Planning ahead – searching for positions in a tight market
I’m just back from Alaska, which is big, beautiful and quite different from New York in so many ways. On the trip up to Portage Glacier, our bus driver was telling us that anyone seeking a job in Alaska would have an easy time finding a position. There are fewer than one million people in the whole state, though the state of Alaska is larger in land mass than the next three largest states combined! It really doesn’t ever become dark during the weeks before and after the summer solstice.
The employment situation in Alaska is quite different compared to the Capital Region where there is a medium level of population density and a large number of colleges and universities. In addition to the institutions of higher education in the Capital District, many other institutions in the wider region offer baccalaureate and master’s degree.
What that means for those who wish to go into teaching is quite a bit of competition for positions. Teacher shortage? Not here in the Capital Region, except for a few certificate titles, such as Foreign Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, ESL. In other areas, especially Childhood Education (grades 1-6), Adolescence Education in English or Social Studies (grades 7-12), there is a surfeit of qualified teachers.
Your heart is set on teaching, so what do you do? How can you move forward in an area that has an abundance of qualified candidates? First, you need to distinguish yourself in the teacher preparation program, particularly in fieldwork and student teaching or internship. You want the teachers with whom you work to say “This person is an excellent candidate for any setting.” You want the principals to seek you out to apply for openings in their school. This will come when you show the characteristics of an excellent teacher, even as a visitor to the school, as you satisfy the fieldwork requirements that are prerequisite to student teaching: enthusiasm, initiative, attention to individual students and command of the group (the famous eyes-in-the-back-of-the-head teacher trick) and some of the more mundane professional attributes: good manners, punctuality, appreciation, good social skills and the ability to communicate well in spoken and written language.
Second, you should consider adding or extending a certificate. The principals and superintendents who serve on our Advisory Committee tell us that one of the first ‘cuts’ with applications is based on how many certificates an applicant holds. The physical educator who is also a health educator, the childhood educator who is also a literacy specialist, the adolescence English educator who is also certified literacy or special education – these are the applicants whose applications will be considered first. Schools districts will always seek the candidates who have broader experience, and more than one certificate, because it gives the district flexibility. Having more than one credential is also a great career-building tool and gives you a way to avoid burnout, which is one of the reasons that so many new teachers leave the profession within the first five years of beginning to teach.
Don’t take my word for this. Talk to principals and teachers in the schools. Discuss it with our very excellent adjunct faculty who are involved in the schools day to day. Look it up in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Check the New York State Office of Teaching Initiatives website.
And ask questions. Ask the faculty, ask your advisor, ask me! And let us know how we can help.
