The International Schools Review Forum

ISS is offering another ifair in April. There were also schools attending that are expanding and directors did say they would be hiring again in fall for January starts. One of those was the Raffles school in S Malaysia. I don't know much about the school beyond some basic research and the presentation.

I was super picky this year and seriously applied to only 5 schools. Then added about 10 more apps to schools I was semi interested in. I wasn't going to settle for anything less than I made in take home here, and I needed no red flags along research and the interview process. My interviews were with the director via Skype, then we met a couple of times in person just prior to the conference, but were in email contact up until then. He was just as serious at keeping me involved as I was in getting the info I needed. Our final meeting I felt like I was interviewing him and he obliged. Contract signed. I actually met with a few of his candidates at the conference as he wanted to see how we might work together.

Totally unexpected experience, but maybe its the right timing for me. I think if you have a good spot at home, don't rush anything. I'm just now giving notice to my school because I wanted to make sure I kept my position. I kept my intentions on the down low with only one colleague and close family/friends as I didn't also want a huge production to walk away with nothing. Even now I'm telling them "until I have a visa, plane ticket and even my apartment/classroom keys in hand" nothing is set in stone! Anything can happen from what this forum has taught me.

Stay positive and perhaps this isn't the year! Why rush something and get stuck in a potentially bad contract.

Recruiters always say "there will be more" what are they supposed to say "Sorry this is it, and really recruiting is over". Any of the Spring fair are junk fairs. SF was never a super fair. You have to be scrappy, and always hustling, there is nothing stopping a school from withdrawing a contract.

I left Bangkok SA fair without a job and only had a few interviews there that went no where. It was a very stressful and competitive environment overall. I have many years of teaching experience, a masters in my content area, and international experience. I then went to Boston and it was the total opposite. I had many interviews and four offers. It was so different. This is not the first time I attended Boston and my experiences at that fair were consistent. Admin wanted to hire and were giving interview slots. Several of the recruiters said they were hoping to hire the remaining positions during the Boston fair and not have to attend San Fran fair. Boston seems much less stressful and less cut-throat than Bangkok did. I ended up accepting a job offer at a school that had not been on my radar at all, in a section of the world I had not been considering prior to going to the Boston fair. I did what many people say - just interview and be open.

BOS is much less stressful because its much less competitive. BKK is the rock star fair, and contracts do get offered at BKK, and as a result vacancies are lost/filled, that you dont have the opportunity to interview or apply for at BOS.