Depressed because I can't get a teaching job

[goofy!]

be careful with this. i've always heard, once a para, always a para. they will almost never consider you for a teaching position. they've got all those new hires that want the teaching job and no one wants to be a para. they won't want to lose a para if they don't have to.

our district routinely hires our paras as teachers. in fact, very few of our special ed teacher openings are posted outside of the district because we hire so many of our paras.

Every district is different.

I am a para for our school district. A huge percentage of my fellow paras are licensed teachers. They took the job to get their foot in the door. Our district routinely hires from within before going outside. Current employees wanting to transfer are always given more weight than somebody not currently hired. I would hazard to say that it would be very difficult to be an outsider just sending in a resume to get an interview, let alone an offer as the district has to consider transfers first.

 

[wintershawl]

Have you considered teaching online? I work for cyber school in PA, and I love it. I know our company has a school in Ohio as well - Ohio Virtual Academy. It's just a thought. I know in PA that our school is growing, and we are always hiring new people each school year.

Just a thought. It's not quite the same as teaching in a classroom, but I personally love it.

 

[tweedlemom]

I taught elem. school for 6 years before choosing to become a SAHM. Even after I stopped teaching full time, I started subbing, even just once a week, in the district where I had worked. When my children were in school full time, I started subbing in their school as much as possible. I was just hired as a long term (maternity) sub at their school until the end of the year. I know it's only until June, but I'll take it! Good luck to you! Hang in there.

 

[golfgal]

Many teachers who would have retired can't because their pensions were lost are were severely diminished through bad investments made by those who handled them.
In our area, a lot of positions were cut after the oil spill because tax revenues went way down.

By law pensions have to be in a fixed interest fund so market conditions should not have any bearing on their performance. If they have 401K's and other market sensitive investments, then this would be an issue-but it is an issue across the board.

 

[Teacher03]

I am a teacher in Ohio also. I taught 6 years in a Catholic School, which I absolutely loved, but it is in danger of closing. So last year I applied to public schools and got a part time job as a Title I teacher. I make about as much as I did in my old school, and I have my foot in the door. I have a pension, which I did not have before, but no insurance. Hopefully I will eventually be considered for a classroom, which seems to be the norm in this area. My friend from the same Catholic School did the same thing in a nearby district; she is also Title I.

Could you take a few classes to get your reading endorsement?

 

[creativeamanda]

My first thought is to inquire at the schools about which ones might need a teacher for homebound students. There are going to be girls on maternity leave, athletes who have been hurt, etc. who need services and after a full day at school, many teachers don't want to go back out to the public library and do that.

Good luck. It's tough out there right now to find a job. Right now, our area is laying off teachers who are of retirement age and the last ones they hired. I personally think we should lay off the teachers we have hired on agreements from foreign countries, but apparently, their salaries haven't been coming from the district's coffers, so it's not cost effective.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

If I were you, I would look into some additional certifications. My husband and I both got our Master's in 2009. He was secondary social studies, but he cannot coach a sport to save his life. That was always the sticking point. He did get a special ed certification last yea,r but it was too late to apply for the openings this year. He sent out resumes to every school in something like a one hundred mile radius. He had interview after interview. Many times they wouldn't call him back when they said they would.

He applied for many para positions as well. I don't know how many times I heard the "I have a Master's and I can't even get a para position" rant. It was very frustrating for him, particularly as he seems to have the more old fashioned view of the man taking care of the woman and here he is on my insurance, the house is in my name, and my paycheck pays all the bills.

One thing he would not apply for for a long time was elementary. I told him that he needed to start applying for elementary sped and para positions as thsoe are more numerous than secondary. He finally got a para position in a school district and starts on Monday. We're hoping it is a foot in the door. His family and I had to really encourage him to keep applying for teaching positions next year.

It's a bad market. In our state, once you have your initial certification, all you have to do to add another is take the Praxis to prove your competency in teh subject area. If you can get additional certifications, particularly sped math, or science, you will have a much better chance.

