{"id":1291,"date":"2012-06-29T10:39:41","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T10:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2012-10-15T10:40:32","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T10:40:32","slug":"the-wonderful-world-of-international-school-hiring-fairs-lesson-9-remember-to-check-yourself-in-the-mirror-before-you-leave-your-hotel-room-for-the-days-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/the-wonderful-world-of-international-school-hiring-fairs-lesson-9-remember-to-check-yourself-in-the-mirror-before-you-leave-your-hotel-room-for-the-days-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wonderful World of International School Hiring Fairs: Lesson #9 \u2013 \u201cRemember to check yourself in the mirror before you leave your hotel room for the day\u2019s interviews.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNine Lessons Learned\u201d taken from The Wonderful World of International School Hiring Fairs<\/a> article by Clay Burell\u2019s blog Beyond School<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9. \u201cRemember to check yourself in the mirror before you leave your hotel room for the day\u2019s interviews.<\/strong>\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe I forgot my belt. At least my fly wasn\u2019t down.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first fair that I ever went to, I didn’t even own a suit.\u00a0 I had to get one from a department store a couple of weeks before.\u00a0 I remember not even knowing what the “rules of wearing a suit” were at the time.\u00a0 I ended up getting advice from the “suit expert” at the store; when and when not to button the 3rd button, which tie colours were best “suited” for interviewing, etc.\u00a0 I felt a bit silly when I wore this suit at the time of the fair, but I ended up getting 4 offers, so maybe my new clothes were having the right effect.\u00a0 I only had two sets of shirts and ties (using the same suit), so I hope that none of the schools noticed being that many teachers have multiple interviews with the same school over the 2-3 days of the fair.<\/p>\n

Do schools really notice then what the candidates are wearing?\u00a0 Seems a bit silly when you are trying to show your “real” self, when most of us teachers aren’t wearing suits at our schools (well at a British international school you might be) or in our personal lives.\u00a0 But as the rules go at international school recruitment fairs, most believe that wearing a suit is a must.\u00a0 Unfortunately then, you must actually have one already or have to buy one, and if you live in the United States…suits aren’t necessarily cheap.\u00a0 If you currently live in a country where getting clothes personally made for you is relatively inexpensive (e.g. China), then I suppose you might as well get 2-3 of them!\u00a0 Still though, you are only wearing the suits most likely for 2-3 days at the fair and then not wearing them again for another 2-3 years!\u00a0 Seems a bit of a waste to spend the money and not use the clothes more often.<\/p>\n

So, you have your suit now and you arrive at the fair.\u00a0 As you unpack your “formal” clothes, make sure to note whether there are wrinkles or not.\u00a0 If you have flown to the fair on an airplane and have put your suit in your checked luggage, then you most likely will have to do a bit of ironing before you head out to do any interviews.\u00a0 If you are staying in a hotel room that is hosting the fair, then you are in luck because it is most likely a 4-5 star hotel and the rooms will have ironing equipment in them. Ironing under stress though can prove to be difficult, so iron with caution otherwise you might give yourself a burn which could ruin your hand-shaking hand.\u00a0 Also, make sure you try on your new clothes before you arrive at the fair.\u00a0 I remember having a roommate (one that the fair set me up to share a room with) and him just realizing in our hotel room that the shirt he brought was like 2-3 sizes too big for him (and extremely wrinkled as well).\u00a0 He asked for my opinion, and I was astonded how over-sized it was! He ended up getting a job in Switzerland at that fair, so apparently the school didn’t notice or care.<\/p>\n

But, you never know which schools will care at the fair.\u00a0 So, it is good to remember the phrase that everyone knows: Always make a good first impression.\u00a0 And besides your clothes, there are other things to check in the mirror before you leave your hotel room which well help you in your goal to make a good first impression.\u00a0 Maybe there is something in your teeth, so brush your teeth really well.\u00a0 Maybe there is something on your face like an eyelash, so check your face really up close.\u00a0 Maybe there is something in your nose, check up there too!\u00a0 There is nothing worse then having something on your face (that usually isn’t there) showing up and having your interviewer noticing it and your seemingly ignoring it!\u00a0 Hopefully they will just tell you straight away and you both can redirect your focus on the interview again without any more distractions.\u00a0 As a kind gesture to your fellow candidates, why don’t we all help each other to avoid these things when we see each other in the elevator?\u00a0 Better to have another candidate let you know about something on your face or clothes than the director of a school you would like to work at.<\/p>\n

I think there are a wide range of dress styles though when I look at the other candidates at international school recruitment fairs.\u00a0 I guess it is like a bell curve I suppose.\u00a0 There are a few teachers that are really dressed up, almost too much so.\u00a0 And then there are a few teachers that are dressed-down a bit and should’ve put a little more effort into their clothes and style choices.\u00a0 And finally there is the majority of candidates, who are just in the middle somewhere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, what is your plan at the fair with regarding to the goal of making a good first impression?\u00a0 Share what clothes you prefer to wear at the fair or routines you typically use to check yourself.\u00a0 Also, have you ever had an embarrassing moment when you forgot to check yourself in the mirror?<\/p>\n

There are over 5327 submitted information and comments about over 1232 international schools around the world on International School Community<\/a>. \u00a0Each international school has its own profile page, and on each school profile page there are four sections: School, Benefits, City and Travel. \u00a0Members of internationalschoolcommunity.com<\/a> are able to read about and submit their own comments and information in those four sections, all in a very easy to read and organized manner. \u00a0It is a great way to get a better glimpse into what could be your future life as you venture out into the world to work at your next international school! It is also a great resource at your disposal as you interview with different international schools when job hunting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNine Lessons Learned\u201d taken from The Wonderful World of International School Hiring Fairs article by Clay Burell\u2019s blog Beyond School. 9. \u201cRemember to check yourself in the mirror before you leave your hotel room for the day\u2019s interviews.\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t believe I forgot my belt. At least my fly wasn\u2019t down.\u201d The first fair that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[61,236,457,1029,28,29,30,272,184,58,81,64,1030,151,65,60,1031,1032],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-lessons-learned-regarding-intl-school-hiring-fairs","tag-benefits","tag-benefits-package","tag-comments-and-information","tag-flight-allowance","tag-information","tag-international-school","tag-international-school-community","tag-international-school-recruitment-fair","tag-international-school-teachers","tag-international-teachers","tag-internationalschoolcommunity-com","tag-interviewing","tag-life-at-international-schools","tag-recruiting","tag-recruitment-fair","tag-teaching-abroad","tag-teaching-at-international-school","tag-workload"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-kP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2566,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/iscommunity-blog-series-highlight-9-lessons-learned-regarding-international-school-hiring-fairs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1291,"position":0},"title":"ISCommunity Blog Series Highlight: 9 Lessons Learned Regarding International School Hiring Fairs","author":"ISCommunity","date":"January 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"January: RECRUITMENT FAIR SEASON STARTS! \u2022 Stressing out about the upcoming international school recruitment fair that you are going to this year? 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