The Puzzle: Blog

There was the initial meet-cute: the CS&A referral that found its way to your CandidateConnect account and caught your eye. As you saw the job title, the description, the school, the location, you may have felt your heart skip a beat. This was it! This was the perfect job for you!

You likely spent hours perusing the school website, compiling the perfect curriculum, and crafting a killer cover letter. After sending your materials, you’ve been checking your email religiously, waiting to hear back from the school contact and move forward in the interview process.

But what if you don’t hear back? When is it time to move on from a job you thought could be “the one?”

1. Have you given it some time?

If you’re panicking because you feel like it’s been ages and you still haven’t heard anything, take a gut check—just how long have you actually been waiting? If it’s only been a week or so, relax—many schools list positions as soon as they learn of even a hint of an opening, then wait a while before they actually review candidate file.

2. Did you follow up?

If it’s been a week or two since you submitted your materials and haven’t heard anything, feel free to send an email to confirm that the school has received your application. Take this opportunity to (shortly, sweetly) reiterate your interest in the position and express your hope that you will hear from the school soon.

3. If you’ve been in contact with the school, have you done everything on your part?

If you’ve had initial contact—perhaps outreach from the school, or a preliminary phone interview—and are waiting to hear back, double-check to make sure you’ve done everything on your end. Did you send thank you notes? If you were asked to send supplementary materials or circle back to schedule the next time to speak, have you done so? Make sure you’ve dotted your Is and crossed your Ts.

4. Have you checked in with your Placement Associate?

Sometimes, your Placement Associate may have information to which you are not privy: where the school is in the interview process, whether the current teacher was likely to stay in the role, etc. Before giving up on a job, check in with your team to see if you can learn where the school is in the review process, and whether there is anything else you should be doing to advance your candidacy.

If you’ve done all these things, you should remember two things: first, that until a job is closed, it’s still open. You never know what might be going on behind the scenes at a school, and some searches take much longer than others. If you don’t hear from a school for a long time, and you have followed up, checked in with your placement associate, and done your part, it’s okay for you to move on from your laser-focus on that job and pursue other opportunities—but don’t discount the possibility of eventually hearing back completely.

Second, remember that if you’ve sent your materials, applied appropriately, circled back on your candidacy, and followed up with your placement team, then you’ve done all you feasibly can, and the school is aware of your search and your interest. Don’t damage your candidacy by over-emailing or calling the school to check on the status of the position.

If you’re holding out hope for that dream job, good luck! We’ll help you in your pursuit as best we can.

Back to Blog

0 Comments

There are no comments on this blog entry.