 

[abdmom]

Keep the faith. I took some time off when my third child was born and my dh died. When I started to apply for jobs at about 2 1/2 years later, I got a few nibbles, but no offers. I finally did get one offer at a private school, but the Head was so spacey, I turned it down. Another one year job would have required me to move 1500 miles away.

After that experience, I moved back to my hometown (not in the U.S.). I moved in August '09. In June '10, I was hired at a great private school.

This is my 4th private school (we moved a lot because of dh's job). I've found private schools are much more open to hiring people who do not follow the "usual" path. I've found the teaching environments much more collaborative and enjoyable than public schools. I'm not sure where you are, but most schools post job listings on their websites, as well as careers.nais.org. The problem of someone who knows someone or hiring from a sub list generally doesn't apply to privates. Good luck!

 

[gingajane]

Maybe private school teaching is the way to go(this assumes that you don't require the full salary of the public school teacher). I know that some teachers that retire from the public sector go right on teaching in the private sector, so maybe it is that much better of a working environment. Public schools(and I think I can safely speak for most), are high stress environments right now. The emphasis on testing and budget shortfalls are making the public school employees bite their fingernails and think really seriously about taking up smoking again. I enjoy my job. My kids and co-workers are aces, but the climate is negative.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I'm in the same boat. Well, sort of. I've been out of school for 3 years now and had no luck getting any full-time classroom job. I subbed for 2 years, including a couple long-term jobs that got my foot in the door. I also taught summer school in one of the districts. Fortunatley for this year I was able to get an educational assistant position that is full time. While I do not have a contract it atleast has benefits and will HOPEFULLY lead to a regular classroom teacher job. But it is really hard. Like others have said there are just so many people looking...I interviewed last April for the elementary openings in the district I'm in now and they told me they had over 1000 applications for 7 positions.

 

[lodgelady]

I teach in a very small private school. The pay is about $10,000 less per year than in public with no benefits at all. However,the trade-offs are that my class is smaller than in public and kids are generally easier to teach due to fewer behavior difficulties. I know that working for less/no benefits is not possible or desireable for everyone, but since my DH has benefits that cover us, it works for me. I love the low-stress level at work and really getting to know and love my students. The only stress we have right now comes from worrying that the school will survive these rocky economic times! Consider private if you can afford it- good luck!

 

[MrsPete]

Several comments:

One of the hard things about getting a teaching job is that you only have one GOOD SHOT every year. Few jobs are available mid-year.

MOST of our new teachers are either student teachers who've just proven themselves capable OR certified teachers who've been substituting. Few people are found through what you think of as the typical interviewing process.

Teaching Fellows generally get multiple offers right out of college.

I was hired one week after graduating in December -- though that was in better economic times.

We have had a teacher shortage for years here in the South, but now our numbers are just about equal to our jobs. I don't know people who are qualified and unable to get jobs. I do know people who are subbing becuase they don't want to work full time, and I do know people who didn't do well in student teaching who can't get a job.

 

[momof1princess]

i'm almost as far south as you can get (NE alabama) and a good friend of mine has tried for 2 1/2 years to find a teaching job-she finally gave up and took a secretarial position at a local church, which she loves. she was a substitute while she was looking, and she got very good reviews everywhere she filled in, but just couldn't get hired for a permanent job.
as i said earlier, i'm in the same boat, having been a SAHM for 11 years. i could run an entire office, but i can't even get an interview for a cashier position at k-mart. it's really discouraging, especially since DH's work hours have been cut from 66-70 per week to 40 per week, starting monday. back to my cr*ppy, next-to-nothing paying, chacha job, i guess.

 

[XvXSocialStudiesXvX]

I feel your pain. You left to raise your kids when there was still a good market for teaching, and now that you want to go back to teaching you can't. That said, I realize that this post is more than two years old. I didn't read though everything, but I thought I would add to it.

