Our Annual Meeting and a Look to the Future

In July, Search Associates traveled from offices all over the globe to convene for another wonderful annual general meeting (AGM), this time in beautiful, historic Amsterdam. With its artistic heritage and intricate canal system, the quaint city offered fresh perspective and great opportunity for sightseeing, after three days of collaboration, brainstorming, and productivity. This year, we expanded our team of Senior Associates with top talent to include Bob and Jennifer Imholt, Gary MacPhie, Brent Mutsch and new Chief Operating Officer Rajiv Bhat. All were present at our AGM and offered a great deal of insight as new members of the team.

Our AGM provides the opportunity for all members of our organization to gather in one place and reflect on the year. Discussions touched on topics such as the landscape surrounding international recruitment which is constantly changing, our job fairs, technology, and the impact on recruitment, how well we are meeting the needs of our member schools and candidates, and of course, analysis of the ways in which we can improve. The entire team, including several office assistants, attended group discussions to offer ideas based on their extensive experience in the field. Always on our minds: How can we at Search Associates continue to offer a high level of personalized attention and make life easier for our candidates and member schools?

This year, for the first time, we scheduled a series of pre-meetings to allow a more focused discussion on some key topics. Sessions covered topics from our leadership searches to changes in the landscape of international education, and the British schools market in particular. There were also smaller sessions specific to fair organizers for discussion of our job fairs, the new fair portal, and the potential for new fairs. Stay tuned!

A key conversation focused on Search Associates’ core mission and values. As always, we strive to place top quality teachers in the top international schools worldwide. We understand how impactful and valuable a quality education is to the next generation of youth, and we seek to further enhance that value through our personalized approach and services.

Our new COO Rajiv Bhat highlighted the vital role that Search Associates will continue to play as international education evolves and grows. We seek to offer new and improved services this coming year, and are very excited in anticipation of a HUGE announcement this fall regarding a new service that will empower our member schools to recruit more efficiently.

President Jessica Magagna stated,

“It is important for Search Associates to constantly assess what we are doing and how well we are doing it. It is also equally important to make sure the services we offer are meeting the needs of our member schools and candidates in this constantly changing environment. Complacency is not an option, and as such, we are constantly pushing ourselves to grow and change. We encourage our candidates and schools to reach out to us with their suggestions and will do our best to address them one by one. With this in mind, Search Associates will be unveiling a brand new service for our member schools which will also impact our candidates in a positive way. This will be a huge turning point for our organization, one that will push us to the next level of success.”