My Four-Year Job Search: Interviews

The last few years of my professional life have been a bit of a whirlwind. Attaining a full-time job in my field proved to be quite the challenge, and, in true Stephanie's-hilariously-terrible-luck fashion, once I finally acquired a full-time position, the school that hired me shut down a few months after I started, and I went back to applying for jobs once again.

Let's back up a little bit, Edublog world. There is so much about the last few school years about which I need to write: unexpected situations that caused me to have to think on my feet; intriguing episodes and subsequent discussions about classroom ethics; a few particularly memorable students and colleagues; and, of course, some of my *star* moments in the classroom - the good, the bad, and the very ugly.

Most of these topics merit their own entries in this blog, so I will not write about them all today. Instead, I would like to focus on one key component of the job acquisition process that has caused me stress over the last few years:

Interviews.
I've had too many of them over the course of the last few school years. (I would like to note that I accidentally typed "two" instead of "too" the first time I typed the previous sentence, and as an English teacher, I am hanging my head in shame for that typo.)  In my four years of interviews, I've interviewed at public schools, charter schools, and private schools in a vast array of socioeconomic communities and have met a large number of principals, teachers, and other administrators.

It is true what is said about schools having different climates; each school at which I interview does have a unique "feel" to it, which I can sense from the moment I step into the room for an interview. Some principals and teachers are very relaxed, while others are all business, all the time. So many questions pop into my head prior to an interview: Is my portfolio thorough enough? Have I researched this school to a point in which I can answer any question that is asked of me? Am I dressed nicely enough? Are these people going to dismiss me because I look like I'm fifteen years old?

Let's explore a few of these questions and how they have contributed to my success (or lack thereof) in acquiring job offers.

1) "Is my portfolio thorough enough?"

I am thorough, even when I don't mean to be. I have decided that it is impossible for me to be concise in anything I do. Even in high school, I was known as that girl who always wrote paragraphs in yearbooks - even in the yearbooks of people who were merely acquaintances. I don't know why, but I feel the need to explain anything and everything. My short stories in elementary school sometimes got to twenty pages, while the other kids wrote one-page stories. My thesis/RWT (ooh, there's a terrible acronym I haven't used in a while) was practically a novel when it really only had to be around 30-something pages.

Anyway, I have a teaching portfolio that contains almost anything for which a potential employer could ask: college transcripts, copies of my teaching certificate, lesson plans, classroom layouts, sample tests and assignments I have given to students, copies of my MTTC scores, reference letters, my last performance review, sample student work, etc. It has come to the point where I blindly just grab the portfolio and head out the door whenever I have an interview. When I grab that portfolio, I feel invincible. "Hah," I think to myself, "There's nothing you can ask me for that I don't already have in this portfolio..."

...And then I'm hit with a curveball.

"That's great, but do you have a copy of the notarized back of your teaching certificate?"

D'oh!

Either that, or I am not asked to show off my portfolio at all. That's typically how I can tell that an interview is not going so well.

2) "Have I researched this school to a point in which I can answer any question that is asked of me?"

I don't like BS. I tell my students that I expect them to put thought and effort into their answers and that if they are going to write BS, it had better be some well-explained, logical BS (which, in essence, makes it not BS at all.) This, of course, means that I never speak BS myself in real life, right? I must practice what I preach, right...?

Yes...mostly. While I can confidently answer most questions that are asked of me in interviews, I will admit that there were one or two times in which I had to completely BS an answer and hope and pray that the interviewers would think I knew what I was talking about.

At a recent interview this summer, I was asked what I thought about the school's mission statement and how I planned to uphold that mission statement in my teaching. I froze and did not for the life of me remember the mission statement. Because I could not recall that particular school's mission statement, in my mind, I was trying to put together the mission statement prototype based off of other mission statements from other schools that I remembered. I have noticed that mission statements for schools generally have to do with moving students forward to the 21st century and creating well-rounded citizens with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion, so I based my answer to that question around that prototype, keeping my fingers crossed that the person interviewing me would not ask me to recite the school's mission statement.

Let's just say that I was not offered that job.  Let that be a lesson to you kids: BSing does not work!

3) "Am I dressed nicely enough?" 

Oh my gosh, guys. How does my hair look? Am I wearing enough make up today? Are my shoes shiny enough?

I was never a girly girl growing up, and I wear my hair the same way every day. I don't like shopping, and I find make up to be itchy and annoying. High-heeled shoes make my feet bend in unnatural ways. It is uncomfortable to wear skirts instead of pants. Unfortunately, in the professional world, it is part of the job to look one's best every day. Part of being in the professional world is going on interviews, and going on interviews means dressing up, even if you're not a fan.