I went to a major university in NJ. They did not have an undergraduate teaching degree program. They told us that our state would be requiring everyone to have masters degrees so we were a head of the curve. Like a good little teacher's pet, I believed them. I should have transferred freshman year when I learned that about my school, but I didn't. I punched through undergrad focusing on meeting my major requirements for being a history major, my college requirements, and the requirements for getting into the GSE.

I was a fool. I got my masters, completed multiple long term subbing gigs, and worked my self into exhaustion every night. This went on for four years. I never taught the same subject twice with the same curriculum so everything I did was brand new. Now, my state has changed their tenure requirements from 3 years to 4 years. NJ is giving the school districts less money to work with because they want to put it into the inner city schools. So, the state of New Jersey has made it nearly impossible to get hired with a masters degree. Why should a district want me when they can pay someone less money for the same work? Besides that, since I did so many long term subbing gigs, I don't look competent.

So, I was out of work looking and applying to jobs for over a year. Now, I substitute in the district I live in and babysit my sister's kids. I have to live with my parents because I can't afford to live on my own. I don't even make enough to cover my school bill. Forget about having any type of medical insurance... Now, at 30, I've reached a dead end in just about every aspect of my life.

I can't get any other type of work because all I've done is taken care of kids and taught. I don't want to work retail because I'd be worse off than subbing. And I rather eat cat food than go back to working in a daycare. (Anyone who suggests working in a daycare should try it themselves, and hopefully they won't want to claw their eyes out by the end of their first day.) Everyone I talk to suggests teaching at a private school, a charter school, or catholic school. Which I've been applying to all along... (I went on one interview and they told me flat out their teachers only make about $23,000 a year, which in NJ isn't enough to live on.)

Other people suggest being a tour guide, working in a museum, or some other wonderful but unrealistic job, like corporate trainer or medical trainer. I'm stuck telling them that tour guides are in major cities or work as volunteers. Museum workers are volunteers, plus unless you're in the business aspect of it there isn't any money in it. Curators are expected to have an Art History Degree. Corporate doesn't go for people outside corporate to hire as trainers, plus I have no business experience what so ever. I thought I'd try to be a librarian. Nope, you need to have a degree in Librarian studies, and those jobs are getting cut all the time, so I doubt I'd have any type of future working in a library.

So, yeah, I have a worthless BA as a history major, and a worthless Masters Degree, as a social studies teacher. All the jobs I see on the major websites deal in retail or client survives. I'm an audio/visual learner, so anything that is solely on the phone would drive me to tears. Not to mention how abusive people are when they deal with client services.

So, yeah, you thought you were depressed, welcome to my world.

 

[Robinrs]

Considering this was posted 2 years ago, I hope the OP had better luck.

 

[castleview]

My mom had a rough time getting back into teaching after being home…and she had been doing homebound instruction the entire time. Just hang in there. It might take a lot of subbing, tutoring, whatever. But I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason.

 

[NYEmomma]

I feel your pain. You left to raise your kids when there was still a good market for teaching, and now that you want to go back to teaching you can't. That said, I realize that this post is more than two years old. I didn't read though everything, but I thought I would add to it.

I went to a major university in NJ. They did not have an undergraduate teaching degree program. They told us that our state would be requiring everyone to have masters degrees so we were a head of the curve. Like a good little teacher's pet, I believed them. I should have transferred freshman year when I learned that about my school, but I didn't. I punched through undergrad focusing on meeting my major requirements for being a history major, my college requirements, and the requirements for getting into the GSE.

I was a fool. I got my masters, completed multiple long term subbing gigs, and worked my self into exhaustion every night. This went on for four years. I never taught the same subject twice with the same curriculum so everything I did was brand new. Now, my state has changed their tenure requirements from 3 years to 4 years. NJ is giving the school districts less money to work with because they want to put it into the inner city schools. So, the state of New Jersey has made it nearly impossible to get hired with a masters degree. Why should a district want me when they can pay someone less money for the same work? Besides that, since I did so many long term subbing gigs, I don't look competent.

