Newbie's impressions of Search and the London Fair

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:35 pm

Holla, pippafrit!

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:43 pm

I don't know that I would mention the school, but certainly you can mention the country or locale (as I mentioned northern Asia where they like to leave the windows open LOL).

Congratulations - waiting to hear what else transpires!

buffalofan · Post by **buffalofan** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:39 pm

Really nice reports, thanks for taking the time out to do them. I want to attend a fair next year and I need to decide between Search Bangkok or London. Between you and Shadowjack I now have a lot of info to work with.

escapeartist · Post by **escapeartist** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:05 pm

Congratulations on your success, Pippafrit!

cdn · Post by **cdn** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:57 pm

Congrats!

Buffalofan, just based on my and my wife's experiences here in London I would suggest. You choose London. A lot of recruiters seemed ready to pull the trigger on job offers.

Lopaka · Post by **Lopaka** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:35 pm

Congrats Pippafrit.
Look forward to your summarization of the entire process.
Celebrate, rest-up, enjoy the moment!!! and future moments in China!!!!

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:05 am

Congratulations Pippafrit!

Buffalofan,

I had friends who went to Bangkok a couple of years ago (2 teachers, 3 kids, not in an IB subject) and they got 0 interviews and 0 offers. However, they had also signed up for London and they had 3 interviews, no offers at the fair, but Skype followup resulting in a job in a good school in a great location.

London sees more action, but some jobs will disappear before London (then again, some others will open up).

I wonder, when someone posts on the Cambridge fair, if even more jobs go than at Bangkok or London? Hmmmm....

SunshineTchr · Post by **SunshineTchr** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:15 am

Hello all, I'm new to the forum, just wanted to thank you for this thread, pippafruit!! It's been really valuable as I prep for the Cambridge fair next week. Congrats on your success in London.

buffalofan · Post by **buffalofan** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:24 am

[quote="shadowjack"]Congratulations Pippafrit!

Buffalofan,

I had friends who went to Bangkok a couple of years ago (2 teachers, 3 kids, not in an IB subject) and they got 0 interviews and 0 offers. However, they had also signed up for London and they had 3 interviews, no offers at the fair, but Skype followup resulting in a job in a good school in a great location.

London sees more action, but some jobs will disappear before London (then again, some others will open up).

I wonder, when someone posts on the Cambridge fair, if even more jobs go than at Bangkok or London? Hmmmm....[/quote]

I have 0 kids and 3 years of IB. In your experience, will that get you an interview at most schools at the BKK fair? My main concern about London is the massive expense of a hotel and food there for 4 days. Bangkok of course can be done on the cheap, and the airfare there would be slightly cheaper for me as well.

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:59 am

Next year you will have 0 kids (hopefully!) and FOUR years of IB experience, which would make you marketable at Bangkok.

Always have a fall back plan B, though. Ours was to go to the Dubai fair in late February...

Thank goodness, plan A was a success!

durianfan · Post by **durianfan** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:59 pm

3 years of IB and no kids will make you marketable in Bangkok, but not every school will talk to you. Some schools there will tell you "we're only hiring couples" which is very annoying, and more than a few schools will wait a few weeks after BKK until making a decision. It also depends on the year and how many positions are available in your subject for that year. I have 2 years of IB and a non-teaching spouse and was hired by a very good school in SEA in an awesome location. And this was after people on here told me that I wasn't marketable.

Mathman · Post by **Mathman** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:43 am

My experience in bkk last year was that I was marketable, however too expensive. 2 years IB experience and more of other stuff including minor admin roles. Family seemed to be the dictating factor there, 3 dependents. However mega genius kids and now teaching wife should make a difference the next time we look.

Can't remember how many interviews, but it was about 10. 0 offers. I also found out later that I was interviewing for some jobs already offered to someone else, so that was a waste of time. I did meet the recruiter that eventually recruited me outside of those interviews.

I also remember an interviewer talking to me just for research purposes (different fair). Supposedly scored one of the highest at the fair for quality teaching (well duh, I'm the best). It was the biggest waste interview time unless he becomes head of some awesome school I want to work for.

Lopaka · Post by **Lopaka** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:22 am

I can see it now...
International Best Seller

JOB FAIR JOURNEYS..short stories from international job fairs
Chapter One: Bangkok Boogaloo by Shadowjack
Chapter Two: London Lass Laughs Last by Pippafrit
Chapter Three: Cambridge Capers by???
Chapter Four: I Left my Heart but Got My Job in San Francisco by ???

Seriously...it has been a blast reading the accounts. Thanks again for the entertainment, the great tips, ideas, suggestions...and for humanizing these fairs. Really appreciated !!!!

Newbie's impressions of Search and the London Fair

Thanks, pippafruit!