Applitrack for teaching job search

[Tiggeroo]

Anybody else using this for job apps. It's really making my brain explode. I never know if anybody reads this stuff. I just spent four and a half hours on applications.

 

[Aliceacc]

I never have.

But, as a teacher on nearby Long Island, I have a very good idea of just how competitive the teaching market is.

So, if it's OK with you, I'll offer some suggestions. Feel free to disreguard as many as you choose:

1. This one's important. Today, right now, take a look at your cover letter. If it's not one that makes you think "Now THAT'S someone I want to meet!!!" then it needs revision. It should NOT rehash what's in your resume. Instead, it should let the reader know a little of WHO you are. It should tell the story of a succes you've had in a classroom somewhere, of some child who is glad he or she had you as a teacher. PM me later if you need some help, but this gets done today, OK???

Honest, that's incredibly important. Because if you can get someone to want to meet you, you've leapfrogged over the next 500 applicants in the stack.

2. Hit google, and get a list of every single public, private, religious and charter school within an hour's drive. I don't care about the neighborhood, the religion they teach or anything else. It's July; you can be picky when you get multiple offers. For now, I want you to apply to every single district within an hour's drive. I'm guessing that applitrack has already covered some, but I bet you a dollar that there are a whole lot of districts not on applitrack.

Now that you've done that, expand your search by 10 minutes, and do it again. I don't know how close you are to other states (PA?? Delaware??) but if they fall within your 70 minutes, consider them as well. If you're not certified there, still consider those private, religious and charter schools; they may not have to follow the same licensing requirements as public schools.

Oh, and my resume SCREAMS "Catholic"-- I've spent my whole life in Catholic schools. That didn't stop me from getting offers from a Lutheran school and one run by the Society of Friends when I returned to work after being a SAHM. I even asked about it; I was assured that a lot of the teachers in the school weren't members of the religion. Likewise, I've worked with a number of people over the years who taught in Catholic schools but weren't Catholic. Don't even consider this in your job search; apply everywhere!!!

3. For local schools, I want you to get dressed up a bit-- I'm thinking a summer skirt and sandals-- and try walking your cover letter and resume in. Summer is funny-- you may just find the principal in his office as he handles summer school or repairs. Ask the receptionist if, somehow, you can speak to him for a minute as you hand in your resume. If she says she'll take it, it's still a bonus... don't underestimate the phrase "This was just dropped off by a lovely teacher" from a trusted secretary.

4. For the rest of the districts: go to the district website, and forward your killer cover letter and resume to every single principal in every single school in the district. Let the principals know that your full application is already on file, either with applitrack or the individual district. If and when there are changes over the summer, you want him to already have your info at his fingertips-- you want him to request your application.

This all gets done THIS WEEKEND, OK??? Yeah, I know it's a holiday weekend. But the hiring season in education is winding down. When those summer changes come in, you want to be the resume they reach for.

The trick is not to chase the job openings. By the time an opening appears anywhere, the principal has already had time to go through all the resumes already at his fingertips. You want your killer cover letter and resume there when the gets the phone call saying he needs a teacher, so you already have the interview scheduled before the opening appears anywhere. All the job offers I got when I returned to work were for jobs that hadn't yet been posted.

 

[smkohn]

I'm also in the midst of a teaching job search, and pretty much every district around here uses Applitrack. We had an administrator panel come to our student teaching seminar last semester and talk to us about it and answer questions. All of the administrators actually told us NOT to send in or drop off resumes, cover letters, etc. They said any paper copies they got usually just got tossed or put in a file cabinet somewhere. They also said one of the "tricks" to getting your application at least looked at is to constantly be updating it. Every time you change even a word or punctuation mark in your application it gets bumped to the top of the list, and since administrators view the applications online in submitted order, you definitely want to be at the top of the list. Some said they only really looked at the first page or two, so if you get pushed too far back they won't even see your application.
I will say the one thing I like about Applitrack is that you can usually import information from one district to another. So everything except my essay questions and attachments usually get automatically uploaded into the district's application.

Here's hoping both of us will find something. Good luck!

 

[Aliceacc]

Perhaps some are tossed.

But how does that hurt? If your application is already on file with the district, then it will still come up when the principal searches for it. I can't imagine any pricipal having the time to keep track of which applicants have mailed a resume that got tossed.

I just know that, of the 3 teaching jobs (and multiple offers) I've had since 1980, only ONE was the result of a posted job opening-- a new school was opening. Every other offer I've ever gotten was the result of me applying to a job that didn't exist, and of a cover letter sent to a principal. It may go against popular advice, but it has always worked for me. And when I was department chair, the very first place I went when we had an opening was to my file of resumes. I could get a number of interviews in before the the ad received any responses.

In this job market, particularly in the tri-state region, I honestly think that it will help your chances. And walking it in will help more than you can believe!

Again, choose which of my advice to take. I can only speak to what has worked for me and for the people I've interviewed.

The best of luck to both of you!

 

[Cindy B]

Applitrack is used a lot in our state.

Are you aware that you can import info from another application which reduces the usual 25-31 pages down to about 3-4? (Student teaching, references, etc)

I also make a word copy of all the questions so all I have to do is cut and paste them into the box.

It is tedious. I spent from 8:50 am to 4:56 on Monday doing around 15 applications.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't know anything about this electronic system, but I can tell you that almost every teacher hired into our school comes from one of two sources: The pool of recent student teachers or our first-string subs. It makes sense. We know these people are good because we've seen them in action. We know they show up every day, handle discipline well, teach a good lesson every day.

If you're having trouble landing a job, sign up to substitute teach. Our best subs are reserved weeks in advance, and they can work as many days a week as they want. Some want to continue subbing, but those who see it as a path to permanent employment are usually successful.

 

[StephMK]

Yes, I spent two years dealing with those dreaded apps! Around here, the largest district is handled by HR. The principals get a chance to look over the apps on who to pick but HR does all the set up of interviews and hiring offers. So keeping in close touch with HR works for that district.

I agree w/the PP, keep updating it so it will hit the top. I was told that by a principal here too. Aliceacc has great advice about teaching, follow her suggestions! I would pick the absolute farthest distance you are willing to travel and apply out to that point.

I got my first teaching job in a Catholic school even though I'm not Catholic. They had a teacher move last minute in August and called my college for a rec. My advisor knew I was looking and recommended me. It was meant to be because I was working on a sped endt and the room had a student with Down's as well as a few others with sped needs.

If you haven't already, tell everyone single person possible that you are looking for a job. If you can finish an endt & open up more options, I would suggest that too. I know the only reason I got my new job was because I finished my 10 week student teaching for the sped endt in the largest local district and thankfully really clicked with my cooperating teacher and got a great rec from her & the principal. The district tries to place their student teachers first and luckily I clicked with the staff I interviewed with too.

Good luck! The market is really crazy. One tiny (1 elem, 1 MS, 1 HS) district 20 minutes west of here sent me a rejection letter for the 3 spots they had. They said they had gotten between 180-220 apps for each of those jobs. If you have to sub, the large district I subbed in had daily openings and I could have easily worked every day up until the last week of school if I wanted to.

Keep working at it because I know there are always some spots in August when teachers leave and student ratios shift around.

 

[wdwiala]

Applitrack certainly takes some time at the begining. After looking back over it after 3 months of submitting for jobs, I just noticed that I had not added my reference letters to the applications! Uhg! Be careful when you go back to apply for newly posted jobs to make sure that the info and drop boxes are all filled out the way they should be.