The Puzzle: Blog

As the school year comes to a close, every teacher is already thinking about September. Whether you’re looking for a new opportunity in an independent school or you’re a recent college graduate searching for your first position, you might be feeling some pressure if you don’t have a new gig lined up for the fall.

When you don’t have a job yet, the worst thing you can do is panic. Here are our tips for handling the stress that accompanies unemployment.

1.  Don’t Give Up

Among independent schools, hiring for the fall often concludes before school closes for summer. However, with everything schools have been dealing with these past few years — the pandemic, virtual learning, societal challenges — we've seen shifts in the hiring timeline. Many schools have gotten a later-than-usual start on their hiring and will continue hiring throughout the summer. While peak recruitment season has passed, you are certainly not doomed if you haven’t gotten a job yet. Just because you don’t have a job now doesn’t mean you won’t have one in the fall.

The best thing you can do to improve your odds of finding a position is to apply to partner with CS&A for your search. We do the hard work of sorting through openings to find the right ones for you, getting you in front of hiring managers at schools that match what you're looking for.

Already a candidate with us? Great! It might be time to have a check-in with your Placement Team to strategize about your job search and what you can be doing differently to get you closer to finding the right position.

2. Plan for Summer

If you’re nail-biting until the fall, make sure your summer plans will help bolster your experience and prepare you for a new position. If you’re not sure what you’ll be doing this summer, consider a few options. Though most are already fully staffed, some summer school programs at boarding schools and colleges are still looking to fill final positions. You could spend the summer teaching a class, preparing students for college, or supervising a dorm.

If you can’t find a summer teaching position, you could continue to hone your skills by enrolling in a summer school class yourself. Become a master of a niche subject, learn how to integrate a new pedagogy into the classroom, or choose from a variety of online courses and virtual events to sharpen your professional development.

3. Examine Why You Haven’t Been Hired Yet

If you’ve been searching for months and have had no luck, it might be wise to consider the reasons you haven’t had much traction.

While you know that getting a new job involves a fair bit of luck and circumstance, you should also pay attention to recurring themes you’ve heard from schools. Are you hearing feedback that you’re not experienced enough? That you’re missing an important skill? That you can’t compete with other prospective teachers who have advanced degrees? Be honest with yourself, and use that feedback to inform your next move.

It can also be useful to consider the parameters of your search. Are you willing to look at middle school roles if you've only been interested in high school so far? Will you consider a wider variety of schools, like single-gender, religious, or boarding? Can you expand your geographic preferences at all? By casting a wider net, you'd be surprised at the opportunities that can open up.

4. Make a Backup Plan

While we hope you’ll be able to find a position before school starts in September, create a backup plan in case things just don’t go your way. If you already have a job, great — try to enhance your experience by trying something new in your current school. Start a new club or volunteer for a faculty committee. You might tap into a passion you didn’t know you had.

If you don’t have a teaching job yet, continue to engage in projects and positions that highlight your interest in working with kids. Volunteer as a mentor, become a tutor, teach at a community college, or coach a youth team. You can use this time to demonstrate your passion for education and for working with students — and this will speak volumes to schools.

Carney Sandoe helps educators find jobs they love at schools where they're valued. Partnering with 1,800+ k12 independent, private, charter, and boarding schools across the U.S., we're a free, highly personalized job search service. We do the hard work of searching for jobs for you. Start your free job search with us today.

Back to Blog

0 Comments

There are no comments on this blog entry.