Teaching Jobs

Job Search

Where are the teaching jobs? The answer is easy, teaching jobs are where the students are! Areas of the United States that are experiencing population growth continue to open new schools and need new teachers. The sunbelt states are among the top areas with teacher shortages - Florida, Georgia, Texas, California, and Nevada. Large urban areas continually need teachers. Shortages of teachers by subject area exist throughout the country. Many new teachers are needed for special education, math, all areas of science, Spanish, English as a Second Language, bilingual teachers, and computer science/technology. There is generally no shortage of elementary school teachers, except in special education and bilingual education. In fact, there are elementary schools that still get hundreds of applications for each job opening.

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College Career Center

Whether you are an undergraduate student or a career changer, your college's career center can be a source of help in your job search. The career center's counselors can counsel you about job opportunities, critique your cover letters and resume for you, and alert you to local job fairs and openings. Some career centers offer a service to education majors called the credentials file. A credentials file is a file, either paper or online, that houses three to five letters of recommendation for you, that you can then request be sent to each school system where you are a candidate. This is very helpful to you, since you do not want to ask the same three to five people to write an individual letter to each of the 50 school districts where you apply. The writers of your letters each write one letter, which is in the credentials file, and sent out by the career center as needed. Many centers are now doing this online, and you maintain and control the file. Check with your center for this, and other possible services to teacher education candidates.

Job Fairs

There are basically two kinds of job fairs for teacher candidates. A college, university, civic center, or regional office of education may sponsor a fair and invite recruiters from all over the area to attend and recruit graduates. The second type of fair is one held in a school district just to recruit and interview potential new hires who attend. In other words, sometimes recruiters come to your campus, and other times you go to their district.

To get the most out of a job fair, you should:

1. Dress appropriately in career clothes.
2. Take lots of resumes to distribute.
3. Be prepared for a short, 20-minute interview
4. Arrive early, know which jobs are open, and have a plan.

For more tips, see The Definitive Guide to Getting a Teaching Job, by Mary C. Clement.

Networking

Some people claim that personal networking is the best way to get a job. This may or may not be true. Public schools serve the public and are generally bound by state, local, and/or union guidelines when it comes to advertising for new teachers. If a friend or relative alerts you to a job opening, then find out more about the position. If it is advertised in your college career center, online, or on the district website, then you should apply for the position just exactly as the advertisement states. Calling busy personnel directors or principals will not help you to get hired. You must complete the paperwork as outlined in the advertisement, even if you discovered the opening informally. Of course, networking with teacher colleagues can be an excellent way to find out more about the school's work environment, administrative support, and collegiality of the faculty.