Yeah, it is intense. Lots of people here - 550 candidates. When I came to this fair three years ago there were 450 candidates. Yet the signup time has not increased which is annoying.

I'm married with a non-teaching spouse but still got 4 interview requests - two of them are from very good schools where I'd be happy to work.

I have been asked the following in interviews. When I first started interviewing I used to just write the questions down afterwards until I had a list of about 25 different questions I could practice with. These are the ones I remember, along with a few I found online:

What is your teaching philosophy?
Describe your classroom management style.
How would you use technology in the classroom?
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
Are you an empathetic person? Explain.
Describe a recent conflict you had with a teacher or principal and how you resolved it.
How do you incorporate the IB Learner profile in your classroom?
What will you be doing in 5 years?
What were the past 5 books that you read?
What do you most like/dislike about teaching?
How would you handle a difficult phone call to a parent?
Tell me about a recent lesson you taught.
What does your classroom look like?
Why do you want to teach here?
What does creative curriculum mean to you and what experience do you have of this?
Describe a writing unit that you’ve taught.
What would we see if we walked into your classroom?
How do you teach gifted students?

I did the Bangkok spring fair 2 years ago, and I, like elgrappo, was a local at the time and I figured 50 bucks was worth it. I only had IB training at the time, no IB experience, but many schools were still willing to interview me. I had 4 interviews and 1 offer which I turned down. Mostly it's the leftovers fair - lots of 3rd tier schools and a few 2nd tier schools. Maybe 1-2 1st tier schools. It's more relaxed and much less competitive. Maybe 20 schools were there? Maybe 100 candidates. A few of the schools there were bottom of the barrel organizations like Disney English and 1-2 other language schools. One school wanted to interview me for IELTS and I turned it down.

I wouldn't recommend going unless you're desperate or have no job in March.

At least NIST was honest about it. I stood in line for 20 minutes to talk to the recruiter from Vientiane International School. I got up to the front and the guy said "sorry, but I'm not allowed to talk to anyone without IB experience." Like PsyGuy said, it would really save people a lot of time if they mentioned their cutoff qualifications on the poster boards.

More than a few schools will have recruiters talking to people waiting in line, kind of a pre-screening before you get to the front. This saves a lot of time as well. I remember I was in the line for NIST (Thailand) and the recruiter was dismissing everyone who didn't have at least 6 years of IB experience.

Harbin as a city is cool but I found the ice festival a waste of time. All the exhibits are massively overpriced, small, and tacky.

Also, if it is a Chinese run school, expect them to practice cost-saving measures such as not turning on the heating unless absolutely necessary. My school (which is in northern China) doesn't turn on the heating until the thermostat goes below 18 degrees celsius. Expect the same (or worse) in this school if it is Chinese run. It is common to go into shops and businesses and see all the workers in down jackets and gloves - people are obsessed with saving money up here.

Don't know anything about the school, but if you live in Shenyang get ready for 6 month winters with -35 temperatures. It's grim.

Wondering the same. I read that on the ISR a few months back and checked Malaysia off the list of places that I might work.

I'm interested in this too. My wife is Thai, and she was told by more than one snooty secretary at my school in China that "she cannot work." However we plan to get out of China after this school year and I assumed the only places she could legally work would be the US (where I'm from) and Thailand. Her English is good but not good enough to teach. A Teacher's Assistant for PYP might be ideal.

This is a very good question and one that often comes up on the esl cafe. I spent 2 years in South Korea. After living internationally for the past 10 years, I always try and bring the following when relocating:

My Wusthof knives
Coffee Beans (super expensive in Asia, get the large Starbucks Kirkland bags from Costco for 12 bucks)
Blocks of cheese (if you have room)
Garlic Press
Deodorant (I could not find ANY my first year in South Korea)
Shoes and Sandals
A large down jacket (if you're big like me)
Cologne/Perfume (again, super expensive in Asia)
Specialty cooking ingredients (we couldn't find Coconut sugar anywhere)
Goose-feather pillows (yes, I stuffed one of these in my suitcase)
Candy (junior mints and butterfingers for me)
Electric Tootbrush
Toothpaste
Warm gloves (if you've got big hands)

Yes but that is the US. Recruiting season for school in the US doesn't happen until around late February or March, and typically lasts until May or even June. I even got a few interviews in late July!

Overseas recruiting is happening right now. In February it'll be pretty much over. I have not been contacted by schools I've applied to but I am not discouraged - I assume most schools are waiting until they see who turns up at the big recruiting fairs in January.

Your ESL experience will not count unless you are applying for an ESL job, and you are certified (not a TEFL or CELTA) to teach ESL.

You are not married, so I don't think you qualify as a teaching couple, but I could be wrong about this. Most schools want their couples to be married, and might ask you if you have marriage plans. You also don't teach high in-demand subjects (I'm also an English teacher and even with an MA and IB experience I am not competitive) so it might be difficult. You might try and find a gig at a lower tier school and stay for a few years (3-4), get that staying power and IB experience.

I would advise against writing letters to superintendents - waste of time and chances are he'll never see it.

You want the principal and/or the head of department. When I was looking for work in the US I would draft a cover letter and resume and drop it off at various schools where I knew they had openings. Just walk in, smile and introduce yourself to the secretary, and drop off the letter. One time I did that and got an interview right on the spot. Other times the principal would call me weeks later to come in for an interview.

I look up the name of the head or principal - doesn't usually take long. But sometimes I have to check whether the head is male or female if the name doesn't make it obvious to me. I once had to look up a principal using wikipedia because there was no picture of her on the website and I didn't know if the name was male or female - luckily I stumbled across some info about the school there.

This is what worries me. The longest I've stayed at any school has been 2 years. I just can't seem to find a school that isn't crap. I started out as ESL and typically those are 1 or 2 year contracts. I've moved on since then and the school I'm at now is okay (it's IB) but it's just too damn cold up here in northern China (-27 outside as I write this) so after my 2-year contract is up this year I'll leave. I would really like to find somewhere more permanent but I'm afraid that schools will look at my CV and toss it aside because I've not stayed long at other schools.