London Search Newbie Job Fair Diary...

[Route66]

So just finished me and my partner’s first Search associates London job fair!! Here is a small recount of how the fair was for us.

Day 1 – Thursday

Day 1 was definitely the calm before the storm, this first day of the London fair is mainly just presentations and the fair orientation. Fair registration was between 1-5pm as we couldn’t get the full day off from our current schools. We arrived at the fair at about 4.45pm just in time for candidate registration. We collected our names badges, put our jackets down and had a stroll around the hotel. First stop- the candidate lounge which was filled with eager teachers scanning available posts (like eagles) on A3 sized sheets mounted on walls by the schools attending.

We had been approached by schools prior to the fair and found notes in our candidate folders asking us to drop by them during interview sign up which would be the following morning. We then attended the orientation which was a 20-30 minute presentation that addressed some of the dos and don’ts of a fair and general housekeeping. After this we went back to the candidate lounge and double checked the schools we had researched before the fair still had vacancies and also made a note of schools that weren’t on our radar before but now had vacancies for us both.

It was good to chat to other people and trade stories, there was definitely a community feeling within the candidate room. Next, we posted our CV’s and Ichiro’s with a note requesting an interview with all the schools we liked the look of and had vacancies for both of us. This cover note acts much like a letter of application. It should be formal, address your interest and be brief. Do not take offence if recruiters are unable to view this before interview sign up. We handed out 13 of these and of the 13 only about 6-7 had actually seen them. I would definitely recommend in future arriving to the fair at the start of registration on the first day and handing in CV’s into the recruiter’s mail boxes upon arrival this will give the recruiters enough time to pick up your CV and have a good look first before the rush and also before the sign up sessions on the morning of Day 2.

Accommodation: We stayed in a hotel within a 10 minute walk. This gave us solace from the madness of the fair during the evening.

Day 2 – Friday
Up bright and early, day 2 was the interview sign ups. Sessions started at 8am for leadership candidates and 8.30 for other teaching position. Everyone was held in the candidate lounge and wasn’t allowed to enter the sign up room until 8.30am. The entry process to the sign up room was actually quite organised, for one there were two entrances depending on your surname. Everyone was let in at the same time although the sign up room was split over two floors which was a bit awkward as some of the schools were downstairs and others were upstairs. So if you weren’t organised or you missed out on a school while walking around you would be trekking up and down a big flight of spiral stairs. The sign up was frantic and you literally had 30 seconds to sell yourself to a school. Some already know who you are (which was reassuring) whilst others use it as an opportunity to screen you. We managed to secure 8 interviews, 4 for that same day and 4 for the day after. Some schools had queues upon queues outside their stands. While other schools looked derelict. As soon as the sign up was completed it was research time as the interviews we scheduled were in quick succession.


Day 3- Saturday
Our final 4 interviews took place. The candidate lounge was tense with nerves and emotions running wild. Being in a teaching couple has its advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, we did interviews with some schools who only had a guaranteed place for one of us and a tentative vacancy for the other. This was mainly for experience and connections being our first fair. This was very productive and helped us network efficiently and gain some fantastic feedback.
Some interviewers interviewed us separately, others interviewed us together and some interviewed us one by one and then invited us together to answer questions as the end. Every recruiter had a very different approach.
All in all it was a very successful first fair for us. We received 2 firm offers and have 2/3 tentative offers. We would definitely recommend and attend other fairs in the future.

Tips
•Research, Research, Research BEFORE you arrive at the fair, have a good idea of schools you are interested in that have vacancies available for you and approach them first. Schools appreciated this with some commenting on the fact that we approached them straight away.

•Network and talk to other teachers, swap emails and details as the international scene is smaller than you think, and you will be surprised what can become of a conversation.

•Have an open mind about locations and schools as you may be surprised where you could end up.

•Attend as many presentations as possible as this may sway your decision to apply or accept an offer from a school. It also gives you an opportunity to ask direct questions outside of an interview scenario.

•Have a large breakfast as days are long and tiring and you are often on your feet and time can be very limited.

•Dress to impress- ensure you are dressed in formal business attire as this is definitely seen as a plus and eludes to your professionalism.

[jessiejames]

Congratulations to you and your partners on your offers!
I thought the fair was very well run. For me, perhaps the most important aspect was being able to speak to other teachers who had more experience than me working internationally. It was really interesting and also made me feel a lot more relaxed, as well as giving me tips for schools I might not otherwise have considered (or ones to avoid).
It was easy to see which people not to approach - I also saw lots of very stressed out teachers, but I can understand that for many, they had already handed in their notices and were determined to leave with jobs.
What I wasn't expecting was, as you mentioned, people who hadn't researched schools. I spoke to one teacher who had scheduled 16 interviews and only had a vague idea about most of them. I only approached three schools, but I did feel like I knew them like the back of my hand.

[Route66]

@jessiejames

Was the fair successful for you? Did you recieve any offers?

I forgot to also mention that... The fair was extremely well organised!!!

[jessiejames]

It was; I don't have IB experience so I had no idea how I would fare - but somehow managed to get an offer from my top choice school so I accepted it before they could change their mind! ;)

[Trojan]

Now THAT is a fair diary.

:-)

Thanks for all the details and advice guys. Glad it went well for you.

[martalin]

Thanks for the detailed diary! Congrats!

[tafawke]

I was a first time Fair goer at the London Fair too and I had a great time.

I stayed in the same hotel so it was very convenient for down time between interviews.

I had 8 official interviews and another one follow up interview and a few pre-fair and touching base/whatever meetings with the schools I was about to interview with or had interviewed with previously. I was pretty busy for most of the fair and only managed to go to one school presentation.

