The Puzzle: Blog

You’ve been accepted as a candidate with us and finished your profile in CandidateConnect by uploading all the documents we need before we can refer you to jobs. Great! What’s the next step?

At this point in your job search, your Placement Associate will start referring you to open positions that match your geographic, school type, and other preferences. You will receive an email each time you are referred to a position, and it is imperative that you read the referral and take the appropriate next step in order to continue the job-search process.

Referrals can occur in three different ways, two of which require further action from you.

A Standard Referral

With a standard referral, your Placement Associate sends your materials to a school whose hiring needs match your qualifications and interests. The email you receive will contain information about the position title, the school name and location. You must login to CandidateConnect to review the job and school description, as well the school’s follow-up preference.

The action you need to take with a standard referral is to follow the school’s preferred follow-up preference. When schools work with us, they let us know their follow-up preferences for each position. Often, the school will request that if you are interested in the position, you email the school with a cover letter expressing your interest. Some needs candidates to fill out an online application. On the other hand, some schools do not want candidates to follow up with them directly—this will be noted in the referral. In this case, all you have to do is sit tight and if the school is interested in your candidacy, someone will follow up with you directly. You can see a school's follow-up preference in CandidateConnect by clicking on the Referrals tab, selecting the position, clicking on Contact Info, and following the school contact’s Follow-Up Preference.

A Potential Referral

While our Placement Associates work hard to match you with opportunities that fit your specific preferences, often they will refer you to a job that they feel is a good fit for you, despite not meeting all of your job requirements. These potential referrals hit your inbox so that you can decide whether or not you want your file sent to the school.

There is a two-step process for potential referrals. First, you need to log into CandidateConnect—command central for your job search—to either decline the referral or to let your Placement Associate know that you do in fact wish to have your materials sent to the school. It’s important you take action on a potential referral because until you log in and click “Send Materials” in CandidateConnect, you will not be on the school’s candidate roster. So if you’re really interested in the job, don’t drag your feet! It’s okay if you’re not interested in the position, but do be sure to select “decline” and let us know why so we can continue to send you only the most appropriate opportunities.

Second, if you are interested in the position and have completed the step above, you now need to determine how the school has requested that candidates follow up about the position (just like with standard referrals as explained above).

A Confidential Referral

A confidential referral means that a school has listed a position with us confidentially. They do that for a number of reasons—perhaps they’re navigating a delicate internal situation, or they’re not sure if a current teacher or administrator will decide to stay for the following year. In this case, we can refer candidates who might be interested to the position, but we can’t tell you more details about the school or the position until the school decides to lift confidentiality. If you receive a confidential referral, there’s literally nothing for you to do. Once the position becomes public information, your Placement Associate will let you know the details.

A note also worth mentioning is to check your spam folder often. With email providers building tighter spam filters, we’re hearing from a lot of schools who are reaching out to candidates and never hearing back because their emails ended up in the candidates’ spam folders. So be diligent about checking!

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6 Comments

Joyce Newby 4/18/2019 at 4:24pm

Taught school 14 years. K-8th grade, High School English and Spanish I and II. I’ve taught in Hawaii, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. Public and private schools. I’ve retired but still want to teach.

Julie Landis 4/18/2019 at 5:06pm

Hi Joyce, thanks for your note! If you are interested in apply to work with us as a job seeker, please complete our application at https://candidates.carneysandoe.com/Account/Register. Let us know if you have any questions!

Cheryl Martinson 8/5/2019 at 9:21pm

Interested in Teaching position. Love to teach reading to 2nd graders. Love to teach English to K-8th grades

Julie Landis 8/6/2019 at 12:21pm

Hi Cheryl, thanks for reaching out! If you are interested in apply to use our free job placement service to find you a teaching job, please complete our online application at https://candidates.carneysandoe.com/Account/Register. It will be reviewed by our Placement Team and someone will be in touch if we think we will be a good resource for your job search. Let us know if you have any questions!

Ana Cristina Stelling 10/9/2019 at 11:06am

Hi, I am a preschool teacher with 20 years of experience in my country Venezuela. Nowadays I live at Parkland, Fl and I’m looking for a Spanish teaching job near my area. I hope you can help me. Thanh you very much

Julie Landis 10/9/2019 at 11:47am

Hi Ana, thanks for your comment! If you are looking for a teaching job, please complete our online application at https://candidates.carneysandoe.com/Account/Register. Your application will be reviewed by a Placement Associate to determine if we’ll be a good resource for your job search. Let us know if you have any other questions!