Top Ten Ways to Get a Teaching Job in a Tough Market

10. Show up on time for your interview, appropriately dressed. (This sounds obvious, I know, but it doesn't always happen).
9. Follow the school’s application instructions precisely.
8. Arrive prepared to answer easy questions: What are you good at? What makes you highly qualified for this job? What do you like about teaching?
7. Arrive prepared to answer tough questions: What is challenging for you? What are your weaknesses?
6. Bring a portfolio with photos or examples of your work with students.
5. Come prepared with a list of questions you have about the company or the job for which you are applying.
4. Be prepared to visit a classroom and interact with children.
3. Network. Do you know someone whose child attends the school? Someone who teaches there? Ask them to put in a good word.
2. Learn as much as you can about the school where you're applying to teach before the interview.

and our number 1 way to get a teaching job in a tough market:

1. Be willing to work as a substitute for several months. While you work, let your positive attitude and good work ethic make you indispensable to the other staff. Subbing isn’t glamorous, but if you’re good at it, you will be first in line for the next open position.

--M.D.

Top Ten Ways to Tank a Teaching Job Interview

10. Show up on the wrong day, late for your appointment time.
9. Have your mom fill out the application.
8. Bring family members or friends to the interview, and ask if they can sit in.
7. Show up coughing, sneezing, and miserably sick.
6. Wear clothing that reveals your sexy tattoos, midriff, underwear, cleavage, or all of the above.
5. Answer your cell phone during the interview, say you have to take the call outside, and never come back.
4. Mention that your top career goal is dolphin training, but since that didn’t work out, you thought teaching would be fun.
3. Discuss your desire for full time employment, but mention the fact that you are only available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after 4:00.
2. Repeatedly and cheerfully slap or smack the interviewer and her desk to emphasize your point. Hard.

And the number one strangest way we've seen an interview go south...

1. Tell the interviewer that the reason you quit your last job was because you had to pull your dog from his doggy day care program. The floor was too hard and it hurt his paws!

Up next: A kinder, gentler Top Ten list: Ways to Land A Teaching Job

-- M.D.

But she was my favorite teacher!

When a teacher leaves an early childhood center, everyone wants to know why. Unfortunately, employers cannot compromise employees’ privacy by sharing details of these sometimes sudden departures. When teachers who leave broadcast their version of the separation, centers get flack for what may sound like unfair treatment. Parents also grow suspicious when very few departure details are released. “Was the teacher fired? What for?!”

After having made a thoughtful decision to hire someone, centers want to give staff every opportunity to meet their expectations. Extra training often brings people up to speed; other times, subtle differences in philosophy can have negative impact on quality of care and the cohesiveness of a teaching team.

Sometimes a bad fit is evident early on. Although no one likes disruptions, there are cases where everyone agrees that a teacher is not working out. Other times, though, an apparently popular teacher may leave or be asked to leave. While directors understand the emotional bonds that other staff, children, and parents form with teachers, they can’t staff centers via popularity contests. A teacher who has great rapport with children may not be suitable for a teaching position due to other important aspects of the job:

• Behind-the-scenes issues: documentation, caring for challenging children, favoritism, etc.
• Difficulty working with other staff, meeting employment requirements, following directions, etc.
• Unacceptable employee behaviors: tardiness, absenteeism, gossip, and other behaviors that undermine a productive workplace.

There are also many reasons unrelated to performance for which a teacher may choose to leave:

• Personal or family health issues
• More desirable offer from another center or employment sector
• Shifting home/work priorities.

1. What can parents do about staff turnover in the face of an information blackout?
2. Keep an open mind and positive attitude about new staff.
3. Give your center director feedback when things go right. Everyone remembers to point out negatives, but positive feedback helps directors get a balanced perspective.
   Protect teachers’ privacy (and dignity). Resist the urge to gossip, and always consider the other side of the story.

--M.D.

Out and About

Zero to Three Weighs in on Continuity of Care

How to Evaluate A Childcare Provider: from the American Academy of Pediatrics