Rejections

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Rejections
By Steve

Hi, Todd. Well, first of all, let me say that you are not alone...I'm looking at my fourth hiring season (not consecutive - I did leave education for a couple of years and have come back to it), also with Soc. Studies w/no
coaching, and can count the number of formal interviews I've had on one hand.
It's hard to say why you're not getting hired - it could be a variety of reasons. Here are some possibilities:
1) High numbers of applicants - I don't know what the situation is in your location, but around here it's fairly normal for a school to get 100+ applicants for a single social studies position.

With over 100 applicants, you're probably competing with experienced teachers as well as new graduates, and it's more likely that some of them will have outstanding credentials. To get an interview in a situation like that you need to be in the top four or five out of a hundred or more, not just the top four or five out of fifteen or twenty.

2) The school already knows who it's going to hire. Since you've been getting interviews this is probably unlikely, since they probably wouldn't bother with too many interviews in a situation like that (though you never know, they might to keep up appearances). Or they may know who they *want* to hire, but don't have a definite lock on them, so they interview so they have alternatives if the one they want doesn't pan out.

3) Wrong endorsements - again, unlikely (but not impossible) in your case since you've been getting interviews - usually people with the wrong endorsements go to the bottom of the pile. If you endorsed in Geography, Econ and Government and they need World History, Psych and Sociology, you're not going to be at the top of their list. But sometimes a particularly attractive candidate can still get an interview in spite of this (one interview I had, I was only actually endorsed for two of the three subjects they wanted, but they asked if I would be willing to work towards completing the third if I was offered the job).

4) No coaching - I'm guessing this might be a big reason. Given a choice between two otherwise equal candidates, the nod will usually go to the one who can coach rather than the non-coach, in my experience (and from what I've been told by college Career Centers and school administrators). Basically, even if they don't *need* a coach right now, it's one more tick on their side of the sheet, so they get the job offer. The one big chance is the interview - if the coach blows it, or if you really manage to wow the interviewer, you still have a shot.

5) Interviews - it's possible that you look darn good on paper but don't come across well in an interview. Without knowing more about your interviews or the other candidates, it's hard to say. On the other hand, you might do just fine in an interview but just had the misfortune to be up against someone who really wows them.

6) Connections - it's possible your competition has an inside connection with the district in some way - either they've subbed for the district, or know someone influential (babysits for the principal, etc) or maybe are even related to someone in the district.

7) Just plain happenstance - you came, you interviewed, the interviewer(s) had to make a tough call between highly qualified candidates and you got the short straw.

There are other possibilities too. I know it's very depressing - as the saying goes "been there, done that". I still wouldn't give up hope though - the fact that you've been getting interviews is very promising. Review your interviews in your mind and go over what was said, how you acted, how the interviewers acted, etc, and look for ways you could try to improve on things. Could you have answered a question better? Were you rigid and obviously uneasy? Did you talk the whole time and hardly let the interviewer get a word in edgewises? And so on.

Also, you might consider going so far as to actually contact a few of the districts you interviewed with recently and ask for a critique of your interview. For example, write a nice letter to them thanking them for the interview, express your understandable dissappointment at not being selected, and politely ask for any advice that they could give regarding your interview - was there anything you could have done that would have improved things? Also ask if there was anything you did especially well, too, so you can try for positive feedback as well. If you go the letter route, be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Sure, it takes some time and costs a few stamps, but if you can get two or three replies it might well be worth it if you get some good information from it.

Also, have you considered adding any endorsements? Even if you were to take a course or two in that direction it might help make you more attractive, since someone who is halfway to a new endorsement can always finish it. It might be worth looking into with your state Department of Ed to find out their requirements for adding endorsements. It's a thought, anyway.

Good luck.