TxTeacher
September 19th, 2004, 10:33 PM
This is very long, so bear with me; I have to give enough detail so you can know my situation. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/blush.gif
I am having SO much trouble getting a teaching job. I hold a B.S. in Early Childhood and am certified to teach EC-4 grades. I didn't graduate until August, so I wasn't able to get hired by the time the school year started since I didn't have my diploma or certificate in time. However, there are still job openings at various districts around Austin that have become available since school started, mainly because enrollment at a school was higher than expected and another teacher is needed to create a new classroom. I have sent resumes and letters of interest to each of the openings I qualify for, but out of 7 schools that I've sent resumes to since last week, only one called me back for an interview. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/upset.gif I think I did pretty well during the interview, but the principal told me flat-out that she'd prefer to hire someone with experience, though she realizes that might not be possible. There were at least five others interviewing for the job (a kindergarten teacher position), and I had the first interview of the group this past Thurs. Of course, the principal said she'd be filling the position "as soon as possible" (duh http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif ) but didn't specify when she'd make her decision or if she'd call those of us who didn't get the job. I actually had one other interview over a month ago, and that principal did call me back to tell me I wasn't hired, so I'd like to think this one would extend the same courtesy. But the fact that she made it clear she'd prefer a teacher w/experience tells me that if any of the other candidates have even a year of teaching experience, they'd most likely get the job over me. And that still doesn't explain why I don't get more calls back to at least interview; should I call the schools to follow up and see if the principals have scheduled interviews yet? The school I interviewed with Thurs called me literally w/in a few hours after I faxed them my resume, so I tend to think that, if a school was interested in me at all, they would have contacted me by now. I faxed my resume to a school as recently as this past Friday (Sept 10); wouldn't they have called me back the following business day (Monday, Sept. 13) if they were interested?
What really gets me is that I see ads all the time from local community colleges and private universities offering teacher certification courses, and I always hear that Texas is in need of teachers (though mostly bilingual and special ed). Indeed, there are new positions opening up at least once a week in some district around here (there are about 10 school districts in the Austin area), so it's not as if I'm applying to districts where they are not hiring for general ed teachers, which is what I am. In the 2003-2004 school year, over 45,000 new teachers were hired here in Texas, over half of whom did not even have degrees in education or early childhood; most of them were getting certified through programs offered to literally anyone who holds any kind of Bachelor's degree! And yet, I can't get a job with a major specializing in child development/education, even though I went through student teaching a regular length certification program. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/firemad.gif
Won't any districts give a first year teacher a chance?! What worries me even more is that I did my student teaching this past spring, so if I don't get hired before the end of this year, it will have been almost a year since I finished it, and that might make it look as if I've gotten out of touch with working in the classroom environment. That won't make me a very desirable candidate, will it, considering I will have been out of college and out of the classroom environment for about nine months (again, assuming I don't get hired until sometime next year, in 2005)? In the meantime, I'm looking for a job at a preschool or daycare, just to have SOMEthing, and I figure any kind of additional, current experience in a childcare-related field would look better when I go for teaching interviews, since it shows that I haven't been "out of practice", so to speak, in working with children. However, it's not my fault that so much time has passed since I finished my student teaching and education coursework; I had to take one more freakin' class (geometry--not even education related!) during summer school, so I wasn't able to officially graduate until August 7, and then I had to wait a few weeks for my certification to be approved.
ARRGGHH! Do any of you teachers, especially those who got hired recently (so you remember what the current hiring practices are like) have any advice, tips, recommendations? I want to teach so badly, and I hate to take a job in a daycare that not only doesn't let me utilize my skills and all the work I put forth to become a classroom teacher, but also pays insultingly low for someone with a Bachelor's degree from a major Texas university. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/sniff.gif What can do to make someone want me and convince them to give me a chance? I think I show my enthusiasm and willingness very well, but I just don't have the experience, and I can't get that experience until someone gives me a chance to prove that I will be a great teacher!
