For many newly minted teachers, spring’s charms are overshadowed by a grueling job search, a seemingly endless effort filled with transcripts, other documentation, essays, and recommendations. I still remember one “recommendation” who cost me a job and the principal who kindly warned me about her. I had liked my interview with that Principal who sounded stunned and hesitant as he flagged me to the treachery. He was calling references, too — I had that job and lost it in a phone call.

I never knew what to think about that particular act of backstabbing. My reference had volunteered. We had a solid, working relationship. Yes, she had once seemed angry at how well my children were doing in school compared to her own child, which struck me as an odd response, but I’d never tried to raise an autistic child either. I promise readers I don’t boast about my kids, and after that I’d avoided the topic of how my girls were doing. Odd. That’s all I can say. Extremely odd.

But I found positions every time I looked and once when I was not looking. I have a few advantages. I enjoy interviews. I speak Spanish fluently. I’m certified or endorsed in the whole middle school curriculum, as well as French, Spanish, high school mathematics and business. I can somehow justify wanting to leave yet another position because I’d rather teach … high school Spanish, middle school bilingual language arts, high school bilingual mathematics, whatever. I have a Master’s degree with a concentration in marketing, and I always found it fun to explain why District X had the perfect (Your-Position-Here) opportunity for me. Now that I’m retired, I can no longer pursue teaching employment in Illinois without taking a massive pension hit, but I suspect the odds are good I could sell myself to a district in southern Wisconsin if I chose to take on full-time employment again.

I don’t want to sound too full of myself. Like I say, I floated a recommendation out there one year from someone who was actively sabotaging me. I’ve also had interviews that did not work, principals or other administrators with whom I simply could not connect. One or two I even disliked enough so that I was relieved when their position faded into the mist.

For those looking for a teaching position, I want to offer hope and a little advice.

Let’s start with the fact it’s almost June and nothing has come through yet. Don’t panic!Spring hiring has ended but a fierce wave of July and August hiring is about to come up.

Many teachers will not leave their positions or reveal that they are leaving until mid-summer. Sometimes those teachers are trying to decide between District A and District B. They may not entirely trust District B and may wait until all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed on the paperwork for their new position. Potential retirees may be wondering if they want to work another year. Teachers may be concerned that resignation will affect their benefits. Even if none of these factors are in play, letting go of a sure position can feel stressful enough that teachers will delay submitting their resignation letter until the last possible moment.

More positions will be entering the pipeline soon. If you want to teach, you should try to be furiously online in the near future. A few more pieces of advice for today:

1. Believe in yourself. Those last interviews did not produce a position? Maybe you were second or third best, but one candidate had a few years (more) experience. Keep going. Every teacher out there had to land that first job and not everyone lucked into their first position quickly.
2. Spend up for the clothes you need if you have not done so already. Clothes may matter. Some principals are oblivious, but others have handkerchiefs that match their ties, the handkerchiefs folded neatly and poking out of suit pockets. You won’t lose the job for being slightly overdressed — nervous first timers can expect to get a break here — but you can lose the job by being underdressed if you encounter matching-tie-and-handkerchief or Gucci-pumps Principal.
3. Do you struggle in interviews? Find a list of the common interview questions and practice with a friend. Practice any question that threw you in a previous interview. Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know something, a much better strategy than failing to fake your way through an answer.
4. Be sure to emphasize your commitment to lifelong learning and professional development. (Try to avoid clichés like “lifelong learning” 🙂 as you do this.) This part of the interview might be the right jump-off point to find out about mentoring programs offered by a district. You should also check into district reimbursement for further education. Some districts do not offer reimbursement, but others will pay for most or all of that special education or bilingual endorsement you wish to add. In the event you get multiple offers, tuition reimbursement can add hundreds or even thousands to a district’s annual salary, depending on how ambitious you are.*
5. Sign up for a summer class if you can still do so. Phrases like, “We discussed that problem in my Spanish for Educators class last week” help solidify that impression you are going to work diligently to perfect your teaching skills once hired. If nothing else, listen to a few webinars and take notes so that you can refer to your independent online learning efforts.
6. Get transcripts. Having sealed transcripts handy will simplify life. Order a few extras too. In August, transcript requirements can even delay hiring. Some districts will insist you prove your credentials before they make you official. You might even carry transcripts with you, especially if you are a strong student. I have gotten two offers right after interviews.
7. If you know you made a good connection with an interviewer, but did not get the position — call that person. Ask if they could spare you a few minutes to help with your search. Ask how you might improve your interview skills/answers. What could you do better? What credentials might help? Did they check with references? (You can guess how this question got here!) Was there information about you that the district wanted that references could not provide? I’d end by leaving my number in case another opening came up in the near future. Someone else may have gotten the offer — but that someone else could be getting another offer while you are on the phone. The position might reopen tomorrow. 
8. Always send timely thank-you emails with contact information. If your interviewer had a silk handkerchief sticking out of a pocket or Gucci pumps, consider sending a physical thank-you note.

*A small note on classes and tuition reimbursement: Be careful not to take too many classes until you know how much work your new position will be. Teaching can honestly be a 100-plus-hour week for starting high school Spanish teachers, for example. The grading alone has the potential to suck up “free” hours like a category 5 cyclone. Learning to manage time was my biggest challenge when I started. Technology has improved the picture, with programs that track progress, but access to that technology varies greatly between districts.

