I am headed back to Saudi, west coast this time.

Nope, I'm not! I gave in and signed a contract before the fair. That means less competition for you, not that I ever feel like competition. I would love to have been there, though. It's a great place to just walk up and start talking to people.

[b]Relax and drink plenty of water. Have a great, hectic time! Best of luck with the interviews.[/b]

As for skype, it doesn't even work where I am currently posted anyway. Try to convince school heads of that when they want to interview! I think they feel I just don't know how to use it...I do tend to worry about the Big Brother issue, though. Can anything even happen ANYWHERE in the UK without being caught on CCTV?

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.

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!

A few years ago I was told by one administrator in my then-current country that he would not interview me because he did not want to give the impression of poaching. Then again, this was within the same city. I THINK I spoke with someone who went straight from Islamabad to Lahore or vice versa. Anyone else?

I just realized that I can enable my email address. Go ahead, click that button! The city's right...

Sounds like you are in a certain large ME country. Can you tell us which city? Just concerned it may be where I am headed this fall!

Hey, E.B. White, good luck and take care. This is the type of situation--[i]relatively[/i] minor yet maddening--that can sour a teacher on a school very quickly. I hope it works out well for you.

Thanks for all the fantastic comments! I, too, am concerned with the ever-extending "open-season" for teachers. I was asked in October if I was returning the following August. The first ads for '09-'10 that I noticed were published in March, 2008.

I am also concerned with the focus on married couples. Despite the claim by some schools to be looking for the highest-qualified teachers regardless of marital status, I have received the notes telling me they were still pursuing couples, but that I was also still being considered--if they did not get the couples for whom they were in contention. I do realize that the housing benefit is an enormous expense for most schools, but...

DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to diss any of my couples friends! I have spoken to several who feel that being married is not the advantage we are led to believe. It's just that I hear otherwise from the schools!

Ditto to JISAlum's remarks. Good luck even landing an interview with them, though. Should you be so lucky as to be employed by Aramco on their main campus, you will not even know you are in Saudi Arabia...

Of course it's to make money. They are businesses, other than UNI. That's probably another reason I like them so much!

Yes, JISAlum, I flew from the States to Bangkok (end of winter break), then on to my current post in Africa. Kansas City to Paris to Bangkok. Long time in airplanes!

Hey, Scribe! Looks like we cross-posted. Yes, I agree with what you said about the stress at ISS Bangkok. It was not a fun fair (until I landed my position at the last minute).

Yes, it was ISS Bangkok that I attended. My impression was that there were a lot of openings but that recruiters were targeting almost exclusively teaching couples. I interviewed with several schools that dropped notes into my folder saying that they were strongly pursuing couples or had hired couples, one partner of whom took the job for which I had been interviewed. I ran into many single teachers who were not offered anything. They-including myself-were very stressed. I felt that this should have been labeled a couples-only fair.

Not being familiar enough with that part of Bangkok, I sucked it up and paid to stay at the host hotel. It was a very nice, albeit expensive, vacation.

I still contend that the information received from UNI and Search is much more informative, more thorough. ISS has symbols such as "1" on some of their categories but no key to know what this means. I should not have to ask them what it means. None of the directors with whom I had interviewed had actually read my file. I thought that was why they arrived a day or two early, but I guess I am mistaken. Or perhaps they are convinced that any candidate invited to that particular event is a worthy individual. For my own ego, I go with the latter!

BTW, I actually did end up signing at ISS for just the type of position for which I had been looking. It was a last-minute interview with a director who was headed for the airport right after the interview!

Having just attended an ISS job fair, I can now compare it with Search and with UNI. I still prefer UNI.

Both Search and ISS fairs are held in large convention hotels in world-class cities. These are very expensive hotels. If you do not stay at the hotel, you must find a way to the fair. Same as UNI, but UNI is less expensive overall, particularly in regards to hotel rooms.

Search's database is very nice. So is UNI's. I felt that ISS did not offer me the same amount of information.

All three are professionally managed. The clencher for me is the amity in the atmosphere at UNI. It's just plain fun. There are many teachers who are looking for their first international position as well as many who have been around the block. A few times. Everyone is very friendly and willing to talk and share their experiences. Although I found a few people with whom to discuss international education at the other fairs, too many of the teachers seemed to be driven to concentrate on landing just that exact position that they sought and did not have the time to sit and talk. Perhaps they were afraid I'd take their perfect position if we spoke?

Then again, perhaps my next position, should I leave, will be attained without attendance at a job fair. The last two positions I accepted were offered via contact away from the fairs...

I am happy for you that you see how your family and friends are manipulating you. Tell them to quite watching the news! Take the job that is far away. They will appreciate you even more when they see you less!
When I first moved overseas (Saudi), everyone tried to tell me they would never see me again because I'd be dead. My last year in the States, several times kids brought guns into my school. That hasn't happened yet in my overseas positions. Where am I in more danger?