Fiancée dealing with depression--can't land a teaching job no matter what!

But according to you, women have it so much easier getting jobs and advancing the career. Why is your fiancee so inept despite that advantage?

not sure what it's like in your area, but around here you have to either go to an area which has a hard time attracting teachers... or do substitute gigs for years until you get enough seniority and connections to land fulltime...

what can fast track you is a unique skill... advanced degree... or ability/certs for counselling, coaching, or teaching specialized classes, like a foreign language or working with developmentally/physically disadvantaged students...

I wouldn't say inept at all. She's an incredibly hard worker. It may just come down to luck and numbers. She's definitely not lazy--but it just seems insane, at least in Columbus, to have a master's degree and not be able to do anything with it. A PhD may be an option.

I will stand by my statement that women do have advantages that men don't in certain industries, especially business, finance and media. Also, pharmaceutical sales reps are well-compensated women. Teaching is 50/50; there's an equal balance of men and women in that industry. At least in my industry, mortgages, it's fairly balanced.

In fairness, women get shortchanged in other areas (like engineering, as that's a good old boy's club). Tech was all bros but it's more balanced now.

Ernest wrote:

not sure what it's like in your area, but around here you have to either go to an area which has a hard time attracting teachers... or do substitute gigs for years until you get enough seniority and connections to land fulltime...

what can fast track you is a unique skill... advanced degree... or ability/certs for counselling, coaching, or teaching specialized classes, like a foreign language or working with developmentally/physically disadvantaged students...

I did talk to her about ESL and other areas. She considered STEM teaching but her strengths are in reading/writing/language/speech. I know STEM teachers (even middle school and up) are in demand.

Above is for Public Schools... Parochial schools are a different ballgame... in that case, being "cut of the same cloth" can put you front of the line....

It must be a regional thing. Schools around here are desperate to fill spots because so many old teachers retired rather than deal with distance learning.

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but early childhood teachers are a dime a dozen. A lot of school prefer to hire someone with a PK - 5 license instead of PK - 3 as it gives them more flexibility with staffing. I don't see getting a doctorate helping because that makes her academically overqualified for many roles and way more expensive to hire. In a saturated field, that's not really appealing for schools. I know that our district prefers public experience over private experience as teachers are familiar with state testing processes. Looking for a less desirable public school could be one approach to moving jobs.

Where is she getting knocked out of the process? Is she not getting interviews or is she not getting offers after interviewing? Is it possible she just doesn't interview well and needs some coaching there?

Get her doctorate? In what subject field? Doesn’t sound like a good idea. That would take 4+ years more (you say has a master’s degree). English PhDs are a dime a dozen. High schools don’t want or need teachers with PhDs. Community colleges pay peanuts. University professor in that field? Good luck. Applicants outnumber positions 200 to 1.

Strictly from an monetary ROI standpoint, a PhD in English is a bad idea. If she wants to do that because there is something she loves about pursuing another degree, fine.

By the way, most PhD programs, in any field, are extremely competitive to get in to.

Another story is an EdD, which is the degree most school administrators have. That’s way less competitive to get into. But is that what she wants?

I'm sorry but if she has a master's degree and is unable to find employment despite all of the advantages you claim women have in the job market then she is by definition inept.

She is getting past the first round in most cases at the big schools (screener rounds).

Then no callbacks.

She DID get a job offer for 43k at a charter school on the west side of Columbus. But declined it because it was disorganized and very ghetto. But that's only 1k more than her current role. At least at her Catholic school she'll go from 42k to 50k with her MA (step-schedules help). But she doesn't want to be pigeonholed at Catholic schools with no resources. Still better than profit-based Charters.

I don't know how she interviews with the HR, but I practice with her beforehand and she does well. Good eye contact, no fidgeting, clear answers.

Doctorate is probably a bad idea--she was just floating that to her advisor to see if it was worth it and to at least get eyes on her application.

Personally the only thing I think that's holding her back is no Orton-Gillingham.

educashon wrote:

Get her doctorate? In what subject field? Doesn’t sound like a good idea. That would take 4+ years more (you say has a master’s degree). English PhDs are a dime a dozen. High schools don’t want or need teachers with PhDs. Community colleges pay peanuts. University professor in that field? Good luck. Applicants outnumber positions 200 to 1.

Strictly from an monetary ROI standpoint, a PhD in English is a bad idea. If she wants to do that because there is something she loves about pursuing another degree, fine.

By the way, most PhD programs, in any field, are extremely competitive to get in to.

Another story is an EdD, which is the degree most school administrators have. That’s way less competitive to get into. But is that what she wants?

We talked about EdDs but she didn't want to go that route, so she went MA in Reading Intervention.

I was in a similar position. I answered 'the call' for the incredible teacher shortage in the United States. I got certified, math and sciences, and got my masters in education. Surprise! No jobs! I searched for 18 months and I mean everywhere. I looked in the Eskimo villages. I searched Hawaii, all the places that they said there were no teachers. It's basically a numbers game, with many out of work teachers fighting for the few positions available. Your girl's masters degree takes her right out of the equation. You don't get a masters degree unless you're tenured or you're screwed. Maybe she could lie and say that she doesn't have a masters. Certainly there are private schools which would take her at a low salary but there would be no tenure. The PhD will make her more unemployable. There probably is no way forward for her in teaching. She could try administration with a PhD but who wants a principal who has never taught, at least not in the public schools. That whole Catholic thing on her resume is not going to play well either. One thing I almost did and perhaps should have is start my own school. That's what I'd recommend. Or start a charter school. Here in Michigan there was a time when they would let almost anyone start a charter school.

This is the most oddly specific post I can ever remember reading on this godforsaken forum.

Don’t you think it’s odd to ask a running forum about specific questions regarding your wife’s ability to get a teaching job and her mental health?

She also is PreK-5. Re: reading, she is certified through 12th grade.

I'm asking this because this forum has good advice on non-running topics too

I’m just saying if I found out my spouse was asking these types of questions to an anonymous running board I’d be pissed

That's disheartening. She doesn't like the Catholic thing either as it is limiting. She doesn't like the lack of resources.

Do administrators look down on the Catholic thing as a fear of the teacher being preachy? She's not like that.

We love Columbus but it would be a shame to move away, but if it is a numbers game it is what it is.

At least her MA will get her a bump now at her current job from 42k to 51k. Still better than 38k at a mortgage company.

Catholic schools screw over teachers. Not only the low pay, but no pension.

The big one - they don't have to pay into Social Security, so your Irish bit is not accruing Social Security benefits.

Is your Irish bit attractive enough to do pharmaceutical sales?