Reflections on a job fair

International teaching has developed a unique (?) system of finding and hiring teachers. A couple of organizations (Search Associates and ISS among them) organize fairs where teachers looking for a placement and schools with positions to fill can meet, interview and possibly make a match. All of this usually occurs within 2-3 days. A few stressful, crazy, busy days at least on the side of the teacher.

Last week I was at one such fair in Boston (with 500 teaching candidates and around 100 schools). As I settle back into life in Istanbul I find myself reflecting on the things that I really must remember the next time I go through one of these things.

(1) I need to know and remember what I am looking for in a school. This time I really wanted a smaller school population - so why did I interview with a large school in Shanghai?
(2) You have to sell yourself. There is no one else to do it for you. If you don't sell yourself there is some other math teacher out there who will.
(3) Schedule eating breaks. I know that some people this year only managed to get 2 or 3 interviews. Because I am a math teacher this is seldom the case. I had 9 interviews in all (not counting call backs) and 5 of them were back to back. Not the best idea. It really is better if you have a bit of time to relax, take a deep breath, eat a snack, and make some notes so that you can keep the schools straight. I knew this, and had every intention of following it, but somehow still didn't quite work out.
(4) Sometimes it might be worth while to talk with someone even if they are not at a school you are currently interested in or if you don't quite meet their needs. You never know when the situation will change. In 3 years you may decide that is *the* school you want to be at, or the head may change schools and end up at your dream school. Contacts are good to make. Some of my most enjoyable time was spent speaking with the head of a school I had no interest in moving to (but where two ex-colleagues had returned to with happiness). She helped me to refocus on what I desired, gave me a different perspective, and made me feel as if there was one more person "on my side."

Hopefully getting this all written down will help me remember it the next time I end up in a similar situation.