Career Corner

We’re beginning to talk with excited clients who have actually been offered jobs. For you, that magic moment may be just around the corner. Will you be ready to make an informed job choice?

While it might be tempting to immediately accept the first offer that comes along, careful consideration of each offer produces better results.

Our office presents a workshop to prepare candidates to evaluate job offers, consider benefits, and make wise job choices. Here are some topics we cover:

• How to Respond Initially
Thank the employer for the offer. Ask for time to consideration. This demonstrates that you are taking the offer seriously, and that you want to make sure that you are making the best decision possible – for both you and the school. Be clear on when the employer expects a response.

If you have had more than one interview (or if you have interviews scheduled in the near future), you may, out of fairness to all employers, need to ask for a reasonable extension.

• What to Think About in Making a Decision
Be sure you know what you want in a job. What are your non-negotiables – job factors that are so important that you cannot compromise on them? They could include the district’s reputation, the school’s location, curriculum offerings, rapport with staff members, salary level and benefits, or anything else that is essential to you in a position. We publish an Education Employment Guide that includes a salary/benefits worksheet and a checklist for considerations in accepting a teaching position. If you’d find this information useful, you can view it by going to http://www.niu.edu/CareerServices/educator/k12.html, then clicking on Education Employment Guide. The documents are on pages 31 and 32.

• How to Make the Final Decision
A tried-and-true way to make a job decision is the balance sheet. A balance sheet is simply a listing of the job’s positives and negatives. Make a list of everything that you like about the job, and make another list of the drawbacks – your hesitations. Compare the lists. Are the advantages enough to warrant acceptance? Are the drawbacks minor enough that you will be able to adjust to them?

Talk with people who are important to you. Those in your “trusted group” may come up with questions or issues that you hadn’t considered.

Sleep on your decision! Your unconscious mind will work through intricacies as you sleep. You might be amazed at the thoughts that come to you when you awaken.

As always, if you need another opinion, consult with a counselor in your Career Services Office.

• Rejecting a Job Offer
You may decide that this is not the right position for you. If you do reject the offer, however, be sure to do so with diplomacy, grace, and kindness. Administrators talk with each other, and they share their impressions of candidates. You’ll want the impression that you leave to be positive. Somewhere down the line, you may end up wanting to work for the very district that you rejected this time.

Remember that a contract is a legal, binding document. NEVER continue to look for positions after you have signed a contract.

• Accepting an Offer
Ask for a written copy of the job offer so that you can be sure of the exact terms. Write an acceptance letter, expressing your excitement at joining the staff and stating your understanding of the terms of the offer.

Notify districts where you have interviewed (or will be interviewing) that you have accepted a position. Be sure, once again, to employ your best diplomacy.

Inform your Career Services Office that you have accepted employment so that your name is removed from referral lists.

Celebrate – enjoy the rest of your summer!

--Dr. Dawn Jones,
Online Education & Health Advisor,
Northern Illinois University, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The end of the semester is drawing near. Student teachers are completing their final assignments, and some students (primarily special education, bilingual, math and science) have already signed contracts. If you are one of the many who do not yet have a job, use April and May wisely to ensure that you will be teaching in the fall.

What should you be doing in April and May? Here are a few recommendations (many of which are based on material from AAEE’s Job Search Handbook for Educators) that we make to our students:

• Ask your principal to conduct a practice interview with you and give you honest feedback after the interview. This will give you great interviewing practice; it will also help you to understand what qualities principals look for in candidates.
• Since you can never have too much interviewing practice, contact your Career Services Office for another practice interview. It’s good to have multiple perspectives on your interviewing strengths and areas for improvement.
• Revise your resume to reflect new student teaching accomplishments. A resume is always a work in progress – it should be updated as you add new duties and achievements.
• Continue to monitor vacancies and apply for any that interest you. Vacancies may only be listed for a short time, so act quickly!
• Inform your Career Services Office that you are still searching for a job. Counselors may have suggestions for what you can do to maximize your job search potential.
• Attend remaining job fairs. Many career centers have copies of AAEE’s 2008 Job Hunter’s Guide that lists career fairs throughout the nation by months in which they occur. Your Career Services Office should also have notices of recently added or last-minute fairs.
• After you have had an interview, follow up with a well-written thank-you letter. You may want to have a career counselor review it before you mail it. It’s also important to follow up with employers whom you’ve met at job fairs to let them know that you are still interested in working in their districts.
• Keep in touch with administrators in districts where you have already applied. Phone calls, emails and personal visits to the school are the most effective ways of maintaining contact. Check on the status of the position and of your application. Don’t make a pest of yourself, though!
• Take advantage of any opportunity to visit schools that interest you. Attend events sponsored by the schools, such as spring concerts, fun fairs, district open houses, or even school board meetings.
• Vary your search methods. Don’t rely on just one method of looking. Use district websites, state websites, college/university job databases, independent websites for teaching jobs (Education Week’s TopSchoolJobs.org, for example), friends/neighbors/family with school district connections and even local newspapers.
• If possible, increase the parameters of your job search. When I was looking for my first teaching job I sought out every high school within an hour’s drive from my home. My thought was that I’d rather be commuting to teach than riding my bike to waitress.

Finally, don’t lose heart if you don’t yet have a job. Most first-year teachers are hired during the summer – June, July and well into August. I was hired in the second week of September for a position that arose when the school realized that it needed a teacher to diminish staff overload. Lots of things happen during the summer: budgets are determined, students enroll, and current staff members decide to take other positions. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people. Talking with people who tell you that you’ll never get hired will undermine your confidence and your ability to interview effectively. Have faith in what you can do, and don’t give up.

