Looking to next recruiting season/Search fair advice

[HoraceMann]

I am looking forward to recruiting season for the 2015-2016 school year (amazingly enough begins in 6 months). Being careful not to reveal too much about myself:

Over 12 years of teaching experience.
Certified in Special Education and a core subject
Master degrees in Special Education and Ed. Leadership
Geting administrative experience in my first year in an international school presently (writing/revising manuals, accreditation team duties, etc.)
Married with non-teaching spouse

My Goal:

1st To get an administrative position as a Special Education Coordinator or junior administrator (with ability to save some money).
2nd If unsuccessful in first goal, to land a teaching position in a good school to set myself up for getting an administrative job for the following contract.

Preferred places to work in order of preference (with better air quality than in northern China):

Middle East (countries that are not terribly restrictive to women, UAE, Oman, etc)
South/South East Asia
Americas

I am registered with Search Associates. My question:

Should I chance the administrative fair (would I even be given an invitation) in Kuala Lumpur in November? If not, which fair should I go to weighing chances of getting my preferred job and total fair costs?

Thank you for your consideration.

HM

[roamer]

I am a counselor, so this may not pertain to you, but here goes...

I did a job search last year and was shocked at how early jobs went. The VAST majority of jobs seemed to have been taken via Skype or the Bangkok fair in January. The lesson for me? Target schools early (as in September/October). My next job search will be much more active much earlier.

Best of luck!

[HoraceMann]

Thanks for your thoughts.

Surely there must be more people with an opinion…

Please keep in mind the fact that I really would like to take the admin route…If you were in my position…which would you chose?

Search Fairs

Leadership Fair November 22-24 (not sure if I would receive an invite given limited leadership experience/or be a viable candidate)
Melbourne January 3-6 (No real information on Search site at this time)
Bangkok January 8-11 (I have no IB experience)
Hong Kong January 16-18 (Primarily Asia)
Cambridge February 5-8 (The best bet???---Too late in season???)

Thanks to all that have an informed opinion :)

[wrldtrvlr123]

In my opinion, you stand a better chance at landing a better school as a teacher or SPED Coordinator. I know there are exceptions but in my experience, the bigger, better schools tend to hire admin with significant admin experience back in their home countries. That is not to say that good schools wouldn't give you a loom as an admin, or that a smaller, possibly IB school wouldn't be a good career move for you.

It does no harm to apply for the admin fair. SA will tell you what they think your chances are. If not, then the January BKK Fair would be a good opportunity for you. It is early enough to have plenty of job openings (and yet some people may say too early as schools will wait for the perfect fit).

SPED Coordinator positions are tough to come by and are generally much more teaching than admin (again in my experience). Check out ESF in Hong Kong. They run 20+ schools there have switched to IB and have many SEN/SPED openings, many with leadership roles, in addition to admin positions. Good luck!

[HoraceMann]

-BUMP-
Thanks to all that have replied. I really appreciate the insight. Does anyone else with personal experience with the job fairs listed in the original post have any opinions?
Thanks,

HM

[gibwise]

For the areas of the world you most want to work in the Bangkok fair would be best but as you have said it is highly competitive. You probably have enough experience to not need IB experience to be given a chance (especially in a SPED position). If I were you that would be the fair I would look to go to. If when you need to make a final decision on a fair there doesn't seem to be many schools looking for any SEN positions then you could change your mind.

Keep in mind that in many schools Coordinator and HOD jobs are appointed internally after recruitment takes place. some of the SEN teacher jobs might also be worth applying to as once appointed you may then be able to apply for the coordinator role.

[HoraceMann]

Thank you very much for the specific fair advice. I too am leaning toward this fair, just am concerned about currently being in my first international assignment without IB experience. Seemingly as you said, it might not be as much of a problem in SPED.
I will certainly take your suggestion and follow the schools that will be scheduled to attend each and also take this into consideration (hopefully being so early in the season there won't be too many school pulling out or positions already being filled prior to the fair).
Thanks again,

HM