Before and after interviews, I sometimes run into other applicants interviewing for the some position - you know, my competition. We eye each other up and down, smile, and wish each other good luck, even though half the time, we're probably both thinking, "Good luck not getting this job...because I will!  BWAHAHAHA!"

If there's one thing I've noticed about my competition, it's the abundance of black suit-coats that they wear. I don't own a black suit-coat, but I'm starting to think that I should! My closet is filled with purple sweaters, and I typically wear purple sweaters to interviews. Does the suit coat give my competitors the one-up-ski (making up words now) when it comes to class? I will admit that my competitors do look snazzy and professional in their suit-coats, but my purple sweaters disagree.

In fact, my purple sweaters have gotten me jobs before, so maybe this is a pointless question to ponder. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, purple sweaters!

4) "Are these people going to dismiss me because I look like I'm fifteen years old?"

That last question should be a joke, but it's not. Now that I'm in my mid-20s, I am noticing that a lot of people make comments about how I look like a teenager, and quite honestly, the conversation is getting a little old. The following conversation is something I have to deal with - quite literally - every. single. day.

Random Person: What grade are you in?
Me: I'm twenty five.
Random Person: Seriously?
Me: Yeah.
Random Person: Wow, I thought you were [insert any age from 13 to 17 here]. You are going to like looking young when you're forty. I bet people tell you that all the time.
Me (out loud): Yep.
Me (in my head): This is the sixth time today. IS MY LIFE STUCK IN AN ENDLESS LOOP?

I know what you're probably thinking: yeah, poor me. There are people who wish they could look young, so who am I to complain? Here's the truth:  Looking young affects my life in more ways than most people can imagine - particularly in negative ways professionally. Maybe that's something I should have considered before deciding to pursue secondary education for my career, but honestly, I'd never heard of another person having this problem before because - oh yeah - 99% OF ADULTS LOOK LIKE ACTUAL ADULTS and don't even have to consider this a factor in their job search. I figured I didn't either. Maybe if I'd taken the time to look in a mirror prior to applying for the MAC program, I'd have had a slightly different opinion.

My acne also contributes to this problem. In high school, the time when most teenagers have acne, I had no acne at all; then, when I turned 20, it started showing up, and it's decided to stick around. It's my body's way of saying, "Hey, how about if you go through teenager phases at a time in your life when you're trying your hardest to look as little like a teenager as possible?" Thanks, silly acne, for making my life just a little more complicated!

Last summer, I interviewed at a public high school about 30 minutes away from where I live. After the interview, the principal at that high school told me that he loved my energy and thought I gave great "textbook answers" to the interview questions, but then he went on to say something that stuck with me for a long time: "Some people may be hesitant to hire you because you look young, and it's hard to picture you managing a classroom filled with eighteen-year-old boys." I ultimately did not receive a job offer from him because another candidate had more experience and better credentials to fill that position. Understood.

Ever since that conversation, I often wondered if I would ever be offered a full-time teaching job. Would school administrators really just dismiss me as a candidate because of my physical appearance? It sure seemed that way for years.

Hired at last!

Finally, in January 2014, a principal gave me a chance. He saw me for my credentials and didn't think my purple sweater looked stupid (well, he never said that, but I could only assume...) He wanted to give me a try to see how my classroom management skills held out, and didn't dismiss me for looking like a fifteen-year-old girl. With that, I was hired for my first full-time teaching job, a job that I enjoyed every day, despite a very rocky start in the middle of the school year. A job that resulted in a lot of personal growth for me and introduced me to some great kids and colleagues whom I'll never forget.  A job I did not want to leave.

...So naturally, the school closed down at the end of the year, and I was jobless again.

Now

After two months of interviews, I am excited to announce that I was hired at a charter high school and will be starting in a little over two weeks. The school is extremely tiny, and I am one of only ten staff members. If there's one thing I can say about this crazy summer, it's that acquiring your second full-time job is much easier than acquiring your first.

Also, I would like to point out that both times I was hired for full-time jobs were the only interviews for which I arrived a little bit late.

Just a little food for thought.

Now that I no longer have to apply for jobs and have some actual free time to myself, I plan to write a series of blog entries related to my teaching experiences in my time at the learning center, substitute teaching, and at my previous full-time job.

I have missed the Edublogging world, and I know you've missed me, too (yes, I am perfectly aware that I'm putting words in your mouth! Shhh!)