On February 18-20, 54 schools and 280 candidates convened for the Search Associates Dubai Fair. In discussion were around 300 international education vacancies. This regional fair mainly attracts recruiters from schools in the Middle East region, but this year more schools than ever arrived from Asia and Africa. Several recruiters came all the way from China, and others from schools in sub-Saharan Africa. Executive Vice President and Fair Host David Cope says nearly 60 vacancies have been filled so far, with more expected to follow. Joining David were Senior Associate Gez Hayden and his executive assistant Neil Kilah, who more than 10 years ago was himself a candidate at the Dubai Fair. In fact, Neil landed a job there as librarian at the school in China where Gez was then the head!
The Dubai fair always has a particularly warm atmosphere. The Crowne Plaza in Deira, with good facilities and an excellent layout of meeting rooms, is in many ways ideal for a fair of this size. Search Associates has used this hotel since 2004, so many of the friendly and helpful long-term staff welcome David and his team with great good cheer when they arrive. And this year the Search Associates team included some very special guests. David says,
"I enjoyed the event even more than usual because the dates of the fair coincided with my two teenage sons' mid-term break, so they and my wife Caroline were able to join me in Dubai and help out at the fair."
Both candidates and recruiters appreciated the personal attention they received from the team and gave us generous feedback. One recruiter, when asked for a suggestion to improve the fair, simply commented "None – it was excellent." Another attendee, a candidate, expressed her gratitude more fully:
"Thank you for the opportunity to meet with schools via the job fair. In a time where applying for employment relies so heavily on internet submissions and what is written on paper, it was a wonderful experience being able to meet possible employers face-to-face so that they could not just read about who we are, but they could see and experience our personalities that make us so much more than a CV and vice versa."
To learn more about Search Associates' eleven other annual job fairs, click here.
