How to Get a Job

Upon graduating, David made it no secret what my new job was: To find a teaching job. I would continue to work at my current job which will pay me and then go home to work on getting a job that would pay me and give me state benefits (the dream).

Don't get me wrong, I welcomed this new endeavor with incredible motivation and made it my life mission. This was 7 years in the making. I had been working on graduating and getting a job for so long that I was antsy to get out of the gate. So, I threw myself into it. I was at a disadvantage already. I didn't have the freedom to move like the others I just graduated with. My region was reasonably small and highly competative. I was also limited with my license. Sure, I could teach the entire spectrum of disabilities, but I am only licensed through the 3rd grade (thank you ODE). With the economy like it is, most districts want someone who is licensed through the 12th grade and easily moved within the system. The administrative influence in my life doesn't blame them, but I don't want to teach middle- or high-schoolers. Once a student has the ability to put their elbow on your head and use you as a leaning post, you lose a little authority.

So, every day I was on the Ohio Department of Education's website tweaking my online resume, uploading new documents, and searching for positions. I also bookmarked every single school district that had a webpage with job postings with a 45 min driving time radius. I also checked those every day and made note of those hiring or to call about further information. Then would come the hard part. I would rewrite my cover letter for each district tailoring it to the job and the district and then print out the multitude of papers that would go in each envelope, stuff said envelope, telepathically lay positive thoughts on the packet and send it on its merry way. In total, I sent out 9 packets and submitted 2 applications online in the course of 2 weeks. After that, I ran out of job leads.

While still checking the websites, I would wait for something. I did some calling and soon gave up as I didn't encounter a secretary who particularly cared if my packet had been received. So, I resolved to wait. My first interview came for a very good school district about 40 miles away. Not very ideal, but they had a great reputation and they were willing to talk to me. In my next blog, I will talk my interviewing experience, but for time sake I will resolve to say after 8 interviews, I received 3 job offers. Now, to hear the whole story of that also takes some time. Let's just say that I turned down 2 job offers waiting to hear on the 3rd. This move was either going to be stupid or pretty baller. It turned out to be baller as I was able to land my number one pick of a job and was elated. I'm still on a high and have been mentally rearranging my room ever since.