Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Job Search 2009

i finally have a job that i am thrilled about, but this road was long & hard...

i graduated with my master of education in special education, and was finally ready to delve into the world of applying for a job. i applied to almost every district in the salt lake valley because i was panicking about making sure i got a job somewhere...

i started interviewing in May, and i was offered the first 6 jobs i interviewed for. a funny thing happened at this point: i was simultaneously encouraged, and discouraged. on one hand i was encouraged that i had many things employers were looking for, but i was also getting really sick of interviewing & just wanted to have something set in stone.

unfortunately, in a moment of weakness & desperation, i accepted a job that i didn't feel good about, but it was with a district i thought i wanted to be in. i tried to look @ the positive and not worry about all the things that made my stomach feel uneasy. yeah, that little voice inside your head - ummm, it's good to LISTEN to it!!! duh liz.

so thankfully, last monday, i got a call from the assistant principal at the 1st school i interviewed @ and she wanted to offer me ANOTHER job! keep in mind that i had spoken with her a few times over the summer, and lamented that she had only had a 1/2 time position to offer me, but i was really impressed with her & her school, and her school was actually the bar that i compared other schools to (they never quite measured up btw).

my immediate gut reaction to this offer was TAKE IT!!! and this time i listened. i called my former district & got out of my contract 2 hours before the deadline - it would have cost me $1000 after! and i made the switch.

i am soooo grateful that i have had this opportunity! i was foolhardy & impulsive and it almost cost me my first year of teaching. the thing is, they teach you a lot in school, but leave it up to you to navigate the system of interviewing, and working with districts and choosing a school. but after this experience i definitely feel like i've learned a lot about the process.

my advice to future teachers: don't accept a job unless you really love it! there will be others out there you just might have to be patient.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so where is it at??

lets go hit the ball sometime?

Lizz said...

crescent view middle school in canyons district. :)

i'd love to play if we can find a time when it's not 102* outside!!! maybe late evening around 8 at a lit court? it's just soooo bloody hot!