The International Schools Review Forum

We have decided that this will be our last year at our current school and are beginning to look for positions for the 2009-10 school year. We have been at the same school in Asia for 5 years. We got our current positions by contacting the school directly, but this time around we are thinking about attending a job fair. We are trying to decide between Search and ISS. We would most likely go to the Bangkok job fair. It looks like a lot of the same schools attend both fairs. Does anyone have any experience with the Bangkok fairs? Is one better than the other?
Thanks in advance!
M

I attended the Search Bangkok fair in '07, and I had also enrolled in the ISS Bangkok fair as a safety measure. I figured that if I was going to spend the time and money I might as well enroll in both to cover my bases.

I received the job I wanted at Search, and so I went to the ISS fair, checked into the Shangri-La to receive my conference rate, and then un-enrolled in the ISS fair and enjoyed Bangkok.

The ISS fair was much larger than the Search fair; most of the quality schools were at both, and so there would have been many more interview slips to sort through. Also: there are more candidates, and so competition is steeper at ISS than Search.

Were I to do it again, I would enroll in both; I found the schools were VERY eager at Search to sign candidates. When I un-enrolled at ISS, a number of jobs were being crossed off the job list. My advice would be to strike while the iron is hot and try and get a job at Search Bangkok.

I too went to Search Bangkok in 07.

It was not big then, and in a downtown hotel full of tourists in shorts and tank tops. I thought the mix was not to our advantage as the whole thing didn't have a very professional flair, while ISS looked very "we mean business".

Since then, Search Bangkok has moved to the Sheraton, and there are a lot more schools on the list.
I heard say, it's the one to go!

Now, of course there's a lot of money involved, but I'd go to Bangkok and London, as a back up, rather than to both Bangkok fairs. London will have new jobs listed while the two Bangkok fairs will offer quite similar lists of jobs.