Job Search

Didn't even make the first cut. And they told me Friday afternoon before a three-day holiday weekend. Nice.

Littlek--

You were probably up against teachers who had most of your qualifications, plus experience.

Personally, I'd take the holiday weekend to howl and mutter and then I'd be ready to start again come Tuesday.

Do you have any idea how many applicants there were?

Hold your dominion.

I don't know how many interviewed. The principal gave me some tips to work on, that was good.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Li'l k)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


That sucks.


It can be really tough getting that first big job..........



I am glad you got tips.

She said I needed to use more specifics. I said I had been trying to, but then I noticed people looking at their watches and kept my answers shorter.

Aaaaargh!


That's tough.

Littlek, I'm just catching up and feel for you after the interview and being told you didn't make the first cut.

What you said about having specific answers but watching some of the panel checking their watches, rang a bell with me. It can be tough to learn to only pay attention to yourself and what you want to say. Let the panelists sit a little longer----you're worth every minute of their time.


{{{{{{{{{{ Good Luck Littlek }}}}}}}}}}

Thanks everyone. I took a two-hour nap and felt much better. Now I'm on the cape and will get over it promptly. I don't have time to wallow.

I'd just holler come to New Mexico. but I'm not clear on local specifics. Diane and Dys and I have friends in sandy places though, if you want to connect to teachers here.

Unless I'm alive in an interview I'm dead in the water, as I have a monotone voice and bore even myself. Yes, I've watched people yawn while I talk sincerely, if not in interviews.

I did get us a big job in part by virtue of my enthusiastic palaver for a project a few years ago. Well, that's another story. Careful what you wish for. Have done that in my more distant past too. Hmmm, that was the one in BH. The correlation might not bode well.


(Good luck and go get 'em.)

Osso, NM used to be on a permanent search for teachers (and nurses). Maybe this area is just too high competative?

I talked to some people today. The other in-house interviewee was also turned down for a second round. Then someone told me the principal never hires from within the staff. So why did she interview us? She may have had to.....? Every day there is more and more bitching about the way the school is run. More teachers and staff are taking time off than ever before. Not good. My guess is that she is booted during the year next year (we have a new superintendent).

Meanwhile...... I was contacted via email by one school system that wants me to apply online. Luckily, it's the same program as I used for the other online application and my responses are in the drop down menu.

That sounds promising...

Yeah, in my several frantic months of interviewing for teaching jobs, I found out that a lot of the time they seem to have someone in mind, but they need to interview a certain number of people (how many? I forget -- may not be a set number anyway) mostly just as a formality.

You seem to be in a moment where you could move for a job -- is that true? Dag's about to move herself, you have Screech but he's pretty portable, your family is close by but not all of them -- maybe move closer to your (West Coast?) sis?

I do remember that part from job-searching, that it was frustrating that there was such a glut in Madison and environs (lots of education majors at the UW), while people were begging in other areas. (I was newly married and not free to move wherever at the time.)

Mmmm, I did move back here to be closer to family. All except my lil sis are here. I do like being near to my parents. I guess I want to stay in this area if I can.

Wow, more than 2 months since I posted. Not a lot has changed, so I guess it doesn't seem that surprising. I have sent my resume packet to 11 school districts which have around 55 elementary schools between them. I have applied to specific jobs as they come up. I have downgraded my search from classroom teacher (permanent or long-term sub) to teaching assistant or SpEd instructor. The later two are significantly lower paying. A woman called about a landscaping job. She turns out to be well-connected and has taken me on as a project. She gave me info no one else had been able to tell me. With my grades 1-6 teaching license, I can aid and assists at any level (I can only really teach in elem. school). So, middle and high school positions are open to me. That expands the field.

Also, she contacted one of my principals who wrote a gleaming recommendation for me. He hadn't hired me, so I was confused about the discrepancy. He gave her another gleaming review of my work via email, adding he was probably going to hire me for this year in some capacity. She told him if he wanted to hire me to do it quickly, for she was setting me up with other prospective employees and that I'd really liked my time at his school! She's great!

On the other hand.... the landscaping. I'll go over on Friday. She wants someone to rework her existing garden and to help develop a plan for the rest of her (big) yard. We're not a perfect match for this. I like small projects, she has a big one (I like to think of it as a series of small projects). She has a neighborhood helper and has had landscapers. I sent her pictures of my projects. She said they looked like her yard BEFORE being fixed. My work looks like the work done at her yard which she wants to improve. She's blunt!

So. My theory now is this. She had a big group of plants put in recently (fact). There was no garden plan, the guy from the nursery planted them as he saw fit (fact). My guess is regardless of his design plan (I haven't seen it), he left ample room for them to grow (as he should have). The theory is: it's the space she doesn't like. The irony, if this is true, is that she has another piece of garden she considers over-run indicating that this part was planted too closely together at first. We'll see if I am right. If so, perhaps I can convince her that ample spacing is in her long-term interest and that short-term fillers can be added to the existing design. Who knows.

You mean employers, right? Good for you, nice of her!

Maybe I'm missing something you said earlier in the thread, but I don't see the connection between teaching and gardening here. Did you apply for a (private) gardening job, and then it turned out that the owner of the garden was well-connected in the Boston schooling world? Or is gardening some kind of schooling project through which children learn to work with plants and schools get to have pretty gardens? (This would also explain the "we" I don't quite understand.)

Okay, disclaimer: Being a nerd with no garden credentials whatsoever, I may well be about to say something stupid.

But your story, littlek, makes me wonder: In this time of CAD, virtual reality, and computer games, shouldn't there be reasonably affordable software that lets you "play" garden architect? I imagine that you'd start with an empty lot. Then you plant your plants, click "show me this garden after x years", and -- hocus pocus! -- you get a picture you can print out. Then you take this picture to your client and say: "I'd be happy to plant things the way you want me to -- no, really! -- but let me show you a picture of how it would look in 10 years. <pulls picture out of sleeve> It would look exactly like the jungle you've got over there. <commiserating look> So are you sure you want me to plant all that stuff you just told me to?"

It seems to me that this could make your life much easier. You get to do the right thing without appearing to pick a fight with your customer.

gardening is a separate endeavor I started in order to make more cash - I posted an advert in the district wide communication server.

we being she and I I should have said, "I am not a good match for her."

There are garden design programs. They aren't cheap, so far as I've seen. i don't know if they can allow for growth.

http://www.punchsoftware.com/products/landscapeddeck.htm

you can get is at amazon for $59.... it's not free, but might be a good investment. and maybe you can get it cheaper even on ebay.

This one is FREE!

http://www.showoff.com/Showoffpurchase.html

That looks interesting. It'll take a while to figure out how to use it......

Gotcha. Thanks!



I guess so. Your Friday appointment is probably too early to figure it out. Here's one for $39 that explicitly advertises that it can handle growth.

http://www.gardencomposer.com/