Educators Expo slated for February 11 & 12, 2010, 3rd floor Newcomb Hall
Educators Expo: Student Information Overview
Personnel representatives from many of Virginia's public school systems and quite a few out-of-state school systems will be at U.Va. to meet and interview prospective K-12 teachers, counselors and administrators on February 11 & 12, 2010. Some private/independent school placement agencies and private schools also participate. Certification is NOT a requirement for getting a position with many (if not most) of the private schools and even some of the Charter Schools. However, talk with the public schools since more and more are having to provisionally certify teachers due to the increasing teacher shortage, particularly in the areas of math, science, foreign language and special education.
On February 11, from 10am to 2pm, representatives will be available to give information about their schools, and many will fill their interview schedules for the following day, February 12. Unfortunately, if you miss the job fair portion and have not had previous contact with an individual school, it will be difficult to arrange interviews if you only show up for the interview portion (see below for details). Note that not all schools participate in the interview portion; view the 
Educators Expo spreadsheet to find the schools who interviewed in 2009. Also note that more and more employers are conducting interviews during the job fair portion so be prepared! In fact, that's why some of these schools bring so many recruiters.
On February 12, most of the employers will be scheduling interviews at the following times: 8:30-9:00, 9:00-9:30, 9:30-10:00, 15 minute break, 10:15-10:45, 10:45-11:15, 11:15-11:45, 11:45-12:15, Lunch break (12:15-1:00), 1:00-1:30, 1:30-2:00, 2:00-2:30, 2:30-3:00, 3:00-3:30. You might find that some employers ask for interview times outside of these times, either 15 minute interviews, over lunch or before/after the event. Be sure to not double-book your time -- if you are a U.Va. student and are reported as a "no-show" by the employer, you will be required to write an apology letter.
Consider being proactive in contacting the employers in advance of the event; the 2009 contact information for the recruiters is available in the Educators Expo spreadsheet . An updated contact list for 2010 will be posted on this site in January 2010. When contacting employers via e-mail, it is best to: 1) Write a targeted (non-generic) cover letter in the body of your e-mail and 2) Attach a virus-free resume naming the resume with your first and last name.doc (rather than just resume.doc). Check out the online job search handbook for resume and cover letter writing help.
Most employers will fill their schedules during the job fair portion of the event, and this is done directly with them -- there is not an "open" sign up for interviews like you will find at some events. Even if they are not registered to attend the interview portion, you can contact them to inquire about the possibility of meeting with them outside of the event.
To help you prepare for this event, be sure to listen to the podcast of the Educators Expo Job Fair/Interview Prep workshop that the Arlington Co. School representatives conducted this year and/or the one co-hosted by the Albemarle Co. School representatives last year. For many additional tips on navigating a job fair (click on this link for UCS handout on this topic) and other education recruiting, be sure to read the weekly e-newsletter "Curry Career Currents." If you're a U.Va. student/alumnus and are interested in viewing this e-newsletter, please see the "Curry Career Currents Archives" on this website.
Be sure to sign in at the event and pick up a copy of the Expo map to see where the recruiters will be located for both days (also check out the board of updates since last minute changes can happen - particularly for the Interview portion). Thanks to the Market Data Retrieval directories, here are most of the maps of the states (Washington DC's map just showed the state and not individual parts of the city): Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Washington state.