I appreciate any of you who were able to muddle through this. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/heee.gif
I am having SO much trouble getting a teaching job. I hold a B.S. in Early Childhood and am certified to teach EC-4 grades. I didn't graduate until August, so I wasn't able to get hired by the time the school year started since I didn't have my diploma or certificate in time. However, there are still job openings at various districts around Austin that have become available since school started, mainly because enrollment at a school was higher than expected and another teacher is needed to create a new classroom. I have sent resumes and letters of interest to each of the openings I qualify for, but out of 7 schools that I've sent resumes to since last week, only one called me back for an interview. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/upset.gif I think I did pretty well during the interview, but the principal told me flat-out that she'd prefer to hire someone with experience, though she realizes that might not be possible. There were at least five others interviewing for the job (a kindergarten teacher position), and I had the first interview of the group this past Thurs. Of course, the principal said she'd be filling the position "as soon as possible" (duh http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif ) but didn't specify when she'd make her decision or if she'd call those of us who didn't get the job. I actually had one other interview over a month ago, and that principal did call me back to tell me I wasn't hired, so I'd like to think this one would extend the same courtesy. But the fact that she made it clear she'd prefer a teacher w/experience tells me that if any of the other candidates have even a year of teaching experience, they'd most likely get the job over me. And that still doesn't explain why I don't get more calls back to at least interview; should I call the schools to follow up and see if the principals have scheduled interviews yet? The school I interviewed with Thurs called me literally w/in a few hours after I faxed them my resume, so I tend to think that, if a school was interested in me at all, they would have contacted me by now. I faxed my resume to a school as recently as this past Friday (Sept 10); wouldn't they have called me back the following business day (Monday, Sept. 13) if they were interested?
What really gets me is that I see ads all the time from local community colleges and private universities offering teacher certification courses, and I always hear that Texas is in need of teachers (though mostly bilingual and special ed). Indeed, there are new positions opening up at least once a week in some district around here (there are about 10 school districts in the Austin area), so it's not as if I'm applying to districts where they are not hiring for general ed teachers, which is what I am. In the 2003-2004 school year, over 45,000 new teachers were hired here in Texas, over half of whom did not even have degrees in education or early childhood; most of them were getting certified through programs offered to literally anyone who holds any kind of Bachelor's degree! And yet, I can't get a job with a major specializing in child development/education, even though I went through student teaching a regular length certification program. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/firemad.gif
Won't any districts give a first year teacher a chance?! What worries me even more is that I did my student teaching this past spring, so if I don't get hired before the end of this year, it will have been almost a year since I finished it, and that might make it look as if I've gotten out of touch with working in the classroom environment. That won't make me a very desirable candidate, will it, considering I will have been out of college and out of the classroom environment for about nine months (again, assuming I don't get hired until sometime next year, in 2005)? In the meantime, I'm looking for a job at a preschool or daycare, just to have SOMEthing, and I figure any kind of additional, current experience in a childcare-related field would look better when I go for teaching interviews, since it shows that I haven't been "out of practice", so to speak, in working with children. However, it's not my fault that so much time has passed since I finished my student teaching and education coursework; I had to take one more freakin' class (geometry--not even education related!) during summer school, so I wasn't able to officially graduate until August 7, and then I had to wait a few weeks for my certification to be approved.
ARRGGHH! Do any of you teachers, especially those who got hired recently (so you remember what the current hiring practices are like) have any advice, tips, recommendations? I want to teach so badly, and I hate to take a job in a daycare that not only doesn't let me utilize my skills and all the work I put forth to become a classroom teacher, but also pays insultingly low for someone with a Bachelor's degree from a major Texas university. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/sniff.gif What can do to make someone want me and convince them to give me a chance? I think I show my enthusiasm and willingness very well, but I just don't have the experience, and I can't get that experience until someone gives me a chance to prove that I will be a great teacher!
I appreciate any of you who were able to muddle through this. http://home.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/heee.gif