So, I was out of work looking and applying to jobs for over a year. Now, I substitute in the district I live in and babysit my sister's kids. I have to live with my parents because I can't afford to live on my own. I don't even make enough to cover my school bill. Forget about having any type of medical insurance... Now, at 30, I've reached a dead end in just about every aspect of my life.

I can't get any other type of work because all I've done is taken care of kids and taught. I don't want to work retail because I'd be worse off than subbing. And I rather eat cat food than go back to working in a daycare. (Anyone who suggests working in a daycare should try it themselves, and hopefully they won't want to claw their eyes out by the end of their first day.) Everyone I talk to suggests teaching at a private school, a charter school, or catholic school. Which I've been applying to all along... (I went on one interview and they told me flat out their teachers only make about $23,000 a year, which in NJ isn't enough to live on.)

Other people suggest being a tour guide, working in a museum, or some other wonderful but unrealistic job, like corporate trainer or medical trainer. I'm stuck telling them that tour guides are in major cities or work as volunteers. Museum workers are volunteers, plus unless you're in the business aspect of it there isn't any money in it. Curators are expected to have an Art History Degree. Corporate doesn't go for people outside corporate to hire as trainers, plus I have no business experience what so ever. I thought I'd try to be a librarian. Nope, you need to have a degree in Librarian studies, and those jobs are getting cut all the time, so I doubt I'd have any type of future working in a library.

So, yeah, I have a worthless BA as a history major, and a worthless Masters Degree, as a social studies teacher. All the jobs I see on the major websites deal in retail or client survives. I'm an audio/visual learner, so anything that is solely on the phone would drive me to tears. Not to mention how abusive people are when they deal with client services.

So, yeah, you thought you were depressed, welcome to my world.

I know this is dredging back up an ancient thread (hope the OP found a job by now! ) but this post above is basically the story of my life. Only in Ohio, not NJ. Basically tricked into pursuing a master's by my university & it made me all but unemployable around here.

I'm happily a SAHM now, but I'd like to start working again once my youngest kids are in school full-time. Not sure what kind of prospect I'll have in the teaching field though... I'm assuming the market will still be awful.

 

[Teacher03]

I teach in Ohio and started my career at a catholic school, which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately, not a lot of money. When the state insisted that teachers were required to have a masters' degree by the second renewal of a license (which they have now changed) I decided to try to get a job in a public school, because I just couldn't afford it on my salary. I ended up taking a part time job as a Title I teacher, which was about the same salary as teaching in a parochial school, but no benefits. I worked as a Title teacher for two years before getting a full time kindergarten teaching position this year. There were over 500 applications for the kindergarten position, so I know I am very fortunate. My suggestion is to try for a position such as Title; I worked hard to prove myself, and it paid off.

Good luck, I hope you find something soon. Teaching jobs are hard to come by, are not respected like they used to be, and there are so many changes (not good) coming our way. Although I absolutely love it, I am so happy my three children did not go into teaching.

 

[dogluva]

be careful with this. i've always heard, once a para, always a para. they will almost never consider you for a teaching position. they've got all those new hires that want the teaching job and no one wants to be a para. they won't want to lose a para if they don't have to.

Not true in my district. They always consider the ones who paid their dues first. I long term subbed for two years before I was hired and they told me that was the reason they hired me. They know what kind of a worker you are. My daughters teacher was a para for two years.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

The turnover is probably due to the lower wages and lack of benefits when compared to public school teachers.

I worked in private school for several years. When I finally found a job in public school, my salary jumped big time. In private school I was making $22000. My public school job paid $46,200 and was only 71% time!!! Additionally, I got full family benefits, paid for by the school district.

It's also because the location was in Louisiana. You may have to hunt for a while, but a teacher starting to look now, especially one with experience, will get a job. Maybe not in a great parish or city, but yeah, there are teaching jobs out there for them.