--Dr. Dawn Jones,
Online Education & Health Advisor,
Northern Illinois University, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My title is “online advisor." The role is one that is still relatively unique, but it is rapidly gaining in popularity. Since most of our student teachers and alumni are NEVER on campus, we had to think of a way to bring our services to them. I advise education clients via a special email address (edresumes@niu.edu) that has been set up specifically for that purpose.

Technology is a vital part of our lives. Electronic communication permits counselors to respond to your questions and also to review job search correspondence, such as resumes, CVs, cover/thank you letters, reference sheets, and responses to application questions, no matter where you’re located. There are many advantages to this flexible method of career counseling:

• You send materials whenever it’s convenient – after student teaching, on weekends, late at night.
• Location doesn’t matter. You can contact us from other cities, states, and even abroad.
• Online communication is ideal for quick, short questions, when coming into the office is impractical. You can email right away – as soon as a question/issue comes to mind.
• Counselor comments are easy to read; they can be saved and changes can be made at your convenience.
• Counselors are able go through documents in a more thorough fashion – thus, they are more likely to catch problems.
• When asking questions, you can go into as much detail as you want, taking time to compose your thoughts before transmitting.
• You can send as many emails as desired, when it might be difficult for you to schedule multiple in-office appointments to resolve the same issues.
• If you’re concerned about privacy, no one will see you coming to a counseling office (remember, though, that email is not always the most secure mode of communication).
• Online communication is ideal for clients with disabilities who might find it difficult or impossible to physically get to the Career Services Office.
• Communication is fast – you don’t have to wait weeks for an appointment.
• Counselors have time to research and draw together resources to respond to complicated questions (relocation issues/contacts, information on specific programs of study, hiring statistics, supply/demand data).
• The service is free.

The process, of course, isn’t perfect. Counselors can’t pick up on nuances, such as your body language and voice tone, which are apparent in face-to-face meetings. The quick give-and-take of an in-person conversation is missing. And, of course, some issues aren’t appropriate for online counseling. Even so, online advisement fills a much-needed gap and extends the boundaries of the Career Services Office far beyond its physical location.

If you need assistance with career-related issues, check with your Career Services Office to see what sort of online advisement might be available.

--Dr. Dawn Jones,
Online Education & Health Advisor,
Northern Illinois University, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Spring is in the air, and summer is fast approaching. Summer – the time when every education student’s thoughts turn to…work-related experience.

Have you found a summer job yet?

As a career counselor, I always recommend that students start thinking about summer jobs early – setting the goal of finding the perfect position by the end of spring break. In reality, though, most students have other things in mind at that time of the year. It’s after break that they start thinking – and asking us – about their best summer job options.

Education students are especially interested in using their summers as investments – honing their finest skills in working with children, while boosting the strength of their resumes. Face it: the market for teachers is highly competitive, and administrators are going to want to know what you’ve done in addition to your student teaching to demonstrate your commitment to the profession.

I’ve talked with many students who want to do something career-related, but they don’t know where to begin. That has prompted me to draw up a list of potential summer jobs for soon-to-be teachers (and already-employed teachers, too) that will fit a wide range of abilities, interests, economic needs and teaching levels. Here is my list (which is by no means exhaustive):

30 SOURCES OF EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS PLANNING TO TEACH
1. Summer camps (anywhere!) – residential, day, and special interest camps
2. National, state parks and county parks/nature centers
3. Community park district programs
4. Volunteer tutoring
5. Respite care ("Respite" refers to short term, temporary care provided to people with disabilities in order that their families can take a break from the daily routine of care-giving. Unlike child care, respite services may sometimes involve overnight care for an extended period of time.)
6. YMCAs
7. Big Brother/Big Sister programs
8. Summer school programs
9. Nanny programs
10. Day care centers
11. Before and after school programs during the summer school
12. Disney internships (you have to apply EARLY for these)
13. Other amusement/theme parks
14. Water parks
15. Children’s museums
16. Outward Bound
17. Library (summer reading) programs and story hours
18. Religious programs (children’s education, teen and pre-teen groups, nursery care)
19. Hospitals: children’s ward volunteers
20. Mentoring programs for at-risk children and adolescents
21. Social service agency and court service summer programs
22. Community outreach activities
23. Language programs for ESL/ELL children
24. Scouting
25. Habitat for Humanity
26. Service trips – both in the U.S. and abroad
27. Resort and cruise ship child care programs
28. Resident assistant and community assistant programs for university-based athletic camps
29. Special lessons: music, horseback riding, sailing, athletics
30. Coaching for summer sports programs

Once you’ve decided on the sort of job that sounds interesting, do a reality check to assess how it will fit with your special interests and talents. Talking with a career counselor might help you process where your gifts can best be used.

The next step is actually landing the job. What sources can you use? You can talk to friends, family and teachers at your student-teaching site, some of whom may have had similar positions. You can make direct contact with organizations. And, of course, you can use your school’s Career Services Office. Most will have databases (Northern Illinois University uses a version of eRecruiting) of summer, temporary and part-time job listings. You can apply for many of the jobs online. Just be sure, as with any regular job, that your resume is updated.

Don’t pass up the opportunity to use your summer productively - to build on your confidence and to gain great job-related experience. Who knows? It may be the best summer of your life!

--Dr. Dawn Jones,
Online Education and Health Advisor,
Northern Illinois University, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)