Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Pounding the pavement

Today was one of those days where I am very glad I had a comfortable pair of shoes on. I spent all day a the convention center standing in line after line in hopes of a job opportunity. Some booths were more informational, while others interviewed you on the spot. I had a good mix of both experiences. What was disheartening was that some of the districts I really wanted to work for were so popular that the process felt very impersonal and robotic. My chances of getting a job could be slim to none. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the response I got from some smaller districts that took the time to chat with me and get to know me. The good news is that I had some nibbles that could potentially lead to something. It's hard to tell with these kinds of things.

I found it fascinating how many positions were available that were specialized (i.e. ESL, Special Ed). One classmate of mine got a job offer on the spot, but she didn't want as it was farther than she wanted to commute. Another classmate got a great lead on something that she didn't even expect and now really wants it. I am on the fence about a few of my leads due to the commute as well. Can't make much of a decision on anything until I have a concrete offer. Some districts definitely showed interest in me, while others could've cared less. It's such a crapshoot, so who knows? I feel like I'll be in limbo for awhile as the waiting game comes with the territory as one administrator told me today. Sometimes you don't hear anything until late August or even a couple weeks into the school year. Flexibility and patience are key.

Took the Max train into downtown so I could avoid the traffic, but it was still an hour commute. Lots of good progress made and I'm tired. Literally was on my feet all day today. I'm thinking a warm bath is in order tonight. Got lots to do between now and tomorrow night. I have an 83 page Action Research paper to print out...good thing we restocked our ink and paper supplies. Then I gotta finish some job app stuff online, check out some more districts for info, and type up my last assignment. It's all due in class tomorrow. Whew! Except for tweaking my brochure and making the trifold, I'll be done with all the hard stuff after tomorrow. Inching my way closer to homebase! Ever so slowly, but I'm crawling to the end. Just not a big fan of the job search thing. My feet just can't take the pain for too long...:)

1 comment:

Lawfrog said...

The job hunt...otherwise known as Hell. Glad to hear you got some possible leads. Sorry about the feet. I think you should take a hot bubble bath every night until graduation. You've earned it.