For the first time in recent memory, several school districts from a large metropolitan area near our university canceled their attendance at our spring teacher recruitment event – after they had already registered. This occurred in large part because of, you guessed it, a cut in state funding, which is resulting in budget cuts. District budget constraints and reductions adversely affect the job market for new teachers - no secret there. Because districts may not be recruiting actively in as wide a market as previously, the district in which you are most interested in teaching may not be coming or have ...

A thank-you/follow-up letter is the professional way to maintain contact with an employer. This letter will assure the Personnel Office of your continued interest in the position. Remember the purpose of the letter is to maintain contact, but make sure that you have a substantial reason for contacting the employer each time you write, such as: •Thanking the employer for the opportunity to interview (preferably within 24 hours of the interview). •Sending supportive materials, e.g., transcripts. •Notifying the employer of a change of address or additional experience gained since submitting your application. How to Write a Thank-you Note: ...

When I graduated from high school and first began looking for work, I used the only job search method I knew: searching the classified ads in the newspaper. Identifying possible options from those listings, I began submitting applications to employers. I had no idea how few jobs were actually advertised in the paper. Although I eventually landed a position, it was not until much later that I learned the value of networking and utilizing my contacts to locate opportunities. I’ve found a similar job search method being used by the new teachers with whom I work. These candidates are ...

I was recently asked for advice on presenting teaching demonstrations during interviews. I do not consider myself to be an expert in this area, and I hope others will post comments and advice here as well. Let’s open up the discussion! First find out how much time you’ll have to present, your intended audience, and the subject or lesson you’re expected to teach. If you aren’t given the specifics of what or to whom you be teaching, have a variety of options: lecture or small group, and a set of lessons or workshop topics you'd be ...

In these times of uncertainty, most new teachers entering the workforce are understandably concerned about their ability to obtain teaching positions. During the last decade or so it was fairly common for teachers to sign a contract right out of college, sometimes while they were still student teaching. More recently, however, many teachers are finding it necessary to "pay their dues" by working the "Sub Circuit." As challenging as it may be, a positive substitute teaching experience may also lead to a permanent teaching position. When facing a sudden need to fill a position, most districts turn first to their ...

Where do we go from here? From my first two blogs, you should have the impression that I have issues with the budget cuts in education. Yes, revenues may be down due to a variety of reasons but it seems like education is the first place to cut. I would look a little harder at some other budget lines, salaries and government waste and inefficiencies. There are some positive points to the down economy. Because the demand for many products and services is down, companies are more willing to negotiate prices. The vendors are hungry. Ohio has been able to ...

We Can Invest In Sports Facilities Why Not Education? As a follow up to my first article I would like to again emphasize the fact that there are massive budget cuts occurring throughout the country in many areas including education. So where do we cut and how do we find resources to help finance our education budgets? These are questions that school districts are asking themselves. School districts can partner with their PTA and attempt major fund raising events and/or they can get creative in their thinking and rent out space to complimentary services/organizations when their school buildings ...

At year end of 2008 we see a dismal economic outlook. The broad market (Standard & Poor 500) is off by almost 40% since the beginning of 2008 and the Dow Jones industrial index is down 34% for the year. We see that your dollar, from January 1 to end of the year, only buys about 62 cents of goods and services. How does all this affect education? Well, we see endowment funds of colleges/universities, state retirement funds and 403b accounts have lost value and to make a grim situation look even more depressing, interest rates on no risk investments ...

Teachers are invited to join many professional organizations. Should you join or not? Only you can answer that definitively, but here are a few thoughts I have. The two largest general teacher organizations in the U.S. are the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Both these organizations are sometimes referred to as “unions” or “the union.” AFT is affiliated with the AFL-CIO and is, in fact, a union. Chances are that one of these organizations has a chapter in the district where you teach or will teach and represents local teachers in the collective ...

About a year ago, I wrote an entry for this blog on holiday tips for the job seeker. One thing I mentioned was using the post-holiday sales for wardrobe development, both for teaching and for interviewing. This topic, however, has nothing to do with retail shopping. Instead, I refer to what I call “job shopping.” The fall Education Interview Day at our institution was a couple of weeks ago. I overheard an administrator exclaim to an interviewing “candidate,” “I hired you last week!” The candidate shared that she, indeed, had been hired by the administrator’s district, but had been ...