to check messages. None but I had had a queue jumping slip sent to my email a few days before from a school in China.
As a teacher from a state school in the UK I was immediately struck by how friendly people were, how they talked to anyone who was next to them and engaged in very positive and supportive conversations about schools. People really were from all over, from other state school teachers like me with no IB experience to experienced teaching couples (a trend I noticed: the wife was doing all the planning, the husband was catching up on some sleep!), accompanying partners, etc.
As someone with international school experience as a child, I felt I had landed. It was another world from the pressures of my school and the negativity that plagues many state schools in England at the moment. I felt anything could happen.
Went to look at vacancies in the big candidate lounge. Obviously I was hoping for the school from Skype to make me an offer that evening but still sent messages to about 7 schools.
Then a long period of waiting for interview sign up. Again, I wish I'd arrived later. Wifi was very temperamental with that amount of people but I was OK with it for most of the time. Hotel was a fantastic venue, I thought. Very spacious. Loved the urgent email about the guy who had been taking CVs and messages out of a school's file and how we should watch out for these people.
Interview sign up session: make a clear list of where the schools are, ie. upper room, lower room, so you can complete the process quickly. You do not want to be in there too long! I saw one person trying to get in without a badge. They told her to go. I went to the schools I had sent messages to. Most had added 'IB required' on their posters so I knew I wouldn't be successful. They mostly said , sorry, IB required, or you need a degree in the subject you teach etc. China school gave me an interview early on Sunday. Another school in the ME said they would send me on IB training and it seemed like a great place to be with a really friendly Head but was worried about opportunities for my non teaching partner. Still had a good feeling about it in case the Skype interview didn't work out so signed up for interview slot on Saturday.
I was done with the sign up session fairly quickly so went to stay with a friend and prepared for my Skype interview, which happened in the evening and went very well. They made an offer and I accepted the next morning.
I then emailed the two schools I was due to interview with. The one from the ME sent me a really nice reply saying too bad as they were looking forward to speaking to me. The other one didn't acknowledge, but it was quite a large school so probably a lot of interviews that day.
After a relaxed morning updating search profile to Hired as instructed by Gez and the associate, I went back to the fair to file the paperwork about accepted offers/ fair evaluation and return my badge. I also visited my associate for the fair in their room and thanked them for the advice and for providing such a great service. They congratulated me and told me to keep in touch and to let them know when I wanted my file re-activated. Saturday seemed a lot more chilled out at the fair, people mostly in elevators going up and down for interviews, asking questions or just wanting to know how your fair went, recruiters too, which I thought was nice. Candidate lounge was fairly quiet so some were having skype interviews there and others were just working. I spent an hour or so there, before leaving to have dinner with friends and then went home.
I thoroughly recommend the fair because I could have possibly gotten a second offer on that Saturday and even though i did not have IB experience, some schools were willing to train you. Mostly I felt it was an extremely positive and uplifting experience and that the people attending were educators as opposed to parts in a big wheel, which is the way you can feel in a big state school with government pressures beyond your control. I felt from hearing parts of a skype interview a couple was having next to me that recruiters were talking about family a lot and getting to know the person and not just the skill. I therefore felt a lot more positive about entering this job market and I don't think I'll look back. This might seem obvious to someone who is already on the IS scene but for me, it was a breath of fresh air.I love the students at my current school but the pressure on teachers at the moment is a nightmare. Two friends teaching in Germany told me they were going to the fair next year as a married couple and I said they would probably be very successful. Although I technically didn't get a job through the fair, I felt I could have, and this was very different from how I felt in the weeks preceding the fair. I was set on staying in my current school after a string of unsuccessful applications and no acknowledgements but as a colleague at my current school said, 'it only takes one school'.

Thanks, very helpful. Looks like I've been wasting my time doing all these separate applications!

What do you put in an email to the school if you apply via the search website? I've sent a few but have never had a reply so decided to apply by following their instructions on their own website instead.

Thanks. I'm pretty much open to anywhere as long as my academic but non teaching partner can find something related to physics. My lack of IB experience and having a non teaching partner will probably be a problem but I'll try my best. There's always the spring fair if I don't get anything. And failing that I can always stay at my school one more year but I'll probably feel different after our upcoming Ofsted inspection! Will try to update although I'm not staying at a hotel but with a friend so may not have time!

Thanks for the quick replies! I was really pleased with having managed to fit it all on one side so I'm glad it's not a problem. Good idea about the pictures. However given my reputation at school for ridiculous looking thumbs up pictures I might leave that!

Hi

I'm going to the London fair for the first time this January. Thanks for all the information you provided on this topic. I have a question. The candidate update states you have to bring a two sided A4 resumé. I've streamlined mine and it fits on one side of A4. Do I have to add a second page? I would then have to add a lot more detail and irrelevant professional experience not related to teaching which i feel would distract and not have as much impact as the one page CV.
What do you think?

none yet. I've applied to about 15 schools. I'm going to the search fair in London so hopefully I'll find out more there and maybe get something. I'm new to all this and don't have IB experience. I teach French. The good thing is I have a permanent contract at my current school in the UK but with Ofsted inspections every year so far I'm starting to get sick of it!

Thanks for the advice. I work in a normal comprehensive in the UK so I had to ask for unpaid leave in the end, but my headteacher was fine about it and also supplied a reference that day, which was great.

Hi

I'm new to the IS scene and was wondering what I should tell my current headteacher about attending the London Search fair in January. Do people generally ask for leave of absence?

Thanks