I arrived at the hotel nice and early on Thursday morning but couldn't get into my room until 15 mins before one of the schools I was seriously interested in wanted to 'chat'... that was fun trying to get ready in time... Then the rest of the day I placed my CVs and my own gimmick to catch the eye of the recruiter (not going to call it an ichiro as it was a bit different to how they have been described) into their mail folders. I met with a couple of other schools and had one interview that evening after receiving an invite in my mail folder.

The next day for sign up I was ready at 8am, but couldn't see the point of the rush, so hung back chatting to my buddy who had just accepted his offer and he was now planning a full weekend enjoying what London had to offer... about 5 mins later I wandered in and signed up for interviews with just about everyone I wanted - maybe because of my subject areas or where I was looking, but I didn't have to queue at all and by 9.30am I was done - another 7 interviews scheduled for the rest of the day and one first thing on Saturday.

The interviews that I had were great - top interviewers asking sensible questions and giving lots of decent information about the role and the school. During the interviews I was offered one job which I then had 24 hours to consider.

By the end of the day I was exhausted and just about fell into bed. But, I was very happy about the way things had gone.

My last interview was 8am on Saturday and then I was able to go to a presentation for a school I was keen to get an offer from, then it was the waiting game. I didn't want to stray too far from the hotel and I didn't want to appear too desperate by wandering in and out of the mail room, so I tried to read/mark/watch tv/stare at my clock for a while... By mid afternoon I had declined the first offer and received a NO from one, then another of my schools... I started to regret my decision to decline but then I got a call and offered the position at my first choice school, the one job I was holding out for... I was pretty excited by this stage - I signed a contract straight away (which I think is a bit uncommon) and then joined my friend who had caught the train down from the Midlands and we went out for dinner.

The next day I received one more offer but then I emailed the rest of the schools I had interviewed with and withdrew from their processes... I didn't want to waste their time and potentially them losing a candidate due to timing...

Then a bit of shopping, a nice lunch, some relaxing and then my ride picked me up and off to the airport and back home again for school straight from the airport on Monday...

PS - The school I accepted sent me all the paperwork requests today so things are moving nicely and I am very happy with the way things worked out. I found it a well run and organised fair and with the exception of the internet and the lifts (4 or 5 people in a life does not constitute overloading) it was a great opportunity for me.

I'd definitely go to another Fair!!!

[Fraisinette]

Congrats to you all! Keep 'em coming!

[Livabroad]

Were all of the openings posted before the fair?

[Route66]

Livabroad wrote:
> Were all of the openings posted before the fair?

Yes, the majority of openings were posted. although there are always last minute vacancies and also jobs posted earlier that were already filled before the start of the fair.

[MizMorton]

Route66 wrote:
> Livabroad wrote:
> > Were all of the openings posted before the fair?
>
> Yes, the majority of openings were posted.

Ohhhh, someone PLEEEEASE tell me this isn't the norm. We've made a list of 12-15 schools we're interested in, and each one has like two jobs posted on SA right now. Why would a school spend all that money and time if they only have two jobs to fill? Is that typical?

*fanning self*

[profe]

Some of the jobs at the 12-15 schools that you are interested will have gone before the fair even starts, so that might cut your list down to perhaps 6-10 schools. Invariably, positions that had not been advertised will now be posted as well though, so you might add a few schools to your list that way. In any case, I don't know that I would want to juggle more than 8-10 interviews at a fair.

[MizMorton]

KAAAAAAKKKK I WILL JUGGLE 900 INTERVIEWS IF THAT'S WHAT GETS ME A JOB!!

FREAKING OUT
KERMIT FLAIL
HYPERVENTILATING
HOW DO YOU ALL DO THIS
HUFFHUFFHUFF

Kidding. Sort of.

No, I'm not. Seriously, of our top schools, I think maybe two of them have jobs posted that fit our description. Two. There were more, but they dropped out of the fair, with more disappearing daily.

I will be absolutely amazed if we come away with anything. I am picturing 500 sweaty people swarming around tables with like two jobs in ESL and Elementary. UGH I have to turn off this computer.

ETA: At this point, our "top schools" list is just comprised of countries with running water, breathable air, and where decapitation isn't a plausible threat. UGH goodnight...

[Peregrination]

MizMorton: Are you going to Cambridge, or just recruiting online? If you're heading to Boston next weekend, let me assure you that you may get offers you never imagined.

Last year, we had no jobs available on SA from any of our top schools, and only one school expressed interest in interviewing us. Both my partner and I are not in high-demand fields and we had zero IB experience. We figured we'd get some good experience with interviewing at Cambridge and try again the following year.

When we arrived at the fair, we had five schools leave us messages asking for interviews; these schools were not even on our radar, but in locations we were definitely willing to go to. Out of our five interviews, we were offered jobs at three of the schools (including one in Western Europe), and accepted positions at a well-respected IB school in Africa. While many would consider this a hardship post, we absolutely love our school, our principal and work with awesome people; they have also sent us on PD trainings for MYP and DP.

Please don't give up hope. There were many people last year who had no offers at the fair but wound up with positions a few weeks afterwards, including several people with dependents. My partner and I were extremely lucky to get multiple offers at the fair, but that's not always typical.

[interteach]

By breathable air I think you're talking about China.

A lot of it is media hype. The good schools have air filtration and if you invest in some air purifiers at home you should be fine. There are some bad days but I have several friends in China working at top schools who say that they are fine, their kids are fine and they don't plan on leaving any time soon.