Timing and the Right Fit

If you’re in the market for a new teaching job, and the fish just don’t seem to be biting, don’t lose hope; it all may just be a matter of timing and the right fit.

Keep in mind principals and human resources personnel are, well, human, with biases and prejudices the same as everyone. It can definitely be a harrowing experience trying to get into teaching. It can be especially difficult for those coming over from another profession (I switched over from Federal law enforcement). Some might argue there’s a wall of bias you have to push through, but once you're in, and you finally get to show them what you can do, it gets a lot easier.

Back in 2013, when I first applied to a local ISD, I attended and passed two interviews but subsequently had my nomination blocked by a human resources person. She claimed, in a calm, dismissive voice, "I can't verify any of your references." Hmm...I had about twelve to fifteen listed on the resume, and not one would pick up? When I called her to inquire about why she (a human resources person) blocked my nomination to the school board, she said, "We're looking for the right fit." The right fit? I grew up two blocks from that high school! Nevertheless, I started to question whether I even belonged in the community within which I was raised.

The right fit?

Sometime later, at a different school, I met a newly appointed female assistant principal, who ended the interview with the all-too-human remark, "It's unusual for a man to be applying for an English teacher position; they're usually women." Even though that made me raise an eyebrow, I walked out of that school building wondering, “Maybe she was congratulating me on getting the job, and that it was a remarkable feat, since most English teacher applicants were women, and I happened to break through.” Yeah, right, stop kidding yourself, Andrew.

Just for grins, I checked online when I got home, and noticed the high school's entire English Department was and still is full of women (around ten or so). Well, that solves the mystery. Now I don’t have to suffer the pangs of disappointment. I’m definitely not getting that job. That school, too, was looking for a particular "type" of English teacher.

The right fit, huh?

In every one of these jobs, I went back to see who the administration hired instead of me, and each time it was a young, fresh out-of-college white woman, with less education, fewer certifications, between the ages of 23 and 27. And one of the teachers that beat me out didn't even have an English degree. Carpe diem, lads!

After these experiences, I temporarily came to the conclusion that admins are biased, (they're human after all) and that there must be a stereotypical English teacher, and Mr. Keating isn't it.

Like all good men of letters, I decided to wait. Maybe it was all just a matter of timing.

The job I finally did get I shouldn't have. I was scheduled for an interview in Brownsville, Texas, a town where I wasn't familiar with the streets. Because there are two streets with the same name, and my car's GPS is infallible, I wound up at the wrong school, some twenty minutes away from where I needed to be. I called the school I was supposed to be at and told them what happened, and that I would be running late. They agreed to meet with me, anyway. Not only did our interview turn into a nice conversation, they actually gave me a job, not the one I had applied for, but a better one. And, they'd never seen Dead Poets Society!

Though this was a public charter school run by Turkish immigrants, it was/is very conservative with a predominantly Muslim administration. Perhaps they missed the workshop on the stereotypical English teacher and decided to give me a chance. Maybe they were just desperate to fill a gap. Don't know. Didn't care anymore, since I got a job.

With 100% of their graduating seniors attending college, I’d say they have the right formula: A very diverse group of teachers committed to student success. Whatever they're doing, it's working in the best interests of the students. As far as those other schools, which are failing at state standards and that don't have the same formula?

Well...

Timing and the right fit, I guess.