Search Associates sparked the 2018-19 recruitment season with its 7th annual Leadership Fair, November 17-19th at NIST International School, Bangkok, Thailand. Senior Associate and fair host Ray Sparks said,
“We expanded Search Leadership 2017 to include teacher candidates in addition to candidates looking for administrative positions. . . For schools wanting to hire early on in the recruiting season, this is a good opportunity to interview both administrative and teacher candidates.”
The Leadership Fair is tailor-made for networking between recruiters and candidates. Ray and his team designed the event so that 44 schools and 145 candidates would have ample opportunity to explore 275 vacancies. The fair’s size creates a comfortable, non-competitive atmosphere. John Ritter commented,
“I think that this fair continues to be special in the way it supports candidates' professional learning. This is to a very large degree because the fair is small, personal, and early. But it is also consciously planned and executed.”
John and his wife Susan were part of team who joined Ray and School Coordinator Nazgol Adili for the smooth running of the fair. Also on hand were Senior Associate Harry Deelman with his partner, Margaret, as well as Executive Assistant from the Chiang Mai office, Keith Ord, Senior Associate Gez Hayden and Executive Assistant Neil Kilah.
NIST International School, in central Bangkok and close to the Movenpick Hotel, continues to be an excellent fair venue.
Five outstanding presentations were woven into Search Leadership Bangkok. Neil McWilliam, Head of School Oberoi International School, Mumbai, addressed the differences between working for a proprietary and non-proprietary school. Dr. Janet Price, Academic ICT Consultant, spoke about what information and communications technology (ICT) international students need in order to be successful at Western universities. Founder and Director of the International School of Central Switzerland, Dr. Jacqueline Webb-Archibald, presented “Awe you—new pathways in education to include entrepreneurship, apprenticeship, and flexible.” Co-founder and Director of Xperiential Learning School, India Manit Jain spoke about his passion, experiential learning, in “Creating Revolution in the Classroom.” John Ritter was pleased to see strong attendance at the Child Protective Recruitment discussion he led.
A special feature of each year’s Leadership Fair is the Q + A session held between a small panel of school administrators and the fair candidates. Attendees welcome the opportunity to pick the brains of experienced school leaders. For those who ponder the advantages of attending fairs over job hunting strictly via the internet and Skype, John Ritter said,
"One of the advantages of fairs is that they still probably give candidates some of the best opportunities to engage with recruiters, observe how a school operates, and answer the question: 'Do I want to work with these people?'"
This year’s lively panel included David Botbyl, Superintendent, American International School, Kuwait; Shalee Cunningham, Head of School, Ruamrudee International School, Bangkok; Neil McWilliam, Head of School, Oberoi International School, Mumbai; Stephen Pye, Head of Operations, International School of Central Switzerland; Mark Sylte, Head of School, Saigon South International School, HCMC, Vietnam; and Andrew Torris, Head of School, Universal American School, Dubai. John, who served as moderator, called the panel discussion a "professional highlight because of the depth, diversity, candor, and clarity of participants' answers to candidates' questions."
The number of vacancies filled at the Search Leadership Fair have not been fully tallied, but the early-in-the-season event saw more candidates and schools than ever. Ray is confident that more matches have been made--and are still in the making--even earlier than in past years.
For more about Search Associates’ 12 exciting annual job fairs held across the globe, click here.
