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The job market is wildly unpredictable. Depending on the year, it can be difficult for educators – especially newly graduated ones – to find a permanent position with a school. If your job searching process is taking longer than you expected, you may want to seriously consider looking into substitute teaching.

Practical experience is more important than ever in today’s job market, and you can’t immediately secure a teaching position following graduation, or wish to obtain more experience in the teaching field, substitute teaching may be an avenue allowing you to do so. When full-time teachers are unavailable due to illness, family responsibilities, or personal or professional conferences, substitute teachers may be called in. Some districts tend to hire permanent staff from their available substitute teacher pool when positions become available, so this could also be a way of moving gradually into a position or secure employment.

Approximately 270,000 substitute teachers are employed across the United States, and approximately 1 full year of a student’s K–12 education is taught by substitute teachers.

Qualifications for a substitute vary by district and according to need. However, a bachelor’s degree or enrollment in the final years of a teacher college program is usually the absolute minimum requirement. Many districts with a shortage of substitute teachers relax the qualifications simply to be able to cover the classes. Some may require certified teachers for long-term substitute teaching when the full-time teacher must take an extended leave of absence (e.g., maternity or medical leave).

To obtain a substitute teaching position, inquire at the office of the district where you wish to teach, or check the district Web site for details. The process for being added to the substitute list differs from district to district. If you do decide to accept a position as a substitute, know that you are playing an important part in helping keep a classroom running. Your presence enables education to keep going. While your role may be temporary, it is still extremely important!

Finding a job after completing your degree can seem like a pretty daunting feat. However, you don’t have to go it alone. There are several resources and networking services available to help soon-to-be and new graduates find a placement. Some of the most common include:

1. College Career Centers

Most colleges have a career services office to assist graduates in finding employment. Career services offices allow you to complete a current placement file containing all of your credentials. The career services personnel will provide your placement file to any employers requesting credentials. The career services offices also provide current job postings, may arrange on-campus interviews, and can provide you with other job search resources.

2. The School Districts Themselves

Once your placement file is updated, contact the districts where you’re most interested in working. Find out their procedures for applying for a certified teaching position and if they expect any openings in your area. Many districts have this information available online, but other districts may require you to call.

3. Local Job Fairs

Job fairs are also an excellent place to apply for teaching positions. At a teacher job fair, area districts set up booths and accept applications from potential candidates. Candidates should dress professionally and prepare for a pre-interview.

4. Personal Contacts

Finally, remember to use your contacts. Ask your collaborating/mentoring teacher, other teachers you know, colleagues, college instructors, and anyone who may have information regarding job openings. Most important, don’t forget to follow through with all of your leads.

It may take several attempts at reaching out and applying for positions before you finally receive an offer. Be persistent, show up in person whenever you can, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who are already established in the field who might be able to help you get a foot in the door.

Interviews are an important part of the application process. Interviews are often the first chance you’ll get to make an in-person impression. In addition to how you hold yourself and how you present yourself through language and diction, how you dress is a major part of the impression you’ll leave. How you choose to dress in a professional interview tells employers a lot about the assumptions you make about the position you’re applying for, what you know of social cues and cultural context, and how highly you value putting in the effort to put your best foot forward. Read on to learn the do’s and do not’s of dress code for an interview:

Appropriate Attire When Interviewing

• Solid-color conservative suit

• 
Coordinating blouse or tie

• Limited jewelry

• Neat, conservative hairstyle

• Manicured or neatly trimmed nails •

• Light makeup for females

• Portfolio or briefcase

• Little or no perfume or cologne

What Not to Wear to an Interview

• Sunglasses on top of your head

• A backpack or unprofessional bag

• Above-the-knee skirts

• “Loud” clothing

• Heavy makeup on women

• Earrings on men or more than one pair on women

• Nonmatching socks or shoes

Don’t let a teaching position slip away from you because you chose the wrong outfit. Interview attire should be a step up from your normal work wear. Wear crisp, clean clothes that say you’re a put-together, reliable professional. You want your interviewer to be able to imagine you as immediately ready for work in the classroom. Dirty socks and crumpled shirt don’t exactly say “classroom-ready.” While getting dressed, ask yourself, “Do I look ready to work? Do I look like I think today is important, or do I look like I’m treating today like any other? Does my appearance say that I value myself?” Put extra effort into looking like you want to be taken seriously, and you will be!

Whether it’s during your student teacher or when you’re officially on the job, how you dress in the classroom is as important as how you dress in the interview to get you there, or even the work you do while teaching. How you dress will set the tone for what you expect of yourself – and your students.

Because teachers are held to the highest standards in the community, they’re expected to dress rather conservatively. When preparing for an internship, consider the following guidelines when building a wardrobe. Some of these address comfort, practicality, and professionalism. Outward appearance often has an effect on the amount of respect given by students and other faculty/staff. 
Typically, interns should dress in business-casual attire, unless otherwise instructed. Here are a few suggestions on how to dress while attending your internship:

Hair
Neat, natural styles. No extreme colors or cuts.

Tops
Shirts should be clean and without wrinkles. Avoid tight-fitting blouses, tank tops, and t-shirts. Do not expose midriffs, undergarments, or cleavage.

Pants and Skirts
Pants should be neatly pressed, clean, and should fit comfortably. Skirts should be no higher than 1 inch above the knee. Avoid jeans and pants with rips or tears.

Shoes
Closed-toe, closed-heel shoes are recommended. Remember, teaching involves pro- longed periods of standing, so take comfort into consideration when choosing footwear.

