Hello good friends!! Hopefully you are enjoying summer break and the beginning days of summer! With summer, comes many teachers retiring, taking leaves of absence, moving schools, or leaving the teaching profession. This means schools are looking for teachers to hire!! Maybe you are fresh outta college, or a few years out of college putting your time in with substituting (thank you for this by the way, we all need good subs), or maybe you are relocating, or just looking for a fresh start! Whatever your situation may be, I am writing a 3 part blog series about Jobs in Teaching! Check out the first part Jobs in Teaching : Land the Interview, and part two Jobs in Teaching : Rocking the Interview.
Ok, let me start by saying, I am no
NO expert! I am a first grade teacher, just finished up my 3rd year
in Maryland. However, I do have some insight into the teacher hiring
process! Before going back to school to be a teacher, I worked in the
Human Resources department for my county's public school system. I
witnessed first hand the type of educators that got hired, as well as
the ones that were looked over. I worked in that position for 5 years,
and loved every minute of it. BUT, I always wanted to be a teacher, so
with the support of my family and co-workers I was able to go to school
full-time while working to make that dream a reality!
So,
let's get to the good stuff! This blog post is all about those teachers that have been in the profession for a while. Maybe you are looking for a change, whether that be a change in positions or a change in schools, I have some tips to help you decide if now is the time for change, and what to do (and not do) to get noticed.
Have you maxed out your potential? So when thinking about your current situation--do you feel like you have gotten everything you can from it? Are you still being challenged? Is a new position/school going to challenge you? I debated applying for a school that is about 10 minutes from my house, compared to my 45 minute commute. It was a much smaller school. In reality, the shorter driving time would have been nice, however, I love growing as an educator, and being challenged by my current co-workers. I decided against putting in for the other position for this very reason.
Are you the big fish in a small pond? This idea piggy-backs off the previous one. When you become the big fish, and everyone comes to you to learn new things, it can sometimes be draining. You may no longer feel that you are learning everything. I think it's important as educators to be life-long learners. Once you reach a point in your career when you are no longer learning, it's time for a change. I have been so blessed with my teammates, from whom I have learned so much!
Do your homework. This is the same initial advice I gave in my 2nd blog post
about rocking the interview. Same stands true for veteran teachers.
Just because you have rocked it at your current school for the past 11
years, doesn't mean you will WOW a prospective school by knowing NOTHING
about their schools' specific programs. Is the school you are
interviewing for Title 1? Does it have great technology? What is their
mission statement? These are all things worth looking into! If the
school has a website much information can be found there. Or maybe there
is a district or county website that can be insightful to your
research. Walking into an interview knowing about the schools specific
programs shows the administration and interview team that you are
interested enough in their school to do your homework!
Don't hate. What I mean by that is don't go into an interview with a bad attitude about your current school or team. You NEVER know who the interview panel knows from your current school. You may be jaded from a situation at your school. You may have been up for a grade level change, and then the principal gave it to the newbie teacher. Nonetheless, the interview panel doesn't need to hear any of that! Not only doesn't it matter, but spewing all that negativity just makes you look bad.
If you have any tips on changing positions or schools for veteran teachers, please feel free to leave them in the comments below! If you need some more tips about Rocking the Interview, click here! Be sure to check out the first blog post in the series, Landing an Interview!
Have you maxed out your potential? So when thinking about your current situation--do you feel like you have gotten everything you can from it? Are you still being challenged? Is a new position/school going to challenge you? I debated applying for a school that is about 10 minutes from my house, compared to my 45 minute commute. It was a much smaller school. In reality, the shorter driving time would have been nice, however, I love growing as an educator, and being challenged by my current co-workers. I decided against putting in for the other position for this very reason.
Are you the big fish in a small pond? This idea piggy-backs off the previous one. When you become the big fish, and everyone comes to you to learn new things, it can sometimes be draining. You may no longer feel that you are learning everything. I think it's important as educators to be life-long learners. Once you reach a point in your career when you are no longer learning, it's time for a change. I have been so blessed with my teammates, from whom I have learned so much!
Don't hate. What I mean by that is don't go into an interview with a bad attitude about your current school or team. You NEVER know who the interview panel knows from your current school. You may be jaded from a situation at your school. You may have been up for a grade level change, and then the principal gave it to the newbie teacher. Nonetheless, the interview panel doesn't need to hear any of that! Not only doesn't it matter, but spewing all that negativity just makes you look bad.
If you have any tips on changing positions or schools for veteran teachers, please feel free to leave them in the comments below! If you need some more tips about Rocking the Interview, click here! Be sure to check out the first blog post in the series, Landing an Interview!
Happy summer friends!
No comments