Eduhonesty: That’s enough for now, I guess. I’ll brainstorm and pick this up again in a few days. I know that many of you don’t need most or all of this advice, but maybe I can help a few newbies as they navigate their interviews.

Good luck and keep believing in yourself!

Testing. Testing. One, two, three. Noah leaps out of his seat. He throws his IEP-approved fidget spinner at Karl and fortunately misses. The classroom aide is absent — and will be for the rest of the year. This aide has been out for foot surgery and if anyone looked for a replacement, Noah’s one special education teacher never heard about that search. Noah’s in a financially-distressed district and his teacher is pleading with me to continue subbing in her classroom. But that plan won’t work anyway. The school’s principal (a great guy, actually) has a bad habit of redeploying subs. If a second or third grade teacher is absent, I will end up running those classrooms while Noah’s teacher manages without help for Day number 32, 45, or whatever. For that matter, the district itself will redeploy subs in an emergency. I am subbing today in a poor district that scores in the bottom few percent of its state, a district prone to that government category, “widespread disorder in classrooms.” In the past, I have been moved midmorning to schools across town. As a retired, certified teacher, I am wasted as a special education aide when a school needs multiple classroom teachers, and every so often, someone notices that fact in the midst of frantic phone calls from school offices to human resources.

That job Noah’s teacher wants me to take as her aide? I don’t know where they are posting that opening, but it’s hardly ever listed in the app I use to choose sub positions. I frankly don’t think the administration is even trying to put out the missing-aide fire. Missing teachers trump missing aides and a district that frequently cannot fill teaching positions, especially in the middle school, has to let those aide slots go.

I grab the spinner and shove it in a pocket. I sit down in a desk beside Noah to talk. He wants his spinner back. He insists. It’s his right! He needs it! One advantage of being retired and subbing in a desperate district: I don’t have to worry about giving this spinner back. Noah can complain to the Principal — as he threatens to do — if he chooses. The Principal is a sensible guy. And I for damn sure don’t need this district as much as this district needs me.

Noah has lost his fidget spinner privilege, I explain, because he threw the spinner. He protests that he did not intend to hit anyone. I observe that he came pretty close to Karl. An accident, he claims. I tell him that he must learn to make better choices. I ask him to tell me what he ought to have done instead of throwing the spinner.

It’s 8:52 A.M. I expect to have a long day.

Eduhonesty: I have heard people say that changing how America funds schools will not rescue “failing” schools, that more money will not fix the problems of inner city and other struggling students. I agree that money is no cure-all for the many challenges in American education. But I also know that if I were working about 12 miles to the Southwest, instead of one teacher trying to teach six kids with documented behavioral and other learning challenges, six kids maybe five years apart in academic understanding, I would instead be one of six aides helping six kids under a lucky classroom teacher who would never have to worry about widespread disorder in her classroom. With that many eyes watching students, Noah’s fidget spinner would most likely not have gotten off the desk, much less into the air. For one thing, “his” aide would have been working with Noah as soon as the day started. Noah would not have been left on his own.

Those one-on-one aides for kids with documented behavioral disorders cost money, often $40,000 apiece or more by the time benefits are added to the picture. Wealthy districts can budget those funds based on a fear of flying fidget spinners and other dangerous behaviors. Impoverished districts are left to triage. What would have to be sacrificed to add that aide? Are the new laptops more important? Can we get by with one aide for three kids? Six kids? Eight kids? Can we put Noah in a regular classroom and skip the aide? Maybe regular appointments with the counselor and social worker will be enough…

The effects of this cost-cutting are not merely felt by Noah and his teachers. Fortunately, Karl was facing the other direction and did not see the fidget spinner’s release. If he had, Karl would be edgy at least, probably in fight or flight mode in a district where “flight” is mostly not considered an option. But Karl seems oblivious as he starts work. A random fidget spinner hit the wall far enough from him so that he could care less. The world has calmed down. Noah is smiling at me, a goofy, happy grin. He knows he became my focus and that’s most likely what he wanted. He shows me the picture of a superhero he is drawing. I praise the cape and redirect him towards the day’s first objective.

The hell money does not matter. What would be happening here today if there were no aide? That one teacher does need help in this room, but she will not have a regular aide until next year — if then. Noah needs help, too. Today he got lucky and an aide turned up, an aide who could appreciate him even while setting much-needed limits. From his teacher’s desperate pleading with me, I know that tomorrow he is unlikely to be so lucky.

P.S. I never got to Stranger Things in this post. Posts sometimes simply unfurl. But Noah loves Stranger Things. Want to be able to talk to a struggling middle school kid? Watch this new Netflix series when you get the chance. It’s sci fic/horror so not everyone will want to take the Stranger Things ride, but being able to discuss Mike, Eleven and Sheriff Hopper can establish your bona fides as an adult worthy of a middle-school student’s time.

You want to get a laugh when a student is testing you? Try saying,

“No Demogorgon behavior in my classroom, young man! This is not the Upside Down!”

You might then pause and add, “Not most of the time, anyway.”