The International Schools Review Forum

Can I land a job at the BKK SEARCH fair in January even if my teacher-wife doesn't join me?

I'm a certified math teacher and I've been teaching IB HL math for nearly 8 years. I'm currently working at a top-tier school in Europe and my wife has been teaching a critical PYP Asian language for the last one year.

Hi Fine Dude
First of all good luck! I hope you get the perfect job - I'll maybe see you there!
Secondly, if your wife is not going to work then I don't see that as TOO much of a problem. Trailing spouses, after all, are not usually interviewed.
However, if she is also recruiting then I should imagine it would be a BIG problem.
If a school really wants you AND her then maybe they would interview by skype ways before the fair. We are a teaching couple who have been in 4 great schools over the past 16 years and have never had to go to a fair (in demand subjects.) We are all booked into the BKK fair, flights, hotel the whole deal, but expect to cancel.
I would have all your recruiting stuff super ready and organised and apply like crazy starting now. We've already put in applications for our first job and have had a promising response.
With a bit of organisation and maybe luck, the fair might seem like a fall-back option, rather than the be-all and end-all.
Fortune favors the prepared mind!
Again, good luck. XX

Thank you, Cheery! That info really helps.

Is it an absolute "must" to stay at the hotel? Or is it feasible to stay at a place that's nearby and cheaper? I am interviewing for counseling positions, so I probably won't have as many interviews back to back as other high needs subjects. I'm leaning towards booking the Fair hotel as this was very helpful when I attended the Cambridge fair 3 years ago. Just wanted to hear other people's thoughts on this.

I'm staying at the fair hotel, just in case if I had to take a short break in between.

I have never stayed at the fair hotels and have never regretted it. Certainly there are advantages to staying in the hotel that the fair is being held in but its not crucial.

As Overhere said, not crucial at all. Convenient, yes.

I usually stay at the fair hotel, but I stayed at a hotel down the street for Bangkok and it was perfectly fine. They have a very nice lobby and the candidates room was always pretty full. I usually find out the best information from hanging out there.

As an applicant, I usually stayed in the hotel. Once I didn't, just stayed nearby to save money, and I regretted it. Too hard moving back and forth, early mornings, late nights, nowhere to properly relax when I had a free hour, nowhere convenient and private to spread out the 400 documents I needed to read simultaneously.

Stayed at the hotel in BK last recruiting season (read my post on recruiting in bangkok here --> http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... ir+bangkok

I would stay at the fair hotel again.

Hope this helps prospective candidates going to Bangkok this year!