Accessories
Makeup should be natural, and jewelry should be tasteful and kept to a minimum. There should be no visible body piercings or tattoos.

Hygiene
Appropriate grooming and bathing should be reflected in appearance.

Your appearance is a social cue that signals to everyone around you how you’re expecting to act and what kind of interactions you’re planning to have. You want to your dress to say that you expect to do the best job possible – and that you expect your students to do their best, too.

Criminal background checks may be required before any field experience, student teaching, applying for employment, or after securing employment. The district will direct you on the process they use to gather your fingerprints, and you’ll usually be held responsible for the cost of the background check. Different states use different criminal background tests. The Massachusetts test, for instance, is called the Criminal Offender Records Information (CORI).

In many states, tests like CORI in Massachusetts are administered to protect the welfare of students. These criminal background checks are usually required of all candidates for, and current occupants of, positions that have the potential for direct and unmonitored contact with students. The tests may be administered to teachers, teacher’s aides, school nurses, counselors, coaches or other extracurricular staff or supervisors, food service employees, custodians, and transportation providers. Volunteers, interns, student teachers, or other persons regularly offering support to any school program or facility, whether paid or unpaid, may also have to take the test.

Criminal background checks are an important part of ensuring that your future students are safe. You may request to receive a copy of the report that will be sent to your prospective employer, or you may waive the option. Asking to receive a copy will not reflect negatively on you.

While it may be intimidating to have a government agency look into your past, know that the check is just a routine part of applying for a job. Take a deep breath, do the paperwork, and keep moving forward with the job-seeking process!

In order to secure a teaching position in a public school, you must be licensed and certified to do so. There are different types of teaching licenses, including provisional, emergency, and permanent. A license authorizes you to teach, whereas a certification is an indication of what you are qualified to teach. You may also have more than one certification attached to your teaching license.

Each state sets its own requirements regarding tests and minimum passing scores to achieve state certification/licensure, although alternate paths to certification do exist. The tests are typically designed to evaluate teacher candidates’ basic academic skills, subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and in some cases, classroom performance.

1. Basic Skills Examination

Typically, in the first step of the process, teachers must pass basic skills examinations before they are admitted to teacher education programs or enroll in upper-level courses (those taken in the junior and senior year) at colleges and universities. The basic skills tests measure reading, writing, and mathematics skills.

2. Subject Area Tests

In the second step, educators who have graduated with a teaching degree must pass subject-area tests as part of the certification/licensure process in their state of employment. Subject assessments measure candidates’ knowledge of the academic subjects they will teach, as well as domain-specific pedagogy skills (how to best teach these particular subjects).

Many states use the Praxis system for license and certification testing. However, some states, such as Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas, use their own testing service for certification purposes. You’ll need to check the requirements for your state.

3. “Highly Qualified”

Separate from certification, highly qualified is a status given to teachers in content areas after completing course work and/or passing a Praxis exam or equivalent. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires teachers to be highly qualified in their content area. Teachers may become highly qualified in multiple areas. A teacher highly qualified in elementary education may teach all subjects in grades kindergarten through sixth. After sixth grade, however, teachers must be highly qualified in each subject area they teach. For example, passing the science Praxis test makes you highly qualified in science, so you can teach this subject to students in grades 6 through 12. If you also pass the social studies Praxis, then you may teach both science and social studies.

Be aware that higher paying school districts that are known for positive teacher morale and educationally supportive communities are more competitive. This may make it more difficult for you to secure employment in one of these schools, because you’ll compete against a greater number of applicants. Take your time investigating and selecting appropriate schools to make sure that you can come up with concrete and valid reasons, sometimes other than simply high pay, that would make you willing to work in one of these schools. An additional factor to consider is that you’ll be applying along with “alternative route” teachers, who’ve already had career experience in other work forces. Taking time to identify applicants that you might be up against during the selection process will assist you in determining where your best chances lie of securing employment.

It’s a good idea to prepare for interviews before you’re called for one. Being prepared for the interview creates a favorable impression on your potential employer and will considerably reduce your stress levels before the interview.

When applying for a teaching position, you may encounter two types of interviews:

1. Online Interviews
An online interview is typically a preliminary set of screening questions. The online interview usually must be completed before being called for an in-person interview.

When completing an online interview, it is important that you take your time, proofread, and double-check that you have filled everything out correctly. You don’t want a minor mistake you get in the way of moving forward toward your dream job!

2. In-Person Interviews
An in-person interview is a face-to-face interview with an interviewer or team of interviewers. In-person interviews may be conducted by one or more administrators, a team of teachers, a combination of teachers and parents, or any arrangement of these.

Irrespective of the type of interview panel, it’s imperative to make a good first impression. A good interview suit is an excellent place to start. Interviewers also look for self-confidence, enthusiasm, poise, the ability to think and act quickly, appropriate grammar and a well-developed vocabulary, as well as clear and confident speech and diction.

The impression you make is often created by your personality traits, manners, and appearance, some of which may not be under your direct control. However, you can be prepared to answer questions typically asked by interviewers. Thoroughly research the school, making a visit to the school and speaking to experienced teachers who have been working at the school for a number of years. Prepare a series of questions to ask these teachers to allow you to get a good idea of the school environment as a whole. Familiarize yourself with the school goals, missions, and activities by browsing their Web site and by searching in local newspapers or at the local library. Apply your research findings to the questions typically asked by interviewers.