The International Schools Review Forum

Taking a break at the UNI fair. Giving my observations.

First, I didn't send a lot of resumes out because I can't just accept a position anywhere. Prior to the fair I got mostly automated replies. 2 days before the fair a school in Asia contacted me about doing a Skype interview. We tried but had connection problems. The principal wanted to try again yesterday but after a full day of travel, flight delays and then driving in cold and snow, I wasn't up for it. He did tell me to seek the director during the round robin. One I director emailed me yesterday and we set up an interview for today.

Walked outside my hotel and my nose hairs froze. Got to the fair I had interview requests for the school that tried to Skype, a school in Europe, one in Bahrain, one in Vietnam, Saudi International schools group and QSI.

Two of the schools I wanted to interview with I got "our high school rep is not yet at the fair" they were just collecting resumes for high school but setting up interviews for Elementary. One school filled there opening. Another school took my resume but really wanted a counselor that had done elementary (even though I'm elem. certified).

I managed three interviews for later this evening. One for tomorrow afternoon. I turned down some interview requests because the school was horrible or located in Saudi (not interested in going there).

I spoke with a lot of candidates just to get a general feel. I didn't speak with or hear of anyone who got no interview requests. Lots of people were getting turned down at the Red Robin session. Either a simple thanks or we'll see. One school I saw just collected everyone's resume and they barely had anyone in line.

Ichiros work. Schools were extremely impressed with mine. Not many people here had them. Lots of people had their pictures imbedded in their resume.

People are dressed all kinds of ways. One candidate sitting next to me had a short see thru shirt dress that showed her contol top tights when she sat. Tights were also see thru. Quite a few cowboy boots. A couple of jean dresses.
Most people are traditional with suits.

Schools seems to be honest and upfront. We only hire couples. No trailing spouses. Etc.

Longest lines were for Western Europe, Brazil and Dubai.

That's it for now. Excuse typos, writing on iPad.

Another very good update following on from those from Bangkok and London. I really do home ISR powers that be can put these in one easily accessible link.

Best of luck to you Eden

Thanks for sharing, Eden.

Just one question - is 'Ichiros' a typo, or ....? Have no clue what that is....

Nope. It's not a typo. Basically a blurb to sell yourself. Check prior threads.

Singapore American just hired an elementary teacher. No international experience but 10 years teaching experience. 3 dependents. She was ecstatic and I was happy for her.

Just finished my first interview. Amazingly I wasn't nervous at all. It went well. On to my next interview.

Great job Eden. Looking forward to seeing more of UNI through your eyes.

Good luck!

[quote="SunshineTchr"]Thanks for sharing, Eden.

Just one question - is 'Ichiros' a typo, or ....? Have no clue what that is....[/quote]

This has had me stumped too—google doesn't seem to know what it is either. I'll look through prior posts.

Thanks for sharing your fair experience, Eden.

Haha -- you actually googled Ichiro?

An ichiro (named after an infamous poster on here who first reported using this strategy) is basically a professionally done marketing item that you give to recruiters in addition to your resume. It can be a brochure, a flyer, a magazine, a DVD - anything that you have "made" to highlight your skills. I saw a few at BKK. I was interviewing with one school and the recruiter had loads of CVs on the bed. One of them was a professionally done brochure with pictures of the teacher in the classroom, quotes from letters of recommendation, and a summary of skills. It was printed in professional glossy paper and looked really good. Some recruiters see it as a gimmick but others may put you on the top of the pile.

Personally I didn't make one and I still walked away with a great job. Plus I live in rural China and didn't really have the time or resources to do it. But there are some on here who swear by this strategy.

I'm sure you were trying to be helpful, but asking someone to do a search for ichiro turns up thousands of unrelated posts *by* Ichiro (most of which have been deleted) and precious few regarding a particular style of CV. Is there a specific thread that might help to narrow the topic to which you might refer the n00bs?

And Eden's ichiro really did stand out. It was extremely impressive because it was in the shape of a cowboy boot.

Sassylassie- Yes. I said search. As I was doing several things at the time and was not going to stop and search but still trying to give some feedback. If you used the search engine on this board the first page of posts gives you the answer without even clicking on the post. I guess that may be difficult for some people.

Great humor about the cowboy boot. I'm doubled over in laughter.

I googled it too! :-)

Thanks for the info, durianfan.

An Ichiro is an "alternative" marketing resume and named after a very prominent (who i suppose is now famous) previous poster, who sadly is no longer with us. Ive seen all kinds but basically they look like flyers or brochures that are designed to catch a recruiters attention during signup and give a very quick summary of your skills and experience. Ive seen them in the form of pink resume paper to coupons for one great teacher, business cards, 8x10 photos with the text on the back, to multipage magazine mockups. Typically its a 1 page color flyer with photos and other color design elements. Sometimes they work, some recruiters see them as gimmicks.
The best one I saw this year at BKK was a 1 inch digital photo frame keychain that had a mini interview recorded on it. The candidate distributed them to school recruiters the night before the round robin.

Just finished my last interview. 2 offers. Waiting on another. I've pretty much decided but I'm going to Skype with my potential co-workers tonight and then give my decision.