Tunisia 12/11
The organization was an all online situation. We sent in out information, it was put into a database and the schools who were looking for candidates could find us through that. The idea is good in that it is a great time to network and be able to set up interviews but since everything was online it was difficult to check in throughout the day. It seemed that most schools were “just shopping” for candidates and would get back to promising candidates as soon as their staff confirmed their departures. There were not as many schools as I would have liked but there were a fair number but since people were spread out among many hotels it was sometimes difficult to find a quiet corner where you could conduct the interview.
Since this fair was free and was a part of the ECIS conference I would recommend signing up for it if you are already going to be involved in the ECIS conference. If that is your only reason for going, I would suggest that you find another fair.
UAE 12/10
Well organised and the on-line service functioned well with an assistant on hand should you need it. Interviews could be held in quiet corners, or the CIS room, or in heads’ bedrooms, or outside somewhere. The signposting to find anywhere in the centre was a bit of a challenge and it took a day to get oriented but after that seemed OK. I think it is understandable that many heads are unable to offer until they have an absolute idea of their needs for next year as student numbers are declining in some countries, but they were up front about that and promised to let us know as soon as there are able. I have found CIS to be well organised and reliable and it is good as a candidate for it to be free.
