HELP!London Search Associates..Good for Americans?

[miscitch]

I must be a horrible teacher.....Did Iowa fair and turned down two offers from 9 interviews. Yes kicking myself now.
Nothing has been coming across the net and I do check daily.
Should I consider London? It would be a stretch for me financially but could do it. Or should I wait for Bethesda? Psyguy says tons there and another says 14 schools. Not signed up with search but considering it. Have spent tons and getting a little gun shy.
Really could use some advice!
This is me: http://www.wix.com/olmsmillerr/richard_miller\

[PsyGuy]

I didnt say tons of schools, there is a good number of jobs, but a lot of them come out of just a few schools. A historical estimate is closer to 25 schools then 14, but last years Bethesda was kind of lean (recession and all). Really Search/Cambridge is the practical "end" of the fairs.

London will have a lot of european schools and UK schools. Are you competitive for those? Do you have GCSE/IGCSE experience? I know its close but Bangkok would be better (March 16th), it would also be expensive as well. Honestly unless your close to something I doubt it would be worth the expense. You'd be talking $2-3K easy.

If you got good offers at UNI, that means your a valuable candidate, as April comes around schools will take a look at you again.

[gr8teach]

I certainly think registering with Search is your best bet. This way you can properly research which schools still have availability and schools can easily see your profile.
I have had friends in the past who have been offered jobs very later without attending a fair. Particularly in high demand areas such as science.
IMO You NEED to register with search-- the fair I think is debatable at this point. The Search registration last three years and includes the fee for one fair, which could be used during another recruiting fair.

[PsyGuy]

I think Search has good value for the money (3 years for $200). That said it also puts blinders on you. For instance there are about 400 IB schools listed with search (of the 685) total schools in the Search database. Outside of the USA there are just over 2000 IB schools, so your only seeing about 20% of the IB schools alone. If you REALLy want to do an "exhaustive" search your going to need to need to do a significant portion of it on your own.

If your going to go with an Agency id go with a big one like Search and a smaller one like TIE as well.

[liketotravel]

I would for sure use TIE. I picked up a job a few weeks before the start of a school once. Best money I ever spent.

[lightstays]

I went to Search London years ago and I'm American. It's a good fair with a heavy concentration of European school. But as with all things Search-related, you have to weigh your chances of getting a position against the appalling cost of attending.

[PsyGuy]

The London fair in January, yes. The London fair in April, no.