Job hunting is a full-time job!

It seems like I am starting to get into the groove of this whole whole blogging thing. I still don’t have a set schedule for myself, but sometimes I have a topic that I just can’t wait to talk about. So, I open up a new tab and I begin to write. 

As graduation nears closer and closer, I, and many seniors like me, find the overwhelming need to find a job. I find it particularly pressuring because I am from New Hampshire but I have no desire to return to the Granite State. I would much rather be here in New Jersey. The commonality that all us seniors feel is that applying to jobs is a full time job! 

Because many districts use applitrack, you can import most of the common fields when applying to new districts. It still seems to take me hours and hours to apply for a single position. One application for a school district in central New Jersey took me close to ten hours to complete. Granted, I’m including time spent researching the school district, writing my cover letter, and completing the application, but ten hours.. and I’m not even guaranteed an interview! The hardest part is knowing that there are literally hundreds of others just like me who are also applying for that one position at that one district. 

So the question becomes, “how do I stand out?” I’ve had this question in mind over the years and I have tried to prepare myself not only academically, but socially and professionally as well. I have worked hard at my collegiate education class. I have tried to branch out to other local professionals in areas that I am interested in. I have attended countless lectures and workshops to increase my professional development and proficiency across a variety of areas and topics. One piece of advice I was given as an undergraduate student was that “what you lack in experience, you must make up for in professionalism.” I believe this is a great piece of advice, and I have tried to hold myself up to this standard. I know that hiring a first year teacher is a risk to any school district, so that means I need to be the most professional unexperienced teacher in the room. 

It excites me when I greet students in the morning before they enter the classroom. It motivates me when when I take part in a twitter chat with so many dedicated and seasoned professionals in the field. It empowers me when I’m working with a student and I see it “click” for them as they understand the concept. Suddenly, they have become the teacher and they are the ones explaining what they know. It’s a wonderful thing to experience. 

Though I’ve spent hours sitting behind my laptop as I type away about my philosophies of education, differentiation, inclusion, and technology in the classroom; though I’ve spent too much time dwelling on all the other applicants that school districts are sorting through; though I am becoming more and more nervous about landing a job, I am more excited now than ever to have my own classroom with my own group of students.

Yes, job hunting is a full-time job, but in the end I know it’ll be worth it. 

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Are you a college grad (or soon to be one) and also applying for teaching positions? Are you a tenured teacher with some application/interview tips? Comments (or tweets) are always welcomed and appreciated.

@CallahansClass