Thanks guys. I get that they may not be interested. I doubt I'm anybody's dream candidate, but I think I'd be good after the upper crust gets picked off so I'm just making sure I do my due diligence. A little reminder shouldn't hurt. I'll drop emails about a week before and be ready with resumes and Ichiros in BKK.

I'm looking for some advice on how to handle communication before the Bangkok Fair. For jobs I applied for a couple months ago, didn't get a response, but still feel I'm a good fit leading into the fair, what is your strategy? Send a new cover letter and resume requesting an interview in BKK? If this is the case, how early do you send your letters? Do you think it's too much to do this, put cover letter and resume in their folders, and maybe under the doors too? Don't want to make myself a menace, but want to make sure I get to the decision makers. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Gotta say, Thames Pirate's point that people talk about leaving and don't is a big one. At my school, most all my friends have complained about the current climate and threatened to leave, but when push comes to shove, think I'm the only one that's going to do something about it. Without knowing anything about your school's situation, I'd be willing to bet half of them end up staying.

Thanks for all the great info, PsyGuy. I went to Cambridge 5 years ago and have spent very little time thinking about this type of thing since. I'll be going to Bangkok. This is a great primer to get me back in game mode. I think the thing of always being "on" is absolutely correct. I got 2 interviews just talking to everybody in the elevator at Cambridge. I'm having a debate this year because I find the host hotel extremely overpriced for BKK so I'd like to stay elsewhere, but I do know that being at the hotel last time was a big advantage.

I will definitely be fitting the stereotype of things basically coming down to location and money. I have a trailing spouse and we have a couple locations (fortunately strong places for ISs) that are significantly better for her job prospects than others and me taking a decent tier 2 job and her working still gives us a lot more money than just me working at the top paying school anywhere.

I was wondering if anybody does anything beyond the obvious (resume, cover letter, etc.) that they're willing to share in finding ways to stand out in the job fairs. What has been your success rate at getting a job above what you'd expect with your strategy?

Thanks for the responses, guys. We've decided to go to Bangkok assuming nothing comes up before then. I've already had a good school in our desired location and another top tier school set up interviews so we're thinking it will be worth it to go. My wife has good prospects for jobs in many of the places we're looking so it shouldn't be hard to address the trailing spouse narrative. We're looking to start a family too so that could work well in some of the other locations. I'll be prepared for the questions though. Thanks again for the responses.

I am registered with Search Associates and my associate has recommended that I attend the Bangkok job fair. I am a math teacher with 10 years experience and the last 5 overseas as well as MYP experience. I will have a trailing spouse. In one sense, I'm encouraged that my associate thinks I should attend, but reading the site, they say that less than 1% of the job offers at the Bangkok fair go to candidates with a trailing spouse. I'd be curious to hear if everybody thinks it would be worth it for me to attend. I will have to miss a week of pay to go there. It's worth it if I get a good job, but the math teacher in me doesn't get excited by less than 1%.

Thanks guys. I've always done mine myself, but pretty sure I ended up giving the government money I shouldn't have. I'll probably hire somebody this year. Does anybody have a U.S. based expert they recommend?

I am in the middle of my first year overseas and not sure how to handle my taxes back home. Is that something I can easily do on my own (and if so, how?) or if that's not the case, does anybody have a tax expert they recommend in the states who is an expert in such matters. Thanks in advance for your help.

I did the TeacherReady program a few years back. I finished my fourth year of teaching back in the States and am now beginning my first post overseas. From my experience, they were what they said they were. The classes were pretty easy, they got me a decent internship, and I was hired right after graduating, which is all you're hoping for. I have no complaints.

The quoted salary is the highest I've heard of in the U.S. I live in Florida (for 1 more week) and I make less than I did when I started 5 years ago. After 4 years of experience with a masters degree in an average paying school district in Florida, I make about $36,000. Most jobs overseas will pay at least the same, but there are no taxes and they pay for my housing...not to mention the real reason to go which is a chance to see the world and learn and grow as a person. If you're only motivated by money, I'd get out of teaching as quick as possible.

[quote="PsyGuy"]BKK is WAY more fun then BOS, a number of admins head out at night for "recreation". Know, one teacher who got a pretty nice position a recruiter wouldnt have given him the time of day, but a teacher that helps you home after a hard night of indulgences is a good teacher to have around.[/quote]

Haha...yeah Boston was even a bigger drag this year with the blizzard of the century hitting and it not being legal to be on the streets for about half the job fair. Even if I didn't get a single interview, I'd be happy to have an excuse to visit BKK so it's all good.

[quote="mark3phil"]I would recommend sevenseasworldwide.[/quote]

Thanks! That looks like what I'm looking for. I can ship 3 good size boxes with them. It'll arrive a little after I arrive, but I can buy a few changes of clothes before I get there and I'll be fine.

[quote="heyteach"]How much are you planning to take with you? I've made two international moves by checking oversize or overweight boxes on the airline; even at $200/box these days, it's cheaper than a lot of sea cargo (which is more for roomsful of stuff).[/quote]

The problem for me is that I'm traveling to many locations over the summer and can't carry everything with me. I'm really not even trying to bring too much with me (mostly clothes plus a small collection of other items), but my shipping allowance is all of $500 so I can't send much.

I was wondering if anybody knows of a super-cheap shipping option to Asia? Time is not a huge issue. I'm leaving the U.S. in 3 weeks, traveling for a month and a half and starting my job in August so the proverbial slow boat to China is not really an issue. If it would arrive in 6 weeks, we would arrive about the same time. If it were a little slower than that, I can buy a couple extra changes of clothes...not an issue. Cheap is definitely the biggest priority here. Thanks in advance.