The fair is over for us!

This was an amazing experience and very well put together. Search did a great job.

For us this fair was a roller coaster of emotions, at times you feel like you are on top of the world and times that its over and you walk away with nothing. As mentioned before our target was the ME. Our first presentation was for a school in Kuwait and there was only standing room. This was the case for most of the ME schools that we attended.

I found out some information that really placed a hardship for me to find a job in certain countries. I will try to explain this law/rule the best that I can:
To get the work visa ones Bachelor degree has to match the subject they are teaching. To their Ministry of Education the teaching credential does not matter. So if you have a teaching credential in Math and 15 years experience teaching Math but your Bachelor's is in Biology they will not give you a job as a math teacher, you will only get a job as a biology teacher.

That law took us out of the running of 4 schools that we had a good chance of getting an offer. Also by the time this fair started positions that fit us were gone. After a few interviews we ended up going home empty handed and one maybe....

We had a good time we meet some great people. I saw a lot of offers and people celebrating their success.

[quote="shadowjack"]Also, at Riyadh Schools it is not likely you would get Christmas holidays...most likely you would get summer, the October Eid, and the mid-year break in January and spring break in March (1 week each).[/quote]

I went to their presentation and they covered that. Its not really a big deal for me, I'm not much of a holiday person. I am more of a time off person, as long as I get my days off, I'm not too picky about the times.

@Cindylouwho:

Thanks, I completely agree with you. I can tell from PsyGuy's past comments he does not like the ME and wants to let everyone know.

[quote="Trojan"]Thanks for the update coach. Is it unusual that this fair starts on a Sunday? All the others seem to be weekend affairs.[/quote]

Thanks everyone, keep the good vibes coming.

Actually the fair started Saturday and ends on Monday, its a 3 day weekend here. Monday is Presidents day so its not a workday.

Just finished our first school presentation of the day, then checked the mailbox. Score: Zero green slips - 4 thanks but no thanks...

Not sure who they are, I was hoping someone worked there or knew someone that worked there.

WoW what a day!

I live 40 min away from the hotel so I drive to the fair, just got home had dinner and put the kids to sleep.

Nice day in the city, nice hotel, everyone seemed very friendly. Search did a good job, well at least for the first day. They had a good IB workshop in the morning, very informative. After that we spent time filling out little yellow slips for interview requests and placed them into the schools mailbox. Then had some time to spare so we went out to have lunch at a place near by that we were looking forward too. Upon returning the schools started their presentations. After a few presentations it was over!

Some notes: I checked our mailbox about 20 times throughout the day, I couldn't help it people were walking around with green interview slips. Also, its funny how some people would jump in front of the recruiter while they walk into the room for presentations and ask about jobs...

Tomorrow morning we have some presentations that we plan on attending and then the long awaited interview sign ups.

Day 1 done: score 1 green slip, I guess I can complain its better then zero. Sorry that that my blog is not as informative as other from other fairs.

Does anyone have any info about, Riyadh Schools (Saudi Arabia)?

@National
Thanks for the info, I will check it out.

[quote="heyteach"]I wish you well, Coach. Take a look at Oman as well as Qatar.[/quote]

I would love those two countries but have not found any open positions, I am using Search Associates and TIE.

Thank you Heyteach, I was thinking the same. I wake up hoping that I land a job in the ME.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and support. I still do not understand the tier system that is mentioned, I would better understand school names.
I understand that we have limited experience as we are a fairly young couple. But according to what I have read on ISR we should be able to find a job in Kuwait. 3xlucky, what do you think? GEMS already told us they do not hire applicants with more then 2 dependents.
@Sid: We would love to land a job at Qatar Foundation, but we are going to one of the last fairs and most jobs have been filled. Due to our content area we are limited in open positions. I thought that my coaching and AD experience would help.
@Shadowjack: I hope that you are right about easily finding a job, we understand that we have limited experience and this will be our first international gig.
@Pippafrit: I understand what your saying. Can you provide and tips/help for interviews with ME Directors.

First off, I wanted to say thank you for all the valuable information and knowledge that all of you have contributed.

Know to my question... From my readings on ISR, it should be fairly easy to land a job in the ME. My wife and I are actively seeking a position in the ME and are having a hard time. Can anyone help with a contact so we can get through to someone?

My wife is a SA member and we plan on attending the SF fair this weekend. She is in her 4 year teaching French and I am I have 3 (3 and a half at end of this year) PE. I also coach soccer and this year the school's athletic director. We both have K-12 single subject clear credentials. We also have 3 little ones, age 8, 6, and 18 months.

We feel that if we do not find anything at the fair its too late! Any ideas would be great. Thanks!