Teaching Abroad - Should you Register at an International Teaching Job Fair

When you consider that there may be 100 schools represented and 400 pre-screened candidates, your chances of securing a teaching position at an international school is high. Additionally, many of the top schools will only consider interviewing candidates who are pre-screened by a recruiting agency.

Whether or not you decide to register with a job fair might depend on your ability to get to where one is being held. Job fairs are held at locations worldwide, with a particular concentration in North America and the United Kingdom. Some of the organisations hosting the job fairs do not charge participants to attend, they make their money from charging the recruiters.

There are several organisations that hold job fairs for international teachers. International School Services (ISS), Search Associates and the Council of International Schools (COIS) are three of them that hold job fairs around the world. These organisations pre-screen the candidates and invite those candidates that meet the criteria published on their websites to attend their job fairs. You can go to their websites and check if you meet their criteria.

Both COIS and Search Associates are very professional and experienced in their approach to organising job fairs, and it shows at their events.

Recruiters rely on these organisers to cut out the unqualified or undesirable candidates. They turn away many candidates each year, so you should feel proud if you are invited to attend one of these fairs; it's the first step to getting a contract at the fair.

Currently there is a shortage of experienced teachers to fill key jobs in the United Kingdom. This could be your opportunity to springboard your teaching career into the international school sector.

If you are looking at getting yourself a teaching job abroad at an international school but have not yet been able to land a contract, you could sneak your way in through the back door.

In nearly every country in the world you can find an international school that offers the British National Curriculum. All of these schools are looking for teachers with recent experience teaching in the UK.

With recent experience teaching the British examination courses for GCSE (Grade 9) and A-Levels (Grade 12), you will have a resume that recruiters for British schools will be very interested in and they will be lining up to interview you. The same follows for elementary school teachers who are familiar with the key stages set out in the UK National Curriculum.

Search Associates, one of the largest recruitment organisations dealing with international schools even has a separate branch that specialises in placing teachers with UK experience in British International schools.

COIS do not charge candidates to attend their job fairs. The recruiters do pay a fee to attend.

COIS job fairs are held from February through to June in the UK and in North America. The requirements for becoming registered with COIS are available on their website and include:

* A current teaching certification/ qualification
* Three professional referees, one of which must be your current head teacher
* 2 year's experience
* Candidates should be willing to consider being placed anywhere in the world.

The dates and venues and application deadlines for the COIS job fairs for 2007 are available on their website and the deadline for applications for their first job fair is January 18th.

The must-have guide to teaching overseas with everything you need to know to secure a lucrative teaching contract abroad

Search offer an online application process and a number of job fairs in a variety of geographical locations. Before completing an application you can go through a self-screening checklist on their website to determine how competitive you will be in the job market.

Search charge candidates $US150 to register, which is good for 3 years if you don't find an overseas position in your first recruitment season. Search offers a number of job fairs and your registration fee covers your attendance at one fair per registration period (of up to 3 years). You can attend more than one for an additional fee of $US 50 per fair. Should you find your new position through Search Associates, there is an additional placement fee of $US 300.

On application Search will assign you an 'associate' to give you personal service.

Once you are registered, your resume will be posted online for recruiters to peruse. It is vital that you go log in to the site and update your resume at least every 30 days or your resume might be pulled off the site.

Teachers in Australia and New Zealand can attend one of the Information Seminars offered by Search. These seminars are held throughout Australia and New Zealand in order to provide information for people interested in teaching overseas, and to pre-screen potential candidates prior to the Search job fair in Sydney. Check their website for details.

Search offer two specialised placement services aimed at teachers with experience in either the IB system or the British National Curriculum, see their website for more details.

The dates and venues of the Search Associates Job Fairs for 2007 are on the Search Associates website and their first job fair is being held in Australia in January.

ISS charge candidates $US175 to establish a professional file with them. If your application is not accepted by them, they will refund $US125, and they do not charge a placement fee if you accept a position at one of the job fairs they host.

ISS job fairs are held in January, February, and March. The requirements for establishing a file with ISS are available on their website and include:

* A 4 year bachelor's degree
* 2 year's experience
* Candidates should be willing to consider being placed in two continents.

If you are interested in establishing a professional file with ISS you should look at the more detailed list of their requirements on their website.

The ISS name for a job fair is International Recruitment Centre (IRC).

ISS are holding three IRCs in 2007, the first one will be held in Bangkok in January.

ISS say that 'typically 50 percent of those who attend accept positions as a result.'

These are the big three of the recruitment organisations for teachers looking at a career in international teaching and participation in one of their job fairs can kick start you onto a new and exciting career path. It can sure beat searching through job advertisements and sending out your application pack 100 times.

Adrian Watts is a principal and recruiter for a leading international school in Asia. He has recruited for schools in Asia and in Europe and has been teaching abroad for the last 20 years.

In a recent interview, I asked Adrian if he thought International Teacher Job Fairs were becoming obsolete... he made some interesting comments on the subject.

Land Your Own International Teaching Job Abroad with Adrian's Advice!.