On 8-9 January, Senior Associates and Fair Organisers Nick Kendell and Harry Deelman--along with their Search partners Paula Kendell and Margaret Deelman—hosted the Bangkok Asia-schools Virtual Fair 2022. Fifty-seven schools (196 recruiters) attended, primarily from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Nick and Harry were excited to facilitate meetings within a virtual environment between those recruiters and 316 candidates from around the globe. In discussion were 584 listed positions.
While virtual fairs can never replicate the excitement and energy that come from recruiting in person, Search Associates (SEARCH) aims to add as much “human interaction” as is possible within the virtual fair space. To facilitate connections, candidates were given the ability to upload 1-minute self-introductory videos; a “live” introduction welcomed participants, and “live” school Q & A sessions were available. The ability to chat with recruiters in real time and to contact other teachers for advice on their current location and school was also available. Candidate Alvin Sexton was particularly impressed:
The logistics set-up and ease-of-use for scheduling, messaging, setting up interviews, etc. was glorious. What I liked best is that I had Wi-Fi issues and could not watch all of the online school presentations in real time. But not to worry! They were recorded! So I could watch them later! Bravo! I could not do this at a "live" fair! At a live fair, I had to choose 1 of perhaps 3 presentations running at the same time. But this online fair had the answer for that as well. I am so pleased and very happy to participate in such an extremely well-run fair!
SEARCH’s fairs have been carefully designed with either a specific curriculum and/or location focus in regard to the participating schools, in order to cater to different time zones and to narrow the field for both candidates and schools. Search Associates organises specific fairs for teachers seeking their first international school position and a number of fairs for those who are highly experienced.
While the landscape of how recruiting is conducted may be changing, our commitment to excellence and serving the international community is as strong as ever.
Nick and Harry and their teams would like to thank all the educators who joined them at the January 2022 Bangkok Fair from an amazingly wide range of locations around the world. For more about Search Associates’ 11 annual job fairs, click here.
