Thursday, April 26, 2012

So here's the story. I am in the job market. I need to find a teaching or other job, but I don't have a teaching certificate or an MFA. Nonetheless, I am a teacher, and a competent one, even if I've spent a lot of time as an itinerant rather than a full-time employee. Therefore, I have gaps in my experience . . . such as administering tests and doing assessment.

It's the "woman out of the job force for 20 years because she's been raising children" syndrome. It looks bad on paper. It sounds bad in an interview. It's not bad in real life.

So if you have any good ideas, let me know. Thank you. You are sweet people out there.

5 comments:

Mr. Hill said...

my school's hiring.

srsly, getting certified is a pretty simple six month process in a lot of states now, I think, if you already have a b.a. in something.

it's so much more fun than being a lawyer; I can at least help knock law school off of your list.

Dawn Potter said...

Certification is not so quick in Maine, but it may well be in other states. Maybe I'll check that out. And thanks for helping me erase "law school." I didn't need much convincing, however.

Ruth said...

Any private schools "near-by"? You'd have more than the "proper" crdentials.

Ruth said...

Artist-in-Residence programs in the state??? Usually that involves working with a school for X number of days heading toward a culminating project

Lucy B said...

One key question is how closely related do you want your job to be to what your vocation is? To me you are a writer and a teacher, but you don't have to get a "job" doing either of those things. But maybe doing some other kind of work doesn't appeal. Beyond being an organized mother, you've been a free-lance editor, a community organizer (all those pie makers!), cook, and gardener. Those are also skills. [BTW, my favorite unpaid labor is to give job hunting advice, so you just got some, but I am happy to give more, look at job advertisements, resumes, etc.]