Three years ago, if you had asked me what my plans were, I would have said, "Get a teaching job somewhere, maybe move to the city (chicago) and maybe have a boyfriend...." I never imagined being married at the age of 23 (24 now) and not having a teaching job by now.
I never expected it would be THIS hard to get a teaching job. Schools won't hire you unless you have experience.... But you can't get the experience because they won't hire you! So, I go to interviews, present my case, try to convince them that I am a good teacher although I haven't made a year's worth of lesson plans. As of right now, the job search is not going well. Last Friday, I found out that my second interview ended that possibility. I didn't get called back to interview with the superintendent. Now, I have hopes for either getting more interviews or having the other school I interviewed with call me for a second interview.... I've learned not to hold my breath.
While realizing that this may be another school year of which I am unemployed, I thought about maybe moving on with my life.
If I got a teaching job, I wouldn't want to have a baby until I'm tenured. If I do take maternity leave before tenure, I run the risk of not being hired back. Before tenure, I'm completely replacable. So, we're looking at 3-5 years before I would feel very comfortable taking maternity leave. My husband isn't getting any younger either. He just turned 40.
So, yesterday, I talked to him... I let him know that if I don't get a teaching job, I think we should just have a baby. That way, I won't have to worry about losing a teaching job, I would be able to take time off from my current job and sub when I could. While there is no health insurance and financial security, it's a scary endeavor. But, overall, I think that may be the best bet.
All of my plans have changed. Everything I thought I'd be doing has changed. Everything I think I will still be doing is in the process of changing. It's a very scary realization. Not to mention if I had to tell my mother that I was pregnant! She still thinks I'm too young. She wants me to have a career before I have a child. She would be excited about a grandchild but disappointed as well.
Why can't life just be easy?
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Comments: 16
So you and your husband do what is right for you. Don't worry about your mom. I have learned to stop trying to please my parents and do more what is right for me. If I had done more what my parents wanted I would be a nurse or a teacher (but, I learned while student teaching it was not for me). Sorry you are having such a hard time getting a job. It really stinks.
My husband went to drafting school to be a draftsman/engineer and interviewed all over the place but no jobs, nobody would hire him because he was fresh out of drafting school with no experience. How can you get experience when companies will not give you a chance to get your feet in the door to learn?
It is terrible.
My cousin heard of a job here in Alabama that needed a Jr. draftsman and was willing to hire my husband. We packed up and moved to Alabama. My husband worked for that company for 12 years and now is a project manager for a different company that he has now been at for several years.
Oh and by the way....the job that my husband moved here to take...the home office is based in Pittsburgh, PA !!! but yet we had to leave our lives in Pittsburgh to get that job ...where does this all make sense??
I wish you luck and hope you find your path.
Hey, regarding the teaching job. When someone slams a door, look for a window. Try to get yourself into the system as a substitute. The best way to prove you can do something is to do it. If that doesn't work, look for private schools that need teachers, and get experience that way.
Hang in there. :)
I am looking to teach in the suburbs. While through the grapevine there are tons of jobs open in Chicago Public Schools, there aren't very many posted so it's even hard to find those! The suburbs are even harder!
I've joined a website (teachers-teachers.com) which posts job openings all over the country... And yeah, there are TONS in Baltimore! I thought about it but... In the end, I'm not sure I could take my husband away from his daughter. Especially when he took a 50% pay cut so he could be closer to her and not traveling.
No matter how hard it is to decide and to think about, I'm sure that in the end everything is going to work out just fine! : )
According to many, subbing is not the experience they are looking for. They want someone that has experience writing and implementing their own lesson plans. Someone that has built connections with their own students. Someone that has already tackled all the things that a teacher has to tackle.
That's the frustrating part. I have more experience than anyone else that I know looking for a teaching job.... But, schools don't see all of that on a resume. They would know if they asked... But that requires getting an interview. *Sigh*
Oh my. Then your resume is written incorrectly. Consider not doing the traditional listing of every job, how long, where and your functions.
There are a number of different resume formats that might be well suited to displaying your experiences.
Regardless, if your resume doesn't sell your strengths, it isn't the right resume for your. Consider sharing your resume with some experts who might be able to comment on how to improve that.
Also, if lesson plans are a big deal, consider a creative approach and turn your resume into a "lesson plan." That'll get some attention...
I may have to figure out how to turn it into a lesson plan. Thank you!
you are asking big questions. As much as I admire your openness, I would like to recommend some caution: Nobody here knows you well enough to give you competent advice. And you don't know us "voices out of cyberworld" well enough to know who if us are "real" (we had that conversation in a separate track).
So the decision is yourse alone.
Consider moving to Atlanta, we need teachers like you here, perhaps your husband can bring his daughter along as well! In any case, good luck with whatever you decide.
Hajo - Although I post these big questions, I don't think that anyone really has the answers. I don't think that someone's advice is necessarily what would work for me either. I know that the answer lies within me.... But, writing my fears and questions and frustrations helps to put them in perspective. And, I like to hear all the advice. Doesn't mean I'm going to take it though!
I know that the decision will become clearer as the days go by....
"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. " Jim rohn
"fall down 7 times, get up 8" ole chinese proverb
I teach stay at home Moms, to make more money part time, then their husbands do full time.