Finding a Job!

I must say that finding a job for me was fairly easy.  I was very lucky how I fell into my job at Bedford, especially with neither of my certifications being in a core subject (math, science, English, history).  After my student teaching (16 weeks), I was offered a long-term subbing position for the 2^nd semester—perfect!!  It was December, nobody was hiring, so this was win-win!  I had to learn a few things to teach Interior Design, but I adjusted.  The other full-time health teacher at Monroe was retiring at the end of the year, I thought I was all setJ  This was also the time when schools really started crunching and cutting back, so most open positions were filled within and people were simply shifted, not hired.  So I finished the year as a sub, had a great experience, great resume booster—time to start applyingJ  I had just gotten married, so I was looking locally which was a challenge, but tried to simply apply to every school in the area.  Most applications are done electronically now, so I simply applied with my credentials to have it on file.  That summer, Monroe called me back with another long-term position.  This was someone I had worked closely with and had already subbed in her classes.  She was taking the first semester off for health reasons, and it ended up being the entire year!  This time I was teaching Early Childhood Education (basically running a preschool) and sewing—I did not know how to sew!!  But they taught me and I gained a fun little hobbyJ Finished out the year, and the teacher did not return, but because I was not certified in that area, I could not apply for that position.  It’s funny how as a sub (even for an entire year) you can teach anything!  So back to the drawing board—checking all the schools I had previously applied to, sending my application/resumes out again, and knowing that the number of openings was getting smaller and smaller.  So that summer, I also started looking into “other” jobs—things not even related to teachingL At this point I did not have anything come fall and hadn’t been as lucky to fall into another long-term position. 

So I started off subbing at a couple different schools that fall, hoping to get a foot in another door.  I was always called back to Monroe because everyone there knew me and I knew the students so I usually had a sub job 2 or 3 times a week!  However, subbing in different buildings, different classrooms, never knowing where you are going can be tiring, especially when you have had your own class and want to teach as a career.   So one day I got home from school and had a message on my answering machine.  It was a teacher from Bedford (the school I currently teach at) asking if I would be interested in covering her classes at the end of the year for her maternity leave.  2 weeks of going to the same class—heck yeah!!  Wouldn’t you know, the same week, the principal at Monroe asked me to do another long-term position 2^nd semester—now what do I do??  So I went to my student-teaching mentor—her advice, “you’ve been in this building for 2-years and have not gotten a teaching job, now they know you’re a good sub, and may want to keep you as a ‘good sub’, go somewhere else, and get your foot in another door”.  And I did!! After my 2 weeks at Bedford, they called me that summer with a part-time position/part-time building sub—by November, they offered me a full-time business position and I’ve been here for 5 years!! The business position opened because another teacher took a leave of absence—but I was in the right place at the right time!

So my moral of the very long story I just told, don’t be afraid to try something new!  I was comfortable at Monroe and thought for sure one day I would get a job there, but I took a chance and I love my job and this school is so much betterJ

**I should note, the teacher at Bedford who called me to cover her classes had met a teacher from Monroe at a conference, and said, “I have the perfect sub for you”.  Because at that point I had subbed in every Family Consumer